1959 cadi vert "conversion" the beggining

back to the cadillac. fellas , i decided to go with a 429 engine. a guy hd one from a 64 that he had just driven from north carolina, so i decided to get that. the 500, will be on hold for now. after i got the tub off teh truck now i can look at it and start to ct it to fit in on the 58 body. cutting the trunk and janbs off teh four door wont be so difficult... hopefully next week will have the body and tub section sitting together!!!!

 

if anyone knows hwo to resiz eteh images pleaase let me know..

 

So, wait, you threw away as scrap those Pontiac parts because they're not Cadillac parts and never mind anyone who might need them? It took me like 3 years to find the one fucking front fender spear when I needed one for mine - and I never did find the corner cap that goes on the fender over the headlights. Those stainless caps down the tops of the rear fenders may as well be made of gold if they're driver quality or better. Put it this way, I see an easy $1000 in stuff that was intact on that car when you started, and you'd still have a couple hundred in scrap left over. That's nuts.

 

sorry man, my buddy was getting on me for storafe at his place, i had them on craigslist, ebay, and a local trader but got no bites....was posted for av a month

 

got the tub trimmed down. the hard part is trying not to over cut anything. there are so many littel areas which are super rusted , but you need them to see how it all comes togther. so i tried to be very conservative on my cuts.

 

cut the car up, this was really long. finding all the hdden supports takes alot of time. pluu snot cutting to far into quater panles. next tim,e i do it it will be a sinch though! haha . once again you need to take tiem and be really conservative on your cuts...

 

Baby blue?

 

here i put the tub onto the body. manual power! its very heavy, so if you are not careful you can get hurt. here i am dealing with fitting issues. the rear trunk support sits to high. also the front door jamb sets to high. this is all a learning deal , so it took me quite some time to recognize what was wrong......the story continues

 

Interesting build. I'd love to have a '59 Caddy convertible real or not. I guess that is one decent part of being in the rust belt is that you can find stuff like a '60 Caddy convertible parts car. I can't imagine going down a brand though. I would think someone would turn a Chevy into a Buick or Poncho, not vice versa.

 

so after very muchh excessice cutting and frustration (which will need follow up patching) i decided to stop fitting and go with something abit easier. hiding! here i took the backdoors, skinned then , and left extra for the jamb area to be worked. after i put there on and held them in place with sheetmetal screws the thing actually began to look like a convertible!! you can see here, how muuch higher the tub is sittng then the door line, that will take some time to figure out, but its coming along


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so this is where i left off, before i went to Europe, the tub was fitted a bit better, i put the trunk lid om, hung a door or , put the rack up, seats in, just to see how it would look. and i was very pleased at how far i came. i will stil need to go back and do heavy rust repair. but who cares...this makes me happy!


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so as you guys can see, the 59 has taken form.body work and floors and then we can talksome real business. the next biggest step is the windshield post. i have to figure out how to line that up and weld it in.

continental next , post is for you! i will take a 60 pontiac that i had and my 60 flattop and make them into a convertible as well. yes flattop is cool, yes poncho and cadi have different sizes, yes it wont look orginal. but i dont care!!!

 

as you guys can see, i am much bigger then the flattop. it is hassle to get in and out of the car at 6'8. i love this car and dont want to sellit or trade it. i only get to enjoy it when i am home in summer anyway. so this will be my next "conversion"project!

the flattop models shared the same window with the convertible in 59-60. so lining up the glass will not be so difficult. the convertible rack on the "smaller" wheelbase catalina, chevies, etc....held a rear quater window that was ab 3 inches shorter then the one originally designed for cadillac. the door glass, vent windows, regulators and related hardware will also be the same. as for now the two biggest issues i will have to deal with in this swap will be the different door jamb and striker and the distance between the rear tub and the lip of the trunk.


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a lot of metal work , and quite a project , but keep on going , cant wait to see some more of the builds

 

thanks, i will keep updates coming as i progress. this is my first time taking on such projects and i dont own a welder, so this is a complete learning expierience! next summer, i will begin the floors and rockers and move my wayy to the tub and doors!

 

Okay, eventually I may make some crack about the color ("MY EYES! THEY BLEED!!!!), but for now, I kind of like the pink. It grows on ya.

Nice to see you back... ARE you back in the US?

Also, regarding the pics from this Summer: you have one righteous Cadillac couch farm in your back yard! LOL!

~Jason

 

my mann! ow goes is Abom? and no, i am in France. writing you guys from the Alpes! here is a link to my new team if you want to follow

http://www.lnb.fr/fr/Pro-B/300006/Joueurs/A44092/Osby-Bambale

 

and jason your correct, this doenst even mention the two "real" 60 verts or the factory airride 58 fleetwood!!!!

 

cool project. i have just pulled up a chair.

 

havnt gotten much further since last time guys, just hung the fenders and hood onto the car and left it as that. i am thinking to get a donor car for the floors and trunk.

i had some others cut witha water jet, but frotn door jambs and cowl will need to eb cut out, and the underside of noth passenger rockers will need replacing. so i figured if it will cost 1200 in welding why not find a decent project 60 for 1k and just swap quaters. fixing rust realy sux.....

 

Welcome back Boom

 

thanks! whats the latest on the 61?

 

just a few more loose ones i took before the year long hiatus began again. taking the old front end off and just hanging the new metal, solid metal realy makes a difference!

 

I think my favorite part of these pics is the can of Never Dull on the bumper (I don't think you have enough there, man) and the matching pink floor jack! LOL!

Nice to have you back, sir! This build makes me feel like a complete ass for not getting off my duff and working on my '60!

~Jason

 

Can't wait to see more

 

Buy a welder man, no biggie, do that first.

 

State your status Mr. Osby.

 

looks like a whole pile of rusty junk soon to be headed to the recycler

 

i see 'mock up stage' and lots of potential.

good luck with the build.

 

ok guys, update. the pink 59 is turning out to be a bigg bigg rusty heap. so i have two other 59s that are possible options. the 1959 fleetwood and a 1959 sedan that i just acquired. which one do you guys think will be a better candidate?


i like the 59 sedan, but the fleetwood would make a really unique car, with the specialty bumpers, hubcaps , and options....