Hello everybody, I have a nice project im starting with my son, I am coverting a 1961 four door impala into a two door.......pretty interesting huh, well i have a 61 biscayne 2 door which is my donor car and it was so rusty i told my 13 year old son we need to find another car to work on, there wasnt one part that didnt need replacing or wasnt missing, so we searched for another and we couldnt find any two doors in are area soooo I thought there is plenty of 4 doors so why not convert one over. we found a complete 4 door with 283 and that was garaged for 12 years and it ran wow what a deal out the door for $2500 well I looked them over side by side it looks like the hardest part to this job will be removing the rear front half of the quater panel on the 2 door which houses the side window. has any one out there tryed this before? I have already removed the center post fromthe four door it only took 1 hour....drill out the spot welds and it pops right out. what I need is a driverside door for the two door I can trade out some doors of the four door if someone needs them let me know some feed back :yes:
Before they started making complete turn key Tri-Five shoe boxes out of all new stampings people were desperate enough back then to try that. It is very, very involved and took a professional shop nearly seven months to build a '57 two door out of a four door car. That article describing how to do it ran in popular Hotrodding in the early eighties.
Of course if roundy-round drivers hadn't destroyed every Tri-Five they could find figure eight racing them there would have been more '55's and '57's for the rest of the automotive world. But back then (late sixties and early seventies a '55 was selling for $250 bucks for a daily driver that was not only still running, but rust free.
I had a full stable of at least six '55's that I built as Gassers or Modified Production race cars, but I sold the fully intact car when I was done with them without a scratch in paint.
Well if I can I will keep you guys updated I will, If you know anybody in the florida area that has a driverside door for sale I would appreciate a heads up on that info, and any other info to make this job easy. what is the low rider forum name
In terms of wagons a lot of body shops where able to make a 1956 more door wagon and turn it into a coveted '55 Nomad clone, but it took time and money. I don't know your skill level but it can be done given enough time and energy and few parts off donor cars. I just can not imagine attempting it when two doors can still be found out of Central Florida (just think what is running around on the streets of Havana right now). In Miami Dade I saw quiet a few old CHEBIES.
Let me ask you this, are you making the back windows work? because I am wondering if my four door regulators are the same as the 2 door, and if would be easier to just section the rear 4th door to the size it needs to be to make the window work or just go with the original plan of removing the quater from the 2 door car
I would ask "Skim" his posts feature some of the most detailed and meticulous body work i have ever seen. btw - i do know of a rock solid 61 bubble top project car here in las cruces. it may still be available if you want something else.
Well Im glad Im not the only guy who likes a challenge in life, We now have the passenger side done and just started the driver side everything is going good so far I will post some pics for you all in the photos area under 1961
Out of curiosity: why has the roof been sectioned? Is it different between a two door and a four door hard top?
I mean I have no idea. You could tell me it is part of your ejector seat mechanism and I would believe you (when it comes to body work I am pretty gullible).
Dave, Im shocked that a man of your caliber has actually found something you dont know....wow im blown away
Well here is the story on the roof section, on the four door car the rear door has a post just like the front door on a 2 door car. meaning when you open the door the post which recieves the glass goes with the door,with that being said the rear window on a 2 door car has the fuzzys mount directly to the post which is attached to the rear post and you cant seporate it from the post, soooooo it was so much easier to cut the roof section with the post and weld it in
No ejector seat huh? Well that makes sense: but it would be kind of nice to have may be a mock up ejector seat for long trips, when the kids keep asking are we there yet?.
We are a 1 hr drive down the turnpike., just below Orlando, a few miles east of Kissimmee on rt 192. Take a drive down when you get a chance. My wheels are the old style American Racing 5 spoke.
I will be selling everything from the four door car I cant use now that it is a 2 door, I even kept the post for in between the doors in tact if somebody can use them, moldings, doors, etc
Lets see some more pictures....like to see hoe you matched up the roof.
Donnie
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