Ive been thinking about converting my 4 door belair to a 2door and was wondering if anybody has done one of these cars? Ive seen some posts of tri-fives and some other cars but not 62-64 belairs or impalas. Its bagged rite now but i wanna go a different way with it and two door it and do more of a gasser style. And leave the six in it!! Any info or pics would be way helpful. Thanks
Looks very doable turning it into a 2 door "post" car as the roofs etc. look the same (...but I personally would rather have the 4 door if I were doing a cruiser, however this 2 door post may be the best looking one Ive seen)
I really wanna do a gasser style and ive seen a couple 4door gasser that look good but not sure with the 62-64. I got a set of tires an wheels at a swap meet and gonna use em on the belair. Gonna lose the bags and since i replaced the rusty quarter panels with scrap stainless i scrounged at work im gonna trim the wheel wells to fit. I love the looks of a tire hangin out of the wheel well it reminds me of all the cars at our local drag strip in the 70's!
You patched the quarters with stainless and are cutting the wheel wells out, as in radiusing them? Sorry, not feeling it......but maybe, I have been wrong before???
It may get radius and maybe not i just wanna put some more meat under the back an there aint much room in there now. And that 2door you posted is a sweet car! I like the 2 door look.
Sounds like you are emulating a bracket race car - anything out of anything. I hate using the term...back in the day...but I was back in the day and I don't recall ever seeing an x-frame GM gasser - two door or four door. Many will have traditional problems with that concept. Taking a reasonably good cruiser and turning it into a poor handling, low performance zip-code car doesn't seem a sane thing to do....
Bzzzt ..Wrong car. Why not make it a 2dr. Stock, S/S ,or FX clone? Probably ought to visit George Klass' site, and get your mind right. LOL
I wanna go more this route but still driveable, not so much straight axle front and giant slicks hangin out the back like some gassers. But before any suspension changes i still wanna do a 2 door conversion and am just tryin to find any info on doing this to a 63-64.
Rusty O'toole X2. I posted an exact duplicate of Rustys post that included a picture of my 63 BelAir 2 door post car. The post was deleted by a moderator because it has 17" polished American wheels. Converting a 4 door into a 2 door is in my estimation too much work as 2 doors are still readily available. I'd start with a 2 door. Gary
"Fast" is not exactly a word i would use to describe my car, but runs way better than stock with just a few mods.
If you are going to go to all the trouble to make it into a 2dr and paint it (I assume?) like a race car it seems like it at least ought to be fast? I think I'm in the "start over with a different car" camp on this one. It looks like you have a nice cruiser now.
Seems like a bad idea, but, if you had some doors from a two door, and you've got the chops, go ahead on.
1963hoopty the secret to a successful conversion is getting 2dr sed. doors I say go for it. I my opinion 2 dr cars look better and are more valuable whether stock or hot rodded. As far as a gasser look, as has been said it would lend itself more towards a stocker or AFX car. Pat
I know im gonna get some flack for wanting to do this, and im sure i could find a 2 door instead but ive owned this car for 26yrs and its been in my family since new so selling it will never be an option. I just dig the 2 doors and my dad talked about doin this when it was his car when i was a kid. Im sure it will be a ton of work but i call it "garage therapy!"
Look on ' layitlow ' web site they have those conversions on a bunch of different cars especially impala s Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You want to keep the car, but you don't mind making it unrecognizable from the original? Here's what you do. Find a 2 dr. with the same amount of rust or maybe less. (you will need a 2 dr. donor car anyway) Paint it green with base coat and flat clear, and a bit of spray gray primer Of course you'll want to take the 283 out , if it has one. Put the six popper in . Tell everybody you converted dad's old car to a 2 dr.. Hack the VIN plate off the 4 dr. body and put it in the glove box while you cruise around town. Trust me..Way to go. I love this site !
The white '63 with the '61 Impala type roof looks fine in that side profile shot. I'd like to get a chance to study that car in person. Roof's got a great design. If it works good on the '63, '64 would be okay too, wouldn't it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/undergoing-body-reassignment-surgery.608094/ Read my thread above on my '62 Chrysler 2 door sedan conversion. Your Chevy will go very similarly. You will want to have some 2 door sedan doors and door posts handy before you start. But if you've got the pieces to do it, it's really not that hard. I've done several and if I had the pieces for your '64 I bet I could knock that conversion out in 3 days. If you've owned it for that long and it has sentimental value, but you really want a 2 door, the conversion makes a lot of sense. Then you've got what you really want but it's still the same car. A rusted out donor car to give you the doors and posts would be no big loss or cost. You can do this. I'm not feeling the 6 cylinder 1963 full size "gasser" idea but that's your personal choice. Here's a couple of other ones I've done. Also doing a '33 Ford 4 door sedan into 5W coupe (coming along nice) and a '56 for a friend of mine and a '57 for myself, no pics of those though. Do it, prove the naysayers wrong. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-make-a-4-door-into-a-2-door.78120/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/56-chevy-2-door-conversion-build-thread.753008/
Look up 63 bubbletop for a couple videos of that car, no details on what they did but gives a walk around in one vid.
Thanks for the info on the conversion! Ive seen your conversion threads and will refer to them as i go along on this project. The car does have a lot of sentimental value and making it a 2 door wont change that because its still my great grandpas car (that i still have the orig sales receipt from oct '62) but now its cooler as a 2 door. As for the six im gonna leave it cuz anybody can just put a small block in and i love the six cuz its different! Crower rods,flat top pistons, a good cam, and a little headwork make for a decent running engine an not the same as every other guy down the street! And it sounds crazy with the header exit behind the front wheel! Different strokes for different folks! I appreciate all the feed back even from those that think its a bad idea i was just looking for tech info an not concerened whether i "should do it or not!"
I understand sentimental value and would have replied differently had you led with that. Best of luck to you! Post your progress (no pun intended!)
Well I say your wrong. That car is a family heirloom and if you modify it into two door, it's no longer the car your Grandpa bought. I would leave the car unmolested, and buy a real two door model. That's my Frank opinion. Sent from my SM-J700T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I bought an original mileage, 63 Chevrolet Biscayne, 4 door sedan; it had 52K original miles on it, 230 six cylinder and column shifted 3 speed, no radio even.. Plan was to make it into a sleeper; 327, Glide, 4.88 Posi rear; but, I came into my first 56 Sedan Delivery (first or four), and plans changed. I still have the perfect front bench seat, and the radio delete plate; the rest got parted out. It had been wrecked at one time in the right rear, and the bondo was lifting badly. I say leave your car a 4 door, drop at 454/TH400 from a truck or motorhome, and swap in a Currie 9 inch. Sleeper car for sure! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
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