From: Dan [dbrindle@kondratyev.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2002 3:36 AM
To: 928
Subject: [928] RE: Convertible options?

Rick,

The amount of work to convert to a convertible is formidable.  The first
thing you will have to decide is how to reinforce the car.  My car was done
from what I understand by a group in LA that used to do customizing for the
stars.  While it was nice job it was a little less than Porsche quality when
it came to the details.  When I bought the car I gutted the interior and
started both on the chassis and the wiring.

My car is reinforced from the inside of the car and with the exception of
the boot cover all of the rest of the modifications were down with steel and
aluminum.  I have seen other conversions that were reinforced from under the
car by putting on an X frame.   These conversions have used fiberglass for
the trunk lid, door modifications and the boot cover.  In looking at these
conversions they also eliminate the rear seats but the boot posts take up
too much room to put in rear seats.

On mine the reinforcing is done on the inside of the car.  To get the
strength there is a channel bar welded over the inside rocker panel inside
the door.  This makes the area between the side of the seat and the door
narrower.  Porsche chose to locate a lot of things in this area requiring
modifications to the parking brake cover and the cover for the amplifiers on
the passenger side.  On the passenger side there is the main wiring harness
for the rear of the car.  This had to be removed and rerouted around the
supports.  The conversion did not run the channel much in front the front
door post.  The reason for this is the number of items located in the side
panels that would have had to been remounted.  I am sure from jacking up the
car that it is strong enough, but had I been putting in these reinforcements
I would have run them to the firewall.

To get strength for the rear of the car braces were welded on to the face of
the frame portion of the car that goes under the side of the rear seats.
From this point they removed the rear seats, added support posts for the top
and a flat plate across the entire rear of the car for support.  Mine had
cutouts that were reinforced on the edge of the opening with round bar
stock.  The holes were then fitted with some very big speakers and an
amplifier system.  I have not yet seen a convertible conversion that did not
eliminate the back seat.  For me one of the reasons I own a 928 is for the
extra seating capacity.  I would probably choose to own some other car if I
was centered on a two seater.

The area where the trunk lid connects is reinforced with channel bar across
the car.  This all ties together with the pillars for the top.  The trunk
lid is made out of aluminum - even so it is pretty heavy.  They cut the lip
off the original rear hatch and used it as the start of the trunk lid.  This
has the advantage of having the same mount for the hatch latch and contour.
On mine they deleted the exterior key, which I have since put back.

The rear wheel wells were cut down and replaced with plate steel.  This
provides space for the top to fold.  The back of the car was raised up and
the car came from the factory with the Gold Bilstein package.  Even with the
increased height and stiff springs the tires tend to hit the top of the
wheel wells with less than aggressive driving.

The top folds down into a boot behind the rear seats.  The boot cover is
made of fiberglass and reinforced with a metal bar frame.  It was not
counter balanced nor did it have a bar to hold it when it was in the up
position.  This made putting the top down a two person job.  I added some
gas hood shocks to counter balance the boot cover.  The latches for the rear
of the top that sit down on the boot cover operate manually.  They are a
real pain to get to.  The original job had a plastic handle and some bicycle
cables as a release, but that has long since departed this earth.  I am
planning to convert the release latches to work off an electric solenoid.
Probably the biggest disappointment to the whole affair is the top has to be
operated manually - a let down for a car that has power everything else..
This is a projection some time down the road that I want to automate.

I am not sure if the top frame was from another car or fabricated from
scratch.  The top is high grade canvas and is not lined.  Lining would be
another nice feature if you lived in a cold climate or wanted to reduce some
road noise.  I find it not much of a problem even when using the air
conditioner on relatively hot days.  Since part of the interior of the car
is eliminated by the trunk the capacity of both the heater and air
conditioner are adequate.

The windshield was reinforced using the top channel of the door.  The
interface of the door to the windshield is very nicely done.  It looks very
much like something that could have come from the factory.  The breakdown in
the system is the fitment around the windows.  These were customized out of
some rubber channels and are prone to leaking.  I have decided to drive the
car only in summer so it is not much of a problem.

Overall I would not attempt a conversion on my own.  There are enough used
one out there that if you wanted a project it would be easier and cheaper to
restore one that has been converted rather than attempt the complete
conversion.  I was quoted between $15-25K plus shipping to and from France
for a conversion depending on how complete I wanted the car finished.  The
premium I paid over a clean and similar condition 86 was much less that that
figure.  What I find is the amount of time needed to make repairs or
enhancements to the conversion portion of the car is greater by two to three
times than the mechanical work that I have done on the car.  It seems it
takes a great deal of time and patience to do the fine detail work when
compared to changing a transmission or other similar mechanical work.

Hope this helps and check my web page for pictures and other details.  Good
luck.

Dan the Pod Guy
Portia's Parts