make it a convertible?

[Kudzuking]

First let me warn all the purists here to grab your nitro pills

I was thinking of cutting the top off the 47 B coupe i have, it's never gonna be original, it's not gonna be a full custom, or a hot rod, and i would like a convertible, it don't have to be with a top, i'm not gonna commute in it, anyone ever done this (or admit to it) ?

Anyway, maybe i will maybe i won't, but i do have a Sawsall (25# aniversarary edition)

[Plymouthy Adams]

whack it big guy..your car your call...but just think long before you do..its a no return proposition as you will be finishing by welding caps on the top fopr strength and safety against cuts etc....you will also want to go in and re-enforce the rockers they are cosistent of three pieces of metal boxed toghether...the coverts also had an X frame for rigidity...you would be surprised the strength the roof places in a body..a Plymouth roadster..yeahl..that will be differnet..but probably get mistaken at every turn for a convertible..

just study the feasibily of strenghtening the body/frame and shjuld be done prior to top cut might I ad..ensure you torque box area is solid also..

[Kudzuking]

But i'm just gonna putt around town on nice days, it's not gonna be a drifter or nothing fast.

[JerseyHarold]

As Tim said, it's your car so what you want. I'd be prepared to keep it a good long time because I don't know how many people would buy a car modified that way.

There was a completely finished '52 Cambridge club coupe cut down into a 'parade car' that was on eBay for years (literally!) with no takers.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Here is a good one...

A once upon a time good friend owned a rust free 1950 Dodge roadster. I sold him a NOS LR fender. He installed it and then welded in a Rover gas door into it-nice!. Then he pulled the stock six cylinder engine and frame out and put a 1951 Chrysler V-8 frame under it. Next he decided to run a Buick 320 Straight eight as he liked how his old high school Buick eight ran back in 1966. That got as far as new engine mounts. Whoopsie, maybe a straight eight chrysler engine was a better plan. Away with the short Dodge nose and on goes a1950 NewYorker mint front end with four buick port holes sabre sawed into the rear of those nice front fenders. Another mind blowing idea- he decided to weld/fab in a rumble seat after first welding the dent/rust free trunk lid to the body opening.

This is the best part.. he torched the roof off a 1950 Windsor hardtop and cut and fit it to the roadster to turn it into a hard top!. All of this 3 years ago and now the car has a 265 chrysler non running six in it-the car is now sitting in a storage yard, dynaflow tranny in the trunk and a lot of rust forming over the welds. Now it's a POS car that was a very rare great rust free body dodge roadster and now will end up cut up for parts! Some guys and their car ideas.

If a car body is too far gone do anything and everything to it. If it's a nice stock car modify it but do it right.

I guess I kinda got on a rant! Sorry:eek:

Edited January 10, 2013 by Dodgeb4ya

[greg g]

You will still need to reinforce the frame and or the body. As Tim mentioned even in a body on frame car, the roof is actually the major structural member. What do you thik keeps the door opening standing straight. An fellow around here made an open car out of a Bullet Nose Studebaker. It's roof got stove in when the barn it was in partially collapsed on it. He put a bar under the dash, then one between the B pillars, and a couple pieces of 3 inch square along the inside of the frame. he also put an X frame from the B pillar bar through the floor to the 3 in squares. Even with all that you couldn't open both doors on the same side of the car at onece. Now the coupe body may be a bit more stout than the 4 door but you are going to need to reinforce it in a couple places.

[Greenbomb]

Just my .02- The windshield frame area always looks out of proportion when doing this. Usually too high and has such an unfinished look to it. But, that's all up to personal taste. Again, it's your car you should make it the way you want it. The strength issue will need to be addressed.

[Frank Elder]

First let me warn all the purists here to grab your nitro pills

I was thinking of cutting the top off the 47 B coupe i have,

plymouth dodge desoto chrysler ?????

[Kudzuking]

It's a plymouth, 318 auto with an 8 3/4 rear, why?

[falconvan]

If you're an Overhaulin' fan then you've seen Chip Foose build several roadsters like this; no top and no convertible top. I think they are really cool in the right application. My opinion is that's its along the lines of a motorcycle; the climate you live in will determine how much you get to enjoy it. I'd love to build one if I lived on the coast or somewhere like Texas or Arizona where it's warm almost all year round. AND if I had ample spare garage space to store it in. But here in Missouri; I think it would sit for too much of the year and I dont want to take up such a big portion of my garage just to store something I only get to drive half the year.

[Plymouthy Adams]

..weather is a player..while my car has three top options..I do not like the car with the top up/on/covered...they are no fun when it is cold..they are no fun when it is hot...in the southern summer often you cannot drive no matter the time of day due to temp index..during daylight often the sun will beat down on you unrelentessly...but when the weather is nice..

[Frank Elder]

It's a plymouth, 318 auto with an 8 3/4 rear, why?

Certain cars have better lines for being "roadsterized" than others.

[Taylormade]

If anyone has a 49 Dodge Wayfarer business coupe and wants to get ambitious, I have the perfect solution. I have the complete convertible cowl, both doors and the body section in front of the trunk from a 49 Dodge Wayfarer, along with the top mechanisim. Worried about bracing? No problem. I also have the X brace for the frame. You would need to make some reinforced inner rockers and you'd have a factory correct convertible. This would work with any Wayfarer business coupe 49 -52, but the 50-52s have a slightly different convertible recess in the body so you wouldn't be totally factory correct.

I was going to do this myself, but as I posted earlier, I just found my first car after 45 years and I need to clear out the shop.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Certain cars have better lines for being "roadsterized" than others.

that is affiermative Frankie, but I think the long trunk lid and the very gradual change it makes lead from the package tray will would lend itself to a roadster quite nice...what he need to do..is give me his good bz cp trunk lid for design services and put a rumble seat back there..in the fashion of the Triumph 1800/2000 rear windscreen anywone...?

[greg g]

Without the need to affixing a top of any type. a roadster mod migt just cut off all the sheet metal above the windshield and add a small channel to trim it off and support the center. Could even be thought of as a "chop".

[MacGyver]

I'd have to agree with the guys about beefing up the structure for support and stability. And as Tim said, do this Before you start slicing and dicing. Perhaps you could have a Photoshop guru mock up some photos of your car sans roof from different angles, different windshield heights, etc. Live with the photos for a while to be sure this is what you want before you put that sawzall to work... If you do this, be sure to post the photos for us.

[Kudzuking]

Since it's b coupe, i could X frame right in back of the seat for side to side strength and run X stffeners through the bulkhead on either side behind the seat to stiffen it front to back, lower the whole thing and run a cut down 12 to 14 inch windshield with no top bar. Wish I could afford Photoshop and knew how to use it.

[MiltYergens]

This is what I wanted to do to my P12 (1941 Sp Deluxe Coupe). I was going to take some length out of it, (maybe a foot from behind the door). Looks like a a removable canvas carson top. I did this sketch about 20 years ago.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5292/5536292766_2c613e0f33.jpg' alt='5536292766_2c613e0f33.jpg'>

'41 Ply Roadster by myergens, on Flickr[/img]

Edited January 10, 2013 by MiltYergens

[DCurrent]

http://limaohio.craigslist.org/cto/3524583187.html

Here is a current plymouth convert/coupe for sale now. It has been listed for some time.

Darren

Edited January 10, 2013 by DCurrent

[BobT-47P15]

The car mentioned above.......