VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 convertible conversion?

I have a 51' chevy four door, the engine is rebuilt and everything else has been fixed and in good working order. The problem is the body- it needs a lot of work- Too much work to justify spending that amount of money on a four door. So I was thinking of finding a covertible and use the four door as a parts "donor", but how do you go about finding a convertible in the year range that has the same body as a 51'? Is there good places to look in the U.S.? Possibly clubs that specialize in convertibles, publications, websites, anything would be apperciated! Do the DOT's of each state keep addresses of titles for convertibles, or will I be driving every rural road in the U.S. Also is there info on converting a four or two door to a convertible, major work invovled such as an X frame and such, but it doesnt hurt asking.
Thanks in advance!

The convertible frame is very different from the sedan.Not only the center X but it has additional body mounts.The hardtop frame has no X but does have additional rienforcements inside the boxed side members and additional mounts.The best path to take would be to find a 1951 convertible that needs an engine.Stick if your 4 door is a stick or PG for PG.The 1952 frame is different as the engine side mount brackets are on the frame plus the transmission crossmember is in a different location.Also your 1951 engine will not fit in a 1952 as it has not "bolt holes" on the sides for thr 1952 engine mount brackets.
A 1950 would come close but that would require a few small changes.

I have a 50 chev hardtop that was converted to a convertable,and I looked for a frame to change it out because of the x frame the conv has and only found two. Both were in a junk yard in Vancouver Washington. One was a shell that had parts taken off and had been under water several times.The frame was rusty and the body was not restorable. I think they wanted 600.00 for it. The other one was complete but had front end damage (hood bumper fenders) I think. It needed a complete restoration and they wanted 2500.00. I did not think it was worth it at the time but I later purchased a convertable top frame only for 1000.00 because the one they had installed before I purchased the car was cut up and the front bow was bad.
I can't remember the name of the junk yard ,but I think I could find it if you think you would be interested.
I have not changed my frame out. I am going to buy the x from the guys the build them for the 55 thru 57 and then add the other items that are particular for the convertable.
Bill

Was the junkyard "All American Classics" in Vancouver, Washington? :confused: :confused:

I think that was it. They have a web site with a list of their inventory

Thanks everyone for your input, I've checked out the web vancouver web site, and I'll be calling them tomarrow! Any other locations that might have convertible parts would be graetly appreciated!

How did you come out with the Vancouver junk yard

Bill,

Just as you said before, there is a 50'
convertible there, they want $2500 for it. I'm looking at a long-term search for a body and parts, so I think I'll be searching out west for a while!