So I want a street car without a windshield

Blame:

So, a couple of months ago I went to Miatafest over in Irvine. Cool event, good networking, free food... but lots of bad ideas.

Now I want to get an NA Miata, take the windshield off and drive it on the street. Lower weight, less frontal area, good reason to wear some old aviator headgear... what could possibly go wrong?

Actually that's a legitimate question. Besides legality issues, how bad of an idea is this? Will it reduce structural rigidity at all? If so, would it be reasonable to fix any lost rigidity with a simple brace? I know there are plenty of FP Miatas running around like this, but I can't afford such a class and there are too many canyons around me to ignore.

Can't really help you with you questions just want to enable a little bit.

It's not going to be street legal, plus at anything above about 20mph your face is gonna get beat up pretty good from the wind as well as all the junk thrown up from other cars.

As far as the driving experience goes, try thinking motorcycle with a body rather than car without a windshield and all of a sudden things are pretty manageable.

stuart in mn wrote: It's not going to be street legal, plus at anything above about 20mph your face is gonna get beat up pretty good from the wind as well as all the junk thrown up from other cars.

+1.

I bet you could get away with it if you had a small plexi-style windscreen, like so:

For what it's worth, I dream of building a replica of this someday:

Jeep, windshield folded.

stuart in mn wrote: It's not going to be street legal, plus at anything above about 20mph your face is gonna get beat up pretty good from the wind as well as all the junk thrown up from other cars.

Depends on location. It would be legal here in Texas.

Early Healey 3000. Window folds down. When you have eaten enough bugs you put it up.

I believe in Washington you are required to have wipers - not a windshield.

As the owner of a windshieldless na I don't think it would be too bad. I'd don't drive mine on the street, but I hav considered it. You will likely want eye protection since I need it while autoxing and that is without other cars around. Having removed it I'm pretty sure it doesn't add to the structural rigity much if at all. It does get cold though and really limits the practicality of the car, but if you think of it as a motorcycle, you have a very practical bike. Also you don't save that much weight...

I think you will want some sort of deflector for the air, like a small fairing on a bike. A short plexi shield would work well. As others have said, check your local regs on legality.

Brooklands?

How does it feel to be hit in the face by a June bug at 70 mph? How about a rock large enough to crack a windshield? I don't know, but I have 5 cracks in my windshield and, as cool as a car might look, don't want a face messed up even more than it already is.

All this aside, it doesn't matter how much you want it if local cops give you a ticket every time they see the car...

wear a bike helmet. Not too bad...

My first thought was get a Wrangler and fold it down. The hinges are already there.

Johnboyjjb wrote: I believe in Washington you are required to have wipers - not a windshield.

Same thing in New York.

kb58 wrote: How does it feel to be hit in the face by a June bug at 70 mph? How about a rock large enough to crack a windshield?

I'd be very tempted to wear a full face helmet all the time, taking rock in the chest/arm on a motorbike hurts, I can't imagine getting hit in the face. Also, with your head being the only thing exposed, it's the only thing that will ever get hit by stuff.

I can't believe nobody has said "Ariel Atom." You'll want a tiny wind deflector (Brooklands screen) to reduce drag. I wouldn't even consider it without a full face helmet, and said helmet will need to be aero, e.g., designed to reduce lift.

Removing the windshield is part of my recurring dream of "How fast can I make a Miata without adding money (Miata Anorexia). But the idea of a rollover forces, at the minimum, a stout roll bar, if not full cage. Kinda spoils the lines.

That begs the question of whether the original windshield frame will actually hold up in a rollover...

David

NOHOME wrote: Early Healey 3000. Window folds down. When you have eaten enough bugs you put it up.

Actually it would be the Healey 100 series.....

why a Brooklands windscreen and not a tall-ish Gurney flap placed where the base of the windshield used to be? consistent downforce as close to the middle of the car as you could realistically get it without turning your Miata into a roadgoing replica of Big Oly (the most famous desert racing Ford Bronco, the one with the 747-sized wing as the roof, for anyone not familiar with it), and it should keep smaller stuff out of your face almost better than a Brooklands screen, and MIGHT provide enough airflow to keep rain off of you at highway speeds as long as nobody was in front of you, although even then visibility would be better because you wouldn't have a windshield to get all misty

MW, how much weight do you think you saved? I'm thinking 30lbs or so. Did you notice much difference in the behavior of the car?

Honestly the vintage airplane headgear comment was kind of a joke and a full-face helmet is absolutely a part of the plan. Also, this is a raw canyon machine, not a cruiser and I'll be avoiding highways for the most part. I might take it out to El Mirage for some fun, but there's nothing to hit of be hit with out there.

But back to the legality, I leave in California and am subject to the laws of said state so I hit up the DMV website and found this: 26700. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a passenger vehicle, other than a motorcycle, and every bus, motortruck or truck tractor, and every firetruck, fire engine or other fire apparatus, whether publicly or privately owned, shall be equipped with an adequate windshield.

(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any vehicle issued identification plates pursuant to Section 5004 which was not required to be equipped with a windshield at the time it was first sold or registered under the laws of this state, another state, or foreign jurisdiction.

So basically, I would love someone more legally minded than myself to find a way to say a Brooklands-esque screen is "adequate" or that there is some other place that NA Miatas were sold that didn't require them to have a windshield at the time. Being that there are states without laws requiring windshields even at the present time, I feel like this must be possible.

As far as the rollover possibilities, I can't imagine the existing window frame provides much support, if any, in such an event so I wouldn't be terribly concerned with replacing it. If I were to take the car to the track, a roll cage would go in and I might even try out some aero-shaped foam.

While Brooklands certainly look good, I hope nobody's thinking they actually work. Well, they do work, deflecting very tiny bugs that are light enough to be pushed up over your head by the airstream. However, tiny bugs aren't the problem, it's the June bugs, wasps, bees, bumble bees, rocks, and 18-wheeler tire scraps that'll continue straight through the deflected airstream into your head. As was mentioned, a full-face helmet is an absolute requirement.

DWNSHFT wrote: That begs the question of whether the original windshield frame will actually hold up in a rollover...

Survey says..

Uh, NO

Felipe Massa does not approve of this idea.

Don't forget, while you lose the weight of the windshield, you also shed the weight in the back by ditching the ragtop. That's probly another 40 lbs or so.

What good is a top if you have nothing to latch it to, to keep it down while driving?

I've thought about doing it also, but just for a track-only car. There's more things in that area that you can get rid of to save that same amount of weight. Heater core, airbags, radio, cutting out the shelvs in the engine bay, trimming down the engine harness, removing deadening material, etc.

-meaty