1950 fleetline fastback "2 door conversion"

all right... ive read many 4 door to 2 door post but have yet to see a 49-52 fleetline fast back 2 door conversion. i know everyone says just buy a 2 door,but everybody is doin that. theres no skill in buying one already done. i dont mind a little challenge and maybe getting a little dirty. i know the answer is out there...i just need a little help finding it.
this is what im working with.

 

I scrapped a 2-door over the summer you could probably have used the quarters out of.

Everything below the beltline will be the same as any other '49-'52 Chevy, but the door tops and quarter windows (of course) are unique to this body style.

Car looks nice the way it is, one of the few decent looking 4drs IMHO -

 

Personally, I'd leave it alone, but I know that's not what you want to hear.
Good luck, whatever your decision. Nice car!

 

I would just take outside door handles off the rear doors....and drive it...my 2 cents worth

 

Yeah, that's one four-door you don't need to convert.

 

leave it alone , or sell it to me .
my $.02

 

I would leave it alone. It looks badass just the way it is. Seriously, don't convert it..

 

That car is beautiful stock - please leave it alone! One of the few four doors that look right!

 

one cool thing about fleetlines is a 4 door isnt that noticeable, you would really only be converting for yourself. In this model it doesnt really change the look

 

unless you have a 2dr donor body, it will never be quite right. i'd wait for a 2dr to come along before i cut that nice unit.

 

i have to agree with all the above posts. a 4-dr fleetline is pretty just the way it is. if you're still wanting to do a conversion, sell this one and find a rougher one to do.

 

That is the one 4 door car that looks good as a 4 door...besides 4 door hard tops. I would leave it as it is and enjoy driving it

 

We always want what we don`t have. I with everybody else on this one. Do some mild upgrades maybe some full disk hub caps and lower it down and drive it like it is. Moredoors can be cool too

 

I agree. Due to the way the rear doors blend into the roof-line and rear quarters, these Chevies are one of the few four-doors that look just as good as a two-door, IMHO.

 

i might just shave the handles, that would look good. maybe ill just stick to a few minor body and bumper mods and be done. thanks for the opinions guys!

 

I'm on the bandwagon. That car is too nice to risk catastrophe.

 

Your car...do what you want to it, and enjoy !!!
I do not disagree with the others though on it being a really nice 4 door
Keep us posted...

 

chop it !

 

Do the conversion. Starting with a nice car is what your supposed to do. Cut it up. Starting with a rotted out shitbox 4 door is stupid. You can buy rotted to death shitbox 2 doors for short cash if that was the case.

 

How come dudes with killer 4 doors still want to do silly shit like shaving rear door handles or welding doors closed etc.? There have been some really nice 2-doors made from 4-doors, but I think a sedan like yours is way cooler than a lot of coupes I've seen. Do what you want (obviously), just don't make a rash decision based on a myth that 2-doors are the only cool cars on planet earth. If you truly suffer from an incurable case of coupe-envy... BUY A COUPE!

 

Having just done a 4 to 2 door conversion on my Merc wagon I say this:

Nail your foot to the floor if you are really into pain.
Leave this one alone. Looks GREAT as a 4 door.

 

My opinion;
Play with photoshop or another image manipulation program and see what you can make it look like before you cut on it. If you find a design that really grabs you, go for it. I cut up a perfectly good 4 door sedan, but I am really happy with the way it turned out. I didn't just start cutting and deside how it shoule be in the middle of sawing it up though. I started at the images of other cars I liked, played with ways to get to a similar point and found a way to make that happen.
I would really have to be very sure i could make it better before I cut this car up though, it looks cool like it is, even with rear door handles.
Search the threads I have started and you will see what I did and get an idea how I did it. Not that it is all that similar to what you are doing though.

 

I agree with 34Chrysler....
If you MUST cut it, photoshop is your friend.


The picture above is the result of 2 years planning asking, photo-shopping and general yearning on my part and with the help of a bunch of guys here. We streched, chopped channeled, moved and in general tried most every doable combination and a few that weren't ( like Caddy fins).

SEEING the result before you start might change your mind as I don't think htere will be much visual difference.

 

The guy asked for info on the conversion. He never asked for an opinion about whether he should do it, but gets two pages of opinion and no tech info.

I haven't seen one done, but yeah it can be done on this car and the procedure would be very much the same as the '55-'57 and '59-'60 conversions. You can find plenty of info on those with a HAMB search.

 

I agree with everyone here! Leave it like it is, I would probably shave all the door handles but thats it.

 

Me Too!

 

If it were mine....heh heh, I'd be interested in changing it into a two door, but not just a clone of the factory job. For all that work, I'd be looking to create something unique.
Play around with Photoshop, perhaps slanting the posts and extending the doors an additional 3-4" over the stock two door configuration.
Sweet roof-line and a lot of custom potential there.

 

I say it looks cool as is but you could look at my albums and see how I did my 51 sedan. Its a lot of work but I am very happy with mine. I also started a few threads about mine if you want to check them out. PM me if you have questions.

 

The only guys who think four doors are cool are the guys who don't have two doors! Cut it or sell it and get a two door, you'll never be happy with less.

 

If this was a regular 4 door sedan, I'd say go for it, but it'll be tougher to do with a Fleetline since you'll need 2 door Fleetline doors and quarters to make it work. Regular 2 door sedan doors won't fit.

I'm a big fan of 2 door conversions and this one is do-able but you'd need the right donor car to pull it off. Lengthening the original front doors would be tough, and they need to be the right length to get the proportions right.