RE: Converted 4-door

[dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Dennis J. wrote:
> 
> I realize that as we get older, Our hearing and eyesite tend not to be 
> as good as it once was, but I've looked at those pictures, at least 5 
> times and I do not see that car as a converted 4 dr. to a 2 dr. The roof 
> 
> doesn't appear to be cut and the interior floors and side panels of the 
> rear seat area show no cuts or welding either. Granted I'm not an 
> expert, but I guess someone with a lot more knowledge than me will have 
> to point out where this was changed. The exterior body work on the core 
> car, doesn't necessarily mean it was converted. JM2CW > 



To add a little bit to what Bill P. posted the 4 door hardtop/sedan and 
the 2 door post cars are all the same chassis/roofline in '64-'65. The 2 
door hardtops obviously had a different roofline, but were the same 
chassis. In '62-'63 the 2 door hardtop had the same roofline as the 2 
door post, so there was essentially only 1 chassis/roofline that 
supported 4 different models. 

When you get these cars down to the bare shell it's easy to see how it 
was done. The 4 door rear door line/opening is obvious. To build the 
chassis as a post body a stamped inner structure that held the window 
crank regulator/mechanism and vertical post assembly were added, then 
longer post quarter panels were hung. No problem really for a good body 
guy; Drill out the spot welds and add the correct pieces. No 
modifications are needed to the roof or floor pans. When guys were doing 
the conversions years ago post car shells were a little easier to find. 
They'd cut the quarters off the donor and weld them on their car. Now, 
they'll use the left over 4 door skins for patches (which is what you 
see in the Mosher pics), and use hardtop doors and build the window 
frames out of sections of 4 door frames because post doors are nearly 
impossible to find. As time goes on it's my opinion more of these cars 
are going to get cobbled together whether it's done right or not. 

That brings me back to the whole conversion/cost/resale discussion. For 
some guys investing or buying a converted car isn't a problem, for me it 
is.  I wouldn't spend 6 figures on a converted 4 door nor would I spend 
the same, or more, for a '70 Hemi Cuda clone convertible that started 
out as a 6 cylinder hardtop. IMO, there is a stigma attached to a 
conversion. It remains to be seen if these cars can get the money in a 
resale market. 


Dave Walters
Aurora, Co.


----
Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person.  I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic.  Thanks!

'62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html.