Single passenger chop top metro build
 

This will be a long process I'm sure. But I wanted to show off a little of my work.

My goal is 80mpg@80mph.

I am not an economic driver at all. I drive over 120 miles a day all highway and all fast paced.
It takes me long enough to get to work so trying to hypermile and drive 65 ain't happening for me. :)


But what I can do is put my fav skills to work to create a car, built specifically for my needs that should drastically reduce the overall drag.



My envision started when I first saw the Elio. I knew from the get go it was all a scam based on the sales pitch, but it got my wheels spinning About how I could build it myself.

Which led me here. Where I have been reading and learning for years. And through that learned the faults of the Elio in the front suspension, grill area and just everything really.

I always liked Doug Heffrons car. But through this web site I also learned it was much lacking in possible modifications. To further his milage.


Going in to my build knowing I have to make the car get the milage and not my foot has controlled my thoughts for a long time. And I am finally getting the chance to work on my vision.





I don't have any fancy drawings except for what's in my head. But the build will consist of.


#1 A total grill block with no openings or cracks whatsoever. Plus 98 led headlights

#2 Full wheel covers up front and back.

#3 Doug Heffron style single seater with 8" chopped out of the roof line.
Laid back windshield.

#4 Boat tail starting from right behind the driver's head

#5 Passenger door still functional as a trunk for lunch box ECT...

#6 Extended rear deck to match up with boat tail coming from roof.

#7 Rear grill opening were the radiator/condenser combo will be hiding.

#8 Passenger firewall will be cut out allowing the trapped air from front wheel wells to be re used as cooling air then reintroduced back to atmosphere at the tailing edge.

#9 and possibly lowering it as far as it will go with the help of some air shocks to get me in and out of job sites.

Thread is worth less with out pics. Lol.


So last year I picked me up a sweet 1995 3cly/5 for a song. No frame rot underneath at all. Looks show room condition. And I have been. Driving it daily getting a consistent 38-42 miles per gallon.

And considering​ the way I drive that's doing pretty darn good.


So last week I picked up a rotted out 3cly/5 for super cheap.

I was mostly wanting a spare transmission but it runs pro better than mine with near zero blow by. So that's nice. But while I mostly bought it for parts, a lot of the reason for buying it was to start my roof chop.

I figure I can keep driving my red95 and slice and dice the black95 untill the point that I cut the roof off the red95 and transfer the roof and doors from black 95.



So first step was to find out just how much roof I can take out while still being comfortable.

Out came the seat and a race bucket was load down. Very comfortable and low position.

So low that the steering wheel will need dropped down to me. And the stick shift will need extended and bent back. But the pedals work excellent.

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psxkcwbuie.jpg

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...pspwukownv.jpg



After sitting in the car like this for a long time and taking g lots of measurements I concluded I could take 8" out of the roof. So I took the door off and drug it in my Fab shop.

Unfortunately I was so caught up in ideas and figuring out how to do it I forgot to take pictures of the process.

But basically I pulled the rubber track. Cut 8" off the bottom of the rubber track. Then took 8" out of the upper frame. Reinstalled the rubberand I was finished.

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psug6gxzfb.jpg

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...pswtl3ovgc.jpg

A pretty substantial chop.

I left myself 3.5 inches over my head. I figured 1.5" of roll cage and 2" of buffer should be enough.

Have either of you performed a top chop? I haven't.

But I was reading the little car mags in the 50s. It can turn out good or bad, depending.

There're slant chops, forward and back. Various ways to accommodate the tumblehome. With VWs you can do a Leatherman chop, where you quarter the body and narrow it. :eek: One of the best chops I've seen had the B-pillar cut a fraction less than the A- and C-pillars. This bowed the B-pillar out slightly but noticeably.

That why you position the roof and fit the doors to it.

Some pics for folks who don't like to look around:

http://www.explodingdinosaurs.com/20.../IMAGE_441.jpg
http://metrompg.com/posts/photos/1989xfiaerocar1-m.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-escIetFRaB...tail_metro.jpg



Thread with reference pics:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post507107

I assume some one was commenting on my post and the post have been removed?


If not then your post doesn't make much sense. Lol.

Just before to many people start getting negative about my ability it actually build my vision.

I would like to share some pictures of a rock crawler I am currently building.

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...pslfnftocw.jpg

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psilpqgioj.jpg


http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psagu10nn2.jpg

Subscribed!

There can never be too many aeromodded Metros in this world.

I see now that you were replying to your own self. My bad. So sorry it obviated the rest of the post, I guess one lives and dies on credibility.

When you mark the cuts post pix.

Another one of my favourites, though not as extreme as what you're planning, I like his approach with the windshield angle & door frame:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1491352943

From: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ropped-90.html

That one looks cool. But not feasible.

Factory glass won't work

I think we all like that one here!

