Customs 1955 Cadillac Chop & Full Custom Build !

don't ask me
i'm still drunk

 

Anyone every do up Carson top chopped 55? I'd love to see that done. I'm leaning more to a 2 door roadster if I bring one home. Got to use all that California sunshine for something,

 

Hey Flop,

What are your plans for taking up the torsional forces in the body once the roof panel & posts are cut? The boxing of the package shelf in and of itself, won't do this. The oem stretcher panels and wheelhouses of this Caddie aren't designed to take these loads. Without much reinforcement in the sills, cowl & frame of the vehicle, you'll have alot of movement at the striker posts and your door alignment will soon suck! I'd suggest a study of body engineering of droptop vehicles of this era to insure that your build doesn't get ya in legal hotwater when the doors don't close, or fly open when going around curves. Body flex, even in well engineered vehicles, is a big issue anytime you build a vehicle without a lid/top.

And please, no Zocchi knock offs!

" The real pity in america is that the people who really know how to run the country are all tending bar and cutting hair " - George Burns -

 

hey pimpin, no posts are being cut. it is already a hardtop. floor is solid as are rockers and the brace that runs the length of the floor width wise plus adding another brace that runs the width of the car in the trunk area mimicking the factory brace inbetween the striker posts. do ya think it would need more?

 

If I recall, drop tops of this era had an "X" frame with heavy steel plates where the rails intersected, at mid court of the vehicle. This coupled with boxes sections in the package shelf/boot area, & sills/rockers, more steel in the cowl & ''beefy'' hinges, strikers & ''dove tails'' in the door jam all formed a box when the roof was removed. The Hardtops had more steel in the Cant rails & C Posts, but I don't think any additional hardware.
If ya remember the "Tee-Top" craze of the 70s and whata POS that made of vehicles froma a structure point, ya can kinda get what I'm talking to.

What ya have done in the package shelf area is good, don't get me wrong, but won't check torsional forces in a vehicle weighting 5K!

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

pimpin, just went and looked at the car .what would you think of a piece of square stock running through the inside of the rocker and a piece running up the post ? there is plenty of room actually inside that post which i could also tie into the main floor brace. also run brackets from the inner rocker brace to the frame.

 

Hey Flop,

That sounds good, but the stock running inside the rocker would best be at least as large as the rocker itself to be up to the job. Also, the box sections that run fore or aft must intersect each side to side rail to form a box, and thus provide sound reinforcement. Your ideas on the tie in to the floor are good ones!

" Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

Good luck with your caddy,
here's a caddy I build 4 years ago, sold to a german pimp

It had dropped spindles, a jaguar rear end and was chopped 19cm (7,5")

 

waiting for a convertible w/s frame to get here so no real updates to speak of!

 

Hmmm. I cut the top off a Sedan Deville (4 door hardtop), shortened it 14" and made it a two door with top bows from a '69 Catalina 'vert. It was VERY rigid, no cowl shake, you could jack up any corner and the doors didn't pinch. I cut the package tray completely out to make a top well, as in the donor convertible.

I wouldn't worry about stiffening the frame/body too much, at least from my experience. It was much less flexible than ANY convertible from GM I've owned. (I'd attatch a pic so you wouldn't think it was a hack job, but since our computor crashed, my picture files are screwy, I can't find the few I have of it).

Brian

 

Who in their right mind would cut up a classic Cadillac of that era. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

I would.

 

Where did you get the drop spindles for it?

 

yeah its been a while some plans on the car have changed but its def chopped now well atleast the hard part is done.

no more removable hardtop but a killer chop in the works...

chopped an inch and a half in the a pillars gonna go a little more though



brace time



i was really worried about the inner structure on this chop so i wanted some access









we are not worrying about the stock back window on this chop soooo time to get the roof free



probably thinking....



back on



a small slit in the a pillars to get everything to line back up

 

James, wasn't Frankies a '55?

Hmmmmmmmm???????? Or a Classic and rare LaSalle?

 

Cool project! The top you plan to do made me think of something I saw on ebay recently-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/57-Cadillac-El-Dorado-Brougham-Roof-stainless-steel-/260730886065

 

Glad this is coming along. Always like to see updates.

 

started a new thread for this one....


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=610595