Removing rear glass hatch window>>

[saxguy]

Has anyone ever removed the rear hatch window (the glass which covers the engine) You could cover the engine w/ a flat piece of plexi glass or custom make some glass or use a different type of material. It would add a new line to the car, and leave only the glass behind the passenger and driver, like some ferrari's.

Just a thought, if someone has done this, does anyone know where I can find a pic?

THanks,
Chris

 

[Mako88]

Uh....OK. People have too much time on their hands I guess. Maybe you'd like to remove the car's body panels and drive with just the frame and internals exposed?

LOL, jesus now I've heard it all....

 

[G-man]

Someone has obviously been looking at the pictures of the new Ferrari 360 Spyder. The clear glass panel over the rear deck that exposes the engine is really sexy for sure. In a similar manner, I have seen some of the turbo NSX conversions include removal of the engine compartment cover to expose the engine of the NSX under the glass canopy. Also done for weight savings in racing. But, knowing those crafty engineers at Honda the way that I do, I would imagine that the glass in the NSX is shaped and designed in such a way to offer the car increase structure rigidity that would be SEVERLY compromised if you were to remove it and cover the engine bay with something else. Everything in the car was done for a reason and the back glass is no exception.

If you really like the Ferrari look, then save up 16,800,000 of you pennies and buy one. Me, I would rather buy 2 NSXs at that price than 1 Ferrari. With that in mind... since I already own an NSX, and seeing how wonderful the 2001 Ferrari 360 Spyder is looking, I am saving my pennies now.

------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com

 

[Lud]

Originally posted by saxguy:
It would add a new line to the car, and leave only the glass behind the passenger and driver, like some ferrari's.

It will look more like a sporty El Camino project car. You'll probably get really bad aerodynamics too.

For it to have any chance of looking decent you'd need to fabricate something to cover the edges around the rear window and some something to taper Ferrari-style from the B-pillars to the engine cover area. You'd also need an engine cover that looked "finished" around the edges and would stay down without the hatch glass holding it.

 

[Bob from New Zealand]

G-Man,

You may know some Honda engineers, but do you really think that the removal of the glass cover would SEVERLY affect strength of the Coupe?

Come on ... it has one little catch, and is seated in rubber .... I think not, but I am prepared to be proven wrong some by really convincing argument.

From the point of view of aerodynamics I am sure that removing the glass hatch would be a major reduction in efficiency (and personally I must agree, in looks).

Warm regards, Bob in New Zealand.

 

[G-man]

Originally posted by Bob from New Zealand:
You may know some Honda engineers, but do you really think that the removal of the glass cover would SEVERLY affect strength of the Coupe?

I don't know that Saxguy said it was for a Coupe. In looking at the way the glass canopy is mounted, I can imagine that the top edge of the glass is a structural "strut" that helps the roof line rigidity in the NSX-T for sure. In order to make the NSX as light as possible, every single member is likely to perform some additive stuctural role in the overall calculations. IMHO While the added rigidity may be less than 5% of the overall left to right strength, it still figures into the equations and can result in unintended asymetrical stresses on other components.

Oh, I may have forgotten to mention that I am one of the founding members of the Lab for Scientific Visual Analysis here at Virginia Tech and have worked on Super Computer Simulations on these kinds of structural dynamics in all manner of vehicles with the National Center for SuperComputing Applications. But, I will conceed that there is a chance I could be mistaken.

------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com

 

[Bob from New Zealand]

OK G-Man so you are really saying the glass hatch MAY have some MINOR implications for structural integrity, and not as you originally stated...

"the glass (hatch) in the NSX is shaped and designed in such a way to offer the car increased structure rigidity that would be SEVERLY compromised if you were to remove it"

It is also worth noting that the NSX is not considered to be particularly lightweight. Although the clever folks at Honda went for the use of lightweight alloy material for the NSX's construction it would appear to have been conservatively (some would say "over") engineered.

Oh, and remember Gordy, computers are only as smart as the folks that program them.

Warm regards,
Bob in New Zealand.

 

[G-man]

Originally posted by Bob from New Zealand:
Oh, and remember Gordy, computers are only as smart as the folks that program them.

Well Bob, If I didn't know better, I would think that was a jab at me.

I will concede that removing the roof would not "SEVERLY" compromise the integrity of the NSX, but hard driving without the glass could create unintended excentric stresses that can damage the structural integrity of the rest of the aluminum frame in the longrun.

------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Originally posted by Lud:
It will look more like a sporty El Camino project car. You'll probably get really bad aerodynamics too.

My thoughts exactly. Check out the crash and burn gallery:
http://www.nsxprime.com/Gallery/crashburn/JH4NA1154NT000381-c.jpg

Imagine seeing that, but with doors. Needs bigger B-pillars that taper off to the start of the trunk lid.

 

[Bob from New Zealand]

Hey G-man,

Re the computer comment ... yeah in hindsight it was a little cheeky and it was nice you took it with a "grain of salt".

Warm regards,

Bob in New Zealand

 

[skinnydoc]

Re: Removing rear glass hatch window>>

Actually, I think many people have removed the rear glass hatch window without a significant loss of structural integrity when they converted the car to a convertible,

Just check...

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46119&highlight=convertible

 

[nsxtasy]

Wow - reviving a four year old topic! (I'm not even sure why.)

FWIW, I don't think very many people who know a lot about the NSX would put these two phrases in the same sentence:

"without a significant loss of structural integrity"

and

"when they converted the car to a convertible"

 

[ajnsx]

Re: Removing rear glass hatch window>>

Time to post the gold nsx with the f1 hatch thing again, i'm sure we had this discussion a couple months ago! :biggrin:

 

[DB92]

Re: Removing rear glass hatch window>>

I don't know that Saxguy said it was for a Coupe. In looking at the way the glass canopy is mounted, I can imagine that the top edge of the glass is a structural "strut" that helps the roof line rigidity in the NSX-T for sure. In order to make the NSX as light as possible, every single member is likely to perform some additive stuctural role in the overall calculations. IMHO While the added rigidity may be less than 5% of the overall left to right strength, it still figures into the equations and can result in unintended asymetrical stresses on other components.

Oh, I may have forgotten to mention that I am one of the founding members of the Lab for Scientific Visual Analysis here at Virginia Tech and have worked on Super Computer Simulations on these kinds of structural dynamics in all manner of vehicles with the National Center for SuperComputing Applications. But, I will conceed that there is a chance I could be mistaken.

------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com

Wow, I was embrrassed for you when you suggested that the rear glass hatch had a considerable role in the structural integrity of the chassis. Then you one upped yourself by letting us know that by the nature of your job you should have an upper hand on a subject such as this. But you didnt. That peice of glass isnt even adhered to the body,its held on by hinges and latches with foam in between the body and "structual" glass. The NSX chassis dosnt even flex enough for the body to compress the foam seal and then transfer that stress to to glass section. LOl
We all do it though ,say somthing silly now and then. If i were you I would 100% conceed on that one.