1959 cadi vert "conversion" the beggining

hey 54 caddy, here is the link to his webiste and i will send you his number on pm

http://www.davidsimpalas.com/index.php

 

so guys , i missed one thing ab the frame. there is a 3/8 inch peice of steel welded on the bottom side of the convertible frames. on the cadillac the body mounts are stil the same. a buddy of mines just told me ab this. i will try to find pics to see what it looks like

 

i didnt realize there was a side support piece of steel between the wheel well and door jamb.does any one know the name for this or how important it is? thank god there are other out there!

the second picture shows some of the frame reinforcements that came with convertible cars.

 

update guys, i cant work on the car while i am gone but i can buy parts to make sure i have all i need. i didnt not have a header bow, windshield post or the convertible stainless. buyinf these parts separtaly is very costly so i bougth another car!

my cadi came with power windows but the regulators were removed when i got it. i was thiking to take the regulators from this car, but autoloc sells a kit for 150 brand new, so old parts wont have to be used. maybe even this car will become a 59 or 60 chevy impala....

 

The '60 Pontiac is a cool car by itself. I look forward to seeing the build pics on this one when you get started. Surprising but a lot of times it's cheaper to buy a whole parts car than it is to buy just a handful of missing pieces.

 

tell me ab it, i got qouted at 1000 for just a header bow, and another 750 for the windshield trim... i will be ab 1800 into teh car after shipping!!! ;D

 

59 pontiac had the best looking tail-lights EVER! No need to change it into a chevy.

Very ambitious build you got there boomosby. I'll be looking forward to updates.

 

so you guys will be happy to hear, i have decided to keep the poncho and build it! i need the windshiled trim and headerbow from car. so i wont be cutting the car up at all. but after looking at it the body is vairy solid, will need floors and trunk. not sure what to do ab passneger quater panel though.

thinking about a 5.7 lt1 witha 6 speed, maybe a blower,and some alloys. go for poncho!!!

 

You know, if nobody else has thanked you for posting all the pics you can of the convertible conversion process, I will.

Man, you deserve a MEDAL!

There's NOBODY ELSE posting stuff on this very hot-topic item. Lots of folks are curious as hell about this, and have no point of reference - now they have this thread, which draws folks in from all over.

~Jason

 

Here are some pictures of a 59 Caddy Convert frame upside down and you can see the factory reinforcements that are welded on. Also a picture of what we started with and one of when it was done!

 

thanks for the pics tudor 33, that is really informative!! i plan to fully "warp" my frame for hydraulics as well, so i think it wll be fine in teh end. hey abomination, i am ab to post some pics ab a guy who is has doen a 59 chevy!!! it will blow yoru mind how it goes!!!

 

That's awesome! Thanks for posting thse!

~Jason

 

I'm always ready to have my mind blown, man! Lay it on me.

~Jason

 

notat home rightnow, rooad trip, will do it when we arive back to tallin in teh morning, sorry for the anxiety and keepign you waiting!!! haha

 

follow these pictures in chronological order. i will try to add commenst as to what he was doing as he went along.

1) start with rusty car
2) Find good donor car
3) cut the convertible section out of rusty car
4) cut the rear package tray, trunk support, and rear window mechanism(if its a coupe)
4b) if its a four door, remove rear door, but have to use the convertible jamp to make teh two door support.

look at following post to see a way to measure for that...

 

time to do some seirous cutting and fitting. this part is very important,becuase under cutting will lead to many days of making small metal cut-outs.

1) after package tray has been cut out, cut out the rear wheel wells TO YOUR LIKING. the 59 chevy as a pretty circular rear wheel well. teh cadillac has many dents and grooves, which will lead to much tighter measuring.
2) car was sandblasted to make working metal easy.

i look at this time as a big puzzle piece, but you are the piece maker, you have to trim it up really close so that the two pices fit back in as tight or near as possible

 

ok so now at this point you are getting closer to dropping in your vert section.

1) once again you must do much more trimming, here is a closer look at the wheel wells.
a) on the car the wheel wells were cut all the way to the quater panel. i would not suggest this way becaus it woudl require goign under teh car for welding. but depending on your skills, maybe that fine with you.

b) the tub sections outer fender well is trimmed off. this needs to be done to make sure it will "slide" into place. puzzle pice.

2) the last 5th picture is the last picture before the section is dropped in. showing how the car was "opened up" to receive the tub.

lastly drop section in place

 

here is teh section dropped in place , if you look closey at the intial pciture, there are some small fitting issues to deal with, but nothing very serious. after this part is done, the next step is welding in the convertible post. i havnt found many pictures of this yet, i will look around and ask questions.

 

if you have a four door, and you are thinking to convert it, and want to trim your section as exact as possible , check out these pics for and idea how to do it.

the 63 chevy was a four door. hang the coupe door onto your car, after you have removed the doors and center jam. then you can measure the distance from the door to the rear quater and see how much of your excess can be trimmed.

the 61 chevy, with 3 diff colors, was cut using this method, if you look closely, you can see all the excess metal that is over lapping the quater and trunk.doing this is a saftey net i believe, and wil keep you from under cutting.

the bottom section where the lower part of teh tub connects to the rocker is really important. the last pics show where the window tracks are welded to the rocker. i am not sure how to get aroudn this in a coupe, but here you can do it this way

 

when the time comes for me to do mines, i will just cut a access hole here like thsi guy did, to save as much fab work as poissble. any questions feel free and i will fill you in with all i know.

 

Great pics Boomosby Put some pics up your future project !

 

Mr. Osby, you're my hero!

I can't wait for more as it comes along!

~Jason

 

updates fellas! was really wondering what to do ab all teh body parts that need attention, doors and fenders.well i decided not to waste time at the shops and just buy teh dryest stuff i can. and what did i find....doors, hood, trunk, and fenders all from west of the mississipi!! i think most of this stuff good enough to were a light sanding a small work is all it needs. what do you guys think?

i also got a coupe rooof along with the deal. i have no need for it now or no idea really what to do with it,, but knowing me it will find its place!!

 

I've got a chrome & stainless pile that rivals that... but the fishtail pipe tips are for my car, not my bike! LOL!

~Jason

 

updates coming sooon

 

Can't wait to see 'em!

~Jason

 

pontiac got to shop and was quite complete. had all the trim pieces, convertible rack and window moldings.... but th rest of the car was quite trashed, floors gone, turnk gone, rear frame gone.

 

so we cut it up!!! the junk man came for the rest...

 

only took ab a hour, so rusty thing just fell off frame...

 

Send me your address and I'll UPS you some safety glasses. Good to see you get back on it. I thought you were playing ball overseas? How'd that go?

James