Thread: 61 impala sport sedan

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You asked about cutting tempered glass? I believe that you can sometimes get away with smoothing an edge or corner with a smooth abrasive stone in a Dremel or equivalent, but it may shatter. To cut it you have to anneal it in an oven to remove the temper first. I'm not sure about re-tempering and I believe you'll find it cheaper to start over. Your best bet is to take your plywood panels to a good glass shop and have them cut new panels, smooth the edges as you want them, and then once done temper the panels. A big shop can usually do them in a week or two. Years ago I had one done for a late '40's Jeep Panel Wagon door glass that was just flat glass, angled front. An Automotive Glass Shop made it for me.

Originally Posted by rspears

You asked about cutting tempered glass? Your best bet is to take your plywood panels to a good glass shop and have them cut new panels, smooth the edges as you want them, and then once done temper the panels. A big shop can usually do them in a week or two. Years ago I had one done for a late '40's Jeep Panel Wagon door glass that was just flat glass, angled front. An Automotive Glass Shop made it for me.

That's exactly what we did with the bus. Two front windscreens (left and right,) and several sliding side windows.
I can't now remember the cost, but from memory it wasn't prohibitive.

(If it had been excessive I would have remembered it alright!)

I'm sort of tossing around the idea of leaving this in bare metal rather than painting and just clear coating it.

Nah, bad idea. Had a momentary case of OCD.

Originally Posted by falconvan

Nah, bad idea. Had a momentary case of OCD.

I was already to type in BLASPHEMY! LOL.. 8-)

Side 1 done!
https://youtu.be/J8v7cY0jeGY

Just a thought...will the longer armrest interfere with the seat when you close the door?

No, I just meant that it was longer than the one from the parts car. It’s the same armrest going back to the same spot. Thanks for checking the video out, much appreciated!

Originally Posted by falconvan

No, I just meant that it was longer than the one from the parts car. It’s the same armrest going back to the same spot. Thanks for checking the video out, much appreciated!

There's no need to thank me, I'm enjoying it. And I'd wager I'm not the only one on here to do so.

Starting on side 2
https://youtu.be/usS2Y1kVXQM

that's lot of metal work! Looking great.

Lengthening door #2
https://youtu.be/kl8AeOYaTP8

Holy crap, Pat!! I have been missing the notifications on this and had no idea you were doing this 2 dr conversion till today. I even liked the 4 dr hardtop but this is going to be really cool!! Great work, as usual and it's also fun to have the video version, too! Keep up the good work! I subscribed to your channel so hopefully I can stay more current on your progress. I know it's your car, your choice, but I love the 61 grille already. You may have already decided but just throwing in my 2 cents...LOL!

Thanks, man. It’s pretty fun to do it this way rather than just downloading pictures. For some reason that last video upload failed; I do know if my phone is doing something goofy or it’s the video itself. I’m heading to the country for the weekend so I’ll have to check into it Monday.

Finally got the video to work; part of the file was corrupt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z73cFbvGXTk