# May I cut off the top of my car? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705 "2006-02-02T18:55:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/1 "2006-02-02T18:55:07Z")
I want to cut off the top of my van and use it for some kind of weird convertible, touring vehicle. I would, of course, leave the windshield in place. Are there any laws against this? thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/2 "2006-02-02T19:00:51Z")
Yes, it would be illegal, as you would be driving an unsafe vehicle. The roof is a structural part of the vehicle, and removing it would drastically weaken the remaining stucture, making the vehicle completely and utterly unsafe. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/3 "2006-02-02T19:03:15Z")
Regardless of whether or not there are applicable laws where you are, you first should consider the advisedness of such a course of action. For one thing, vehicles that are not designed from the ‘ground up’ as convertibles just don’t have the torsional rigidity that they need. The least of your worries would then be that you’ll have some uncomfortable and/or weird twisting going on at speed. A much more dire result would be catastrophic bending of the drive shaft (although that’s more likely for an all-wheel or rear-wheel drive van) or body. If the front and rear wheels get out of line with each other (as you sometimes see with abused cargo vans), it can result in an odd driving attitude where the driver is no longer _quite_ facing the direction the vehicle is traveling in. Made worse, this can make the vehicle un-steerable. ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/4 "2006-02-02T19:04:07Z")
I don’t know the law in Oklahoma specifically, but the roof is a major structural component of any modern vehicle. Just cutting it off without reinforcing the rest of the body may not be _illegal_ where you are, but it’s very _dangerous_, so I’d advise someone not experienced in major modifications of this type against doing it, in the strongest possible way. 🙂 At the very least, it will invalidate your insurance, so you’ll have to get a new policy. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/5 "2006-02-02T19:07:54Z")
Have you considered a less ambitious plan such as installing a huge sunroof rather than removing the entire van top? The “Car Talk” guys recently counseled somebody who wanted to do this with a [station wagon](http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2000/January/01.html): > [@](#): > > Dear Tom and Ray: > I am the proud owner of a 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon. Right now, it’s painted spearmint green with two large racing stripes up the middle. I have also attached several strands of Christmas tree lights to the hood. This all works fine, but I was thinking that a real big sunroof would make the car perfect. Being a poor, recently graduated student and seeing how the car isn’t likely to last another year, I want to build the sunroof myself with the help of a saw. Will I do something really bad to the car by trying this myself? What kind of saw would you guys recommend? – Josh […] > > **Ray** : You can certainly try this yourself. It’s hard to imagine doing much aesthetic harm to a spearmint green wagon with racing stripes and Christmas tree lights on it. > > **Tom** : The only caution is that you don’t want to make the sunroof too big, or you’ll decrease the structural safety of the car – of which the roof plays a key role. So don’t go overboard in terms of size. […] ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/6 "2006-02-02T20:14:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Have you considered a less ambitious plan such as installing a huge sunroof rather than removing the entire van top? The “Car Talk” guys recently counseled somebody who wanted to do this with a [station wagon](http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2000/January/01.html): That’s funny. The first thing I thought of when I saw this thread was my college neighbors that turned their _spearmint green_ station wagon into a true convertible. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/7 "2006-02-02T20:19:43Z")
I saw an episode on, I think, The Discovery Channel (Don’t remember the series title, but the guys did surprise customizations of people’s cars. It wasn’t Pimp My Ride.) where the crew not only restored this man’s father’s T-Bird, but cut the roof off and made it into a roadster. It was a LOT of work and they did have to reinforce things as I recall to maintain the structural rigidity. The result was beautiful, but like I said, it was a LOT of work, not by any means something the average person could di in his/her garage. I agree with the posters above. Unless there was something really special about your vehicle, it would probably cheaper to buy a brand new (or at least used)convertible than to do the job properly. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/8 "2006-02-02T20:29:44Z")
I’d be leery of that - in a roll-over, the roof is meant to protect you. I know that all the convertibles I’ve seen that don’t have visible roll-over bars have hidden ones that pop up in the event of an accident. Removing that protection seems unsafe to me. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/9 "2006-02-02T21:11:19Z")
As mentioned above, after market shops chops roofs off of cars all the time. Usally cars that were never designed to be convertibles. But they also go to great lengths to increase the stiffness of frame due to the lack a structural integrety from the roof. A car that was designed to have a roof could buckle onto itself if they didn’t. No, it’s not illegal. Convertables have always been inheritly dangerous vehicles, roll bars or not. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/10 "2006-02-02T22:05:49Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > I know that all the convertibles I’ve seen that don’t have visible roll-over bars have hidden ones that pop up in the event of an accident. Removing that protection seems unsafe to me. Really? Can you name a few models? I’ve never rolled my Miata, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t any magic hidden rollbars to save my ass if I had. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/11 "2006-02-02T22:20:16Z")
thank you all very much for your replies. I think that I shall defer the project indefinitely. thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/12 "2006-02-02T22:57:55Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > Really? Can you name a few models? > > I’ve never rolled my Miata, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t any magic hidden rollbars to save my ass if I had. I don’t know about the Miata specifically, but [this Google Search](http://www.google.ca/search?q=convertible+%22roll-over%22+OR+%22roll+over%22+%22pop+up%22) should get you a few results. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/13 "2006-02-02T23:03:54Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > I know that all the convertibles I’ve seen that don’t have visible roll-over bars have hidden ones that pop up in the event of an accident. While a few convertible models have them, it’s definitely not all. > [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > Really? Can you name a few models? > > I’ve never rolled my Miata, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t any magic hidden rollbars to save my ass if I had. No, Miatas don’t have them, I think they’re exclusively in German cars. The idea was introduced in the Mercedes 300SL and 500SL, which came out in 1990. The roll bar pops up if sensors detect the car is rolling over. Other Mercedes convertibles have them, and I know some Porsches have similar systems as well. On the VW Beetle convertible: > [@](#): > > The all-new roll bar system uses a sensor-based system to anticipate a rollover situation and deploy Automatic Rollover Supports. Anticipating a rollover, the system pops the spring-loaded headrests up 10.4 inches and locks them into place, forming supports that are strong enough for the vehicle’s weight and protecting front and rear passengers in combination with a reinforced windshield frame. From [here](http://www.thecarconnection.com/Vehicle_Reviews/Sports_Convertibles/2003_VW_New_Beetle_Convertible.S184.A5473.html). ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/14 "2006-02-02T23:21:45Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > I saw an episode on, I think, The Discovery Channel (Don’t remember the series title, but the guys did surprise customizations of people’s cars. It wasn’t Pimp My Ride.) Sounds like Overhaulin’ > **[Truck Driver Salary Guide - How Much Do Truck Drivers Make?](http://cdltraining.org/truck-driver-salary/)** > > For a rookie, the trucking industry can be a tough place. Many new drivers are lured into this career path by the appeal of freedom, being out on the open That was the episode called “Illegal Fowl”. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-cut-off-the-top-of-my-car/342705/15 "2006-02-02T23:27:51Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Sounds like Overhaulin’ > > [Truck Driver Salary Guide - How Much Do Truck Drivers Make?](http://www.overhaulin.com/show5.aspx) > > That was the episode called “Illegal Fowl”. Just clicked on it and …That’s it! You nailed it in one! Thanks. 🙂