Thread: 56 Chevy Hardtop to Convertible

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OK, from reading the posts, I know this is not a popular thing to do. But we had a customer who wanted us to build a 56 Convertible out of a hard top. He had a convertible frame and pieces of a leftover convertible project including the cowling and the bows. We had a donor 56 hardtop that we used the rear wheel tubs, inner trunk panels, B pillar posts, and deck lid. We bought all new floor and trunk pans, doors, inner quarter panels. outer quarter panels, deck filler panels, lower tail pan and taillight repair panels, rear seat braces and brackets, hydraulic pump cover and mounting plate, new toe boards and the A pillar post repair Panels.

My question is this, I know this has been done before, and I have been told there are some detailed pics, but I have searched and searched and cannot find he project. Does anybody know of anybody else who has done this? We are at a point where we might have some questions or want to compare notes. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Edited to add: I posted some pictures of some of the work we have done so far. But i posted them in the regular gallery instead of the "project" gallery. Maybe I will figure out how to get them over there, lol.

Thanks
Hinton's Rides & Rods
Batesville, MS

If you can't find any pictures or info, try to get a Chevy Shop Manual for that section of the car. I had one for a Mustang convertible one time, and it gave very detailed drawings and specs for the entire top setup. You might also find someone with a real convertible and start snapping detailed pictures for reference.

Don

Send this guy my way when you're done with him. Maybe I can shake some more $$ outta his dumbass. By the time ya'll get done making that all fit together it'll end up costing more than the value of an actual convert.

Get that sucker while he's ripe, man!

Originally Posted by Twitch

Send this guy my way when you're done with him. Maybe I can shake some more $$ outta his dumbass. By the time ya'll get done making that all fit together it'll end up costing more than the value of an actual convert.

Get that sucker while he's ripe, man!

typical california responce !

Damn that was a good Twitch. By the way how are you doing?
Your sense of humor seems to be working ok.

Richard

As far as cost goes, there was a 56 chevy convertible sold on Ebay for a little over 22,000 about two or three months ago. The auction stated it had to have complete floors and trunk floors, one quarter panel and both bottom door skins. Also the car needed to be completely restored. As of this writing, all metal work on our body has been done, he has nearly all new chrome with just a few pieces to go, he has got the hard-to find converible parts such as pinch weld moldings which we bought NOS, he's got an original Powerglide that is competely rebuilt with a completely rebuilt torque converter, and we are having a 1956 model 265 built to factory specs at present. The frame has been sand blasted and is under primer, all the suspension pieces have been blasted and are under primer and with labor included he has less than 27,000 dollars invested as it sits. The car has been constructed to factory specs and would take a keen eye and a lot of knowledge to know it is a convertible conversion. We estimate he will have a total investment of $50,000 and a "factory-style" convertible built to factory specs with a factory VIN #.