I have a 48 Chrysler Windsor 4 door sedan that I saved out of a wrecking yard. They are goofy looking cars. I've tried to sell it and look for a coupe, but nobody wants it for cheap, so I guess I'm keeping it. Looking for ideas on what to do with it. I really want a coupe, has anyone ever done a 5 or even 3 window coupe conversion on one of these without any donor panels? Anyone built any kind of a custom that started as one of these things?
In case it hasn’t dawned on you yet, you have one of those “ not another one here today “ type cars. You didn’t mention interior or condition of paint. Get it running, drive it and enjoy the center of attention .
Do a little digging and search for Tex Smith's Chrysler four door project. I think he called it the Walter P. We had a '48 Imperial with jump seats when I was a kid. Could carry more people than a mini van!
Sounds like "Brutus", a Georgia 48 Chrysler with a 454 driveline, you would see it car shows and cruise-ins full of happy riders.
"What would you do?".. Seems they had pretty cool instrumentation, and steering wheel..I'd keep those and anything else salvageable, and have the rest hauled off for scrap (it has to be heavy). There comes a time when your effort/time/expertise, is better directed elsewhere. You did ask.
They are cool cars ! lowered and nice paint , clean interior and cruise !! post a pic of what your starting with . 4doorsmeansmorewhores !!
If its a decent car id just get it to run steer and stop and drive it around. It isnt hot rod material but old stockers are cool. Load it full of people, tie your Christmas tree to the roof, that sort of thing. If its a basket case id sell it which sounds like youve tried, or part it out. Ive done a couple sedan to coupe conversions on different vehicles and its not something you wanna take on unless you really are into the car.
you could do as advised here and put tens of thousands of dollars in it and it still wouldn't be worth anything, and i'm a chrysler man just the right chrysler though
I have to agree, best used as a 4-door party barge to have fun hauling all your buddies around. Or part it out, you can probably make money on it once you put in the work to take it apart and sell the pieces.
A conversion from 4 door to 2 door will take more effort than getting a 2 door. That's IF you finish the job. If you get stuck in project limbo, it will be scrap value. Get it running and driving, and then decide if you like it as-is or sell it. If you want a theme, 4 doors are nice as police cars, taxis or vintage family cars, but get it working before you go diving into finishing details. They are a bit tight in front, like almost all older cars. They have brakes that require different skills than modern drum brakes, but the rest of the mechanicals just require understanding and care. The few quirks are well documented. Look at the P15-D24 forums and the Imperial forum for details. Here's my 47 from a few years back, currently in slumber in the garage
Tell us more about the car and show us some pics !!! they steered , veered , and stopped just fine. Wayy ahead of anything Chevy and Ford where putting out at that time . the interiors are fancy ! who cares if it’s a 4 door . Seems you got it for the right price , unless it’s a basket case missing a bunch of parts .
Make it a comfortable, dependable cruiser. Find a '92 Cadillac Fleetwood, strip it down to bare chassis and drivetrain and drop the Chrysler body on top of it. Same wheelbase and track width. Boom....done!
Apparently, even the coupes aren't desirable. I have a pair (Dodge & Plymouth) I tried to sell & there is VERY little interest. If they were Fords, I could have sold them a long time ago for 3X the money. Just know if you put money into that barge, you will never recoup it.
Denis4x4 is correct. Assuming it's not totally rotted out, that would make a very nice streetrod. Ya, I know, frowned at around these parts. But Tex's was just that, & close to traditional as well. Depends on what you want, & your P.O.V. Marcus...
It could be done, you'd have to move the back of the roof forward a couple of feet, and extend the front door using the back half of the back door. The toughest part would be the trunklid area, the old trunk would be pretty useless from the tail lights up, so there would be a lot of fab work in that area. If you're up for a big metalworking challenge, it could be fun, the 4 door sedans are pretty worthless to begin with. If you could get the trunklid and surrounding sheetmetal from a coupe, even a totally different year or model, just something of the era to work with, it'd make it a lot easier.
Taxi was mentioned above. They actually become interesting. Also Military staff car is another thing that can be done with it. Funeral car, dark color, brocade interior. While it would not be a "hot rod" it would be a fun car.
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/285543-pickup-truck-conversion-1951-chrysler-imperial/ Could be neat, but again only if OP can finish the job. Here is some inspiration https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ge-plymouth-mopar-only-picture-thread.752126/
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