t top ride

[supercoupe5]

how much power can you put into a t-top car without twisting it up. i dont want to put in a rollbar. the car will only go to the track 3-4 times a year but will get driven everyday on the street. more messing around with it on the street (not street racing) just taking off from lights and stop signs probibly quite hard a lot of the time.

 

[CHARGED]

Put the braces under the hood and in the trunk and you will be fine. My hardtop Ttype is cracking at the pillar and my Ttop GN is perfect:wink:
I'm sure they will go into the 10's without problems.

 

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

If you put in all the body & frame braces, missing body mounts & GNX mounts you can really tighten up the feel of the car & handle moderate HP without damage. High boost e-brake launches on slicks are a differant story & then the hardtop body becomes prefered IMO.

 

[RUQWKNF]

Exactly what CHARGED and UNDER-PRESSURE have said.
The best thing you can do for a T-Top car, or for that matter any Turbo Buick that's making some power and no roll bar, would be to order Kirbans braces.
Front frame braces, Under hood braces, rear seat brace kit, connecting front frame brace, and his 6 piece lower body bushing kit. It's a proven fact that 9 out of 10 cars that rolled off the assembly line were missing at least 2 lower body bushings. GM got cheap on us towards the end of production for the Regals.
These parts will significantly tighten up all of the versions, especially a T-Top car. On my old grey car, I ran it into the 10's for 4 years without a roll bar (I know not smart, but I was young and stupid then) but with all of these braces and it always left straight without any twisting. Not even any cracked paint on the C pillar. Given it was a hard top car, but it proved that these braces worked. I have seen numerous T-Top cars run into the 10's without roll bars but just bracing, as well as into the 9's with roll bars/cages. I am currently installing all of these parts on my new T as we speak. The bushing are very easy to install, only takes about 30 minutes if you take your time, and all you need is a 15mm 1/2" drive socket, 6-10" extension, and a 1/2" drive ratchet. The front frame braces and connecting brace utilize exisitng holes that are already on the car. The rear seat brace kit does require that you drill the holes, but it's really not that big a deal, and the under hood braces only require two holes drilled. It's best to take out your battery when you drill the hole on the passengers side inner fender so that you can vacuum all the shavings out and get a drill at the hole easier. I highly recommend these parts for every Turbo Buick, no matter the year or level of modification. They all work together to significantly tighten up the chassis.
Here are the parts we are referring too.

Front frame braces #6564

Underhood brace kit #6744

Rear seat frame brace kit #1586

Connecting front brace #6746, goes underneath the radiator and ties into the front frame braces forming a triangle. Won't work with front mount intercooler whose pipes go underneath the radiator support.

Six piece lower body bushing kit #6737

Hope this helps.

Patrick

 

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

Your local junkyard is a good source for the braces. Many GM G-bodys were equipped from the factory with front frame, radiator support, underhood & rear seat braces. Pontiac Grand Prix's usually have the full set. A little labor, some fresh satin black paint & you have genuine GM braces.

 

[Lturbo6]

Mines is a t-top and I'm doing all of the above. Found out the hard way the front frame bar don't fit the front mount IC . I'm justing waiting on the GNx bushing and I'm set have everything else on their.

 

[nordy racer]

put in all the above braces and you will be FINE.. i have about 500 1/4 passes in my T-top car.. i do have a cage in it now due to getting kicked out every weekend.. i do not have any cracks anywhere and i do pull out my t-tops every time i drive the car on the street ..

this pics shows how the car twists big time for most to all those runs..

 

[supercoupe5]

this is all good news. i dont think i will be torquing mine like that as often as you do. great pic.