Geo Insight!

This thread will become a mandatory read. Subscribed!

You got that right. :)

When you lower the lid, the tumblehome increases. The roll-down windows track moves outward at the bottom, balanced by the fact the window is shorter.

I'd cut across the bottom of the windshield (through the windshield wiper area)and lay the windshield back, then fill in the gap that opens up. A slant chop will put the back of the roof where you want it to be and save having to cut the DOT-approved windshield.

The rear quarter windows can be plexiglass. The door windows could be plexiglass with a hatch to hand over you license and insurance (or receive your timing slip :)) through. In the back you should have a massive boat tail anyways.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/398a72f1.jpg
Polycarbonate Windows Race/Track/Road Golf GTi Championship Approved Supplier

Just wow.

http://metrompg.com/posts/photos/1989xfiaerocar1-m.jpg

Except the right side needs hatches for cargo.

i want to do a car like the Xfi :D but eu laws, its far-fetched

Might I suggest some rust repair, before you cut anything and lose further structural integrity? Might help keep things square when you're done too!

Also excepting that the cabin should boat-tail like a submarine conning tower offset like an aircraft carrier.

Stubby79 — Else diagonal cross-bracing welded to the lower body

http://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/2...d-interior.jpg
Chopping the Shoebox Ford: Part 1 - Hot Rod Network

Also, plan the cuts:
http://www.hotrodhotline.com/md/asse...hop_Top-11.jpg
Chopping a Top

That's one of five illustrations, covering the planning basics in generic terms.

My car is rust free.


But no matter what it must be braced off before cutting or center will sag.

Must be the only one. :)

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/...psxkcwbuie.jpg

They're always rustier than you think.

his OTHER car is rust free. he has 2.

Ahh...your OTHER car is rust free. That one shown sure isn't.

They're always rustier than you think.

Some of you guys have a reading comprehension problem. Lol.



A even a rust free brand new car must be braced off if the roof is getting cut off.

See Permalink #18. Have you decided on the cut lines yet?

Only in my head.

Roof will be cut in to 6 different​ pieces

Split A pillers cut just beyond the windshield back to the B Piller.

Roof tin will be completely cut off and welded back in after a/b pillers are fit.


So the roof is going to be sliced up quite a bit. It's a little more extreme than a standard 8" chop on an old car.

Yeah, 32 Ford 5-windows were a straight drop and that got everybody started. Eventually it got to Cadzilla, with a later model windshield grafted in.

That might be a good opportunity to add in a sunroof, if you've always wanted one.

Why single passenger? Room for two unless going narrow as well.

Again reading comprehension problem on this page.


I am going narrow. Lolol.

In Frank Lee's defense, he may have meant an aggressive boat-tailing might preclude a tandem passenger.

No he said "unless narrow"

And I'm doing the big 3

Narrower, shorter and boat tail.

Why is other's reading comprehension so important to you?

I think I know what he was getting at [being wrong], frankly, because I take him 'seriously but not literally'. Why not chill and address that? Earlier today the aphorism on Slashdot was

Without going into P.D.O. being my introduction to Russian philosophers, I think this applies here as well as anywhere. I went back to take a screen shot for proof and it had changed already. :(

So, seriously, is the boat tail going to be asymmetrical and as long as the car, or symmetrical and longer than the car? Here\'s one of my favorites, a bubble-top coupe inside a hatchback roofline, the GTI W12-650:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-fr...w12-650-16.jpg

Keller and Frank Lee......

https://mylifeasafriendmatchmaker.fi...4/07/gutsy.jpg

So, did anything come of this?

Have several beater Civic hatchbacks myself. Always wanted a CRX. Just an angle grinder away haha.

Unibody chops concern me, though. The Fiero guys do some great stuff. A lot of French tuners pull it off well.

My comments at #21 and #23 are amusing alongside the avatar pic of my XFi.

At that time it would have been this: https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...perfect100.jpg

I find opinions are fluid with time. Especially when it comes to cars.

If you would have asked me about my car in 2017 I’d tell you I didn’t believe cars and that they were a massive scam to drain your bank account! Now I love ‘em.


But maybe I was right? :thumbup:

Nonetheless, it’s sad to see all the threads online about extremely modified metro ideas go silent. Especially with roof chops.

Do you see the benefit/genius of the GTI 650? You could knock out the side windows, cut a duct in the roof, and use a car topper for the inner shape. Or a copy of the Aerocivic hatch.

I do see the benefit! Have thought about it before. I’d say it’s more useful as a racing-based build as you could fashion the rear roofline into a wing and so on. I feel like the extra drag of having the original roofline in open airflow can get in the way of achieving a low drag car.

But! I could easily be wrong. There are many vehicles that make good cases for letting air pass *through* their bodywork. WMC250EV, Lotus Evija, Ford GT, etc.