56 1956 Dodge Royal Custom Four Door Convertible Speedster

Yeah, I know I messed up the name , should be Custom Royal but I'm changing the car up so I thought I'd best to the name too,ha,ha.. AT any rate, I'm at a point in my life where the family, kids and work have almost made it impossible to keep a cool car around, seems that every time I got one together I'd have to sell it to buy diapers,bicycles, braces or whatever.... So I have devised a plan that is so stupid it may work this time. I had an opportunity to take two 56 Custom Royal sedans in on a deal for next to nothing, no cash out of hand either, sort of a junk trade. I brought them home, ***essed what I had and started scheming... I have a very rough ,complete rusty car and pretty good western car that had been taken apart , mechanicals had been done and they were starting to attack the body and seemingly lost it to the bodyshop for not paying or something along those lines, didn't care, didn't ask. I have the good one in my garage now, have decided to cut the roof off, rake the windshield radically and chop it . This will make it a sort of four door speedster if you will... I'll occasionally post photos but this will be a whenever I have an evening to fart with it project so bare with me, could get interesting??
Here's the good shell..

The parts bomb...

Made it into the shop finally..

My daughter with that "look " in her eye, I like that look by the way,ha,ha....

Not turning back now I guess?

Back window frame going back on the cowl to give the proper rake and chop without stretching and welding a whole bunch of extra work so far....

P***engers side for now , this is all I have, this is two evenings so far....

Anybody who has any ideas, feel free to drop 'em here, I'm just gonna keep on hacking away until I have a summer ride or a swell bunch of pieces for the next swap meet!

 

Brace and reinforce that body alot, being a four door it will need it without the roof to keep everything in line

 

I believe most 4 door convertibles use a body support going across the back of the front seat to strenghthen the body. You may want to incorporate something like that into your build.
Looks like fun. Having the little critters help you like that will create good memories!
~Alden

 

Already have plans for a brace to hug the seat backs. Was pleasantly surprised with the fully boxed frame that this car had from the factory, it was a huge deciding factor in this build, have ***embled some pretty obscure stuff over the years and am well aware of the strength required in this build, thanks for the insight guys! Might even toy with the thoughts of a full skeleton down the middle like a console, just want to keep it looking sort of traditional if possible...

 

I know a fellow who did that with an Olds. Like the guy above said, a strong brace behind the front seat from side to side, and he had a very enjoyable unusual fair weather car.

 

The rear window gl*** is tempered and not a good idea to use as a windshield, a stone chip will make it explode into a million pieces, then blow those pieces into your face at speed on the highway.

 

I was just gonna say the same thing Chris...unless they repop that back gl*** in laminate I would hate to hear about injuries because of it...cool ideas so far I like where you are going with it!

 

Did you get a clear ***le?

 

Clear ***le wasn't a problem George, I have two cars, two ***les, why do you ask?
Thanks Steve, I will do something other than the factory gl***, thought it would be a perfect template to cut a from window from though, same curvatures, same lower pinchweld frame etc... should be a useable piece within a stock height windshield to do this to I'm hoping....Looking for a cheap alternative custom to dink around with..been too many years trying to look cool in one of Dad's stockers,ha,ha.

 

Have heard of a shop selling off an abandond project, but didn't do a proper Mechanics Lien. The original owner was still the legal owner & collected his car back when the "buyer" finished the project. just askin'!

 

Nope,no problem, guy couldn't pay the bill and handed over the ownership ...

 

Could always make your own sorta Duval style with a couple of flat pieces? I have wanted to do a quick and dirty roadster build, prolly not worth it down here with all the rain lol! It hurts to drive a stocker for too long, I know exactly what you mean!

 

DUAL PHEATON!!!!!!

It will add the rigidity you need and give it a unique look too

 

Hmmm, I like it!

 

Had thought about this idea for the Buick truck actually Steve but I'm attempting to build something less complicated, you know . The kind I might actually finish in this lifetime,ha,ha...... Wish I had your ambition buddy!

 

You should have braced the body before removing the top, however it is not too late if it has not sagged or bent.

Suggest you add 1 1/2" square tubing behind the rocker panels. You only need to add brackets to bolt it to the body front and back, and perhaps 1 or 2 spots in the middle. I did this on a convertible project and it stiffened the whole body amazing.

Or if you need to do rocker panels you can conceal a pipe or flat support inside.

You should also stiffen the center door posts. Look at an old 4 door hardtop and note how the door post flares out at the bottom like a tree root. You can duplicate this by getting some large exhaust pipe bent to slightly less than 90 degrees then t******* it to the tree root shape. Add something from side to side to join the posts together if possible.

I love the dual cowl phaeton idea. This will not only add cl*** and protect your rear p***engers from the wind, it will stop the wind blowing on the back of your neck while driving.

The problem is you have to make the whole dual cowl lift up so p***engers can get in and out of the back seat. So it would be a lot of extra work.

I know you have 2 whole cars but if you need an extra windshield, back window etc I have a 55 Dodge sedan parts car in my driveway, basically the same car except for the tail fins.

I'm between Cobourg and Grafton by the way.

 

Thanks for the words Rusty, not the first car I've done a major rework on, I worked for years in the custom, restoration and collision industry. I have built limosines, one off creations ,hot rods and customs since I was fifteen and this was not a few years ago now.. I actually have three cars now ,think I'll be OK for parts thanks. Car did not any preliminary bracing to cut I would not have attempted this on a weaker car. Theses sedans had a fully boxed frame, better than any typical convertible I ever saw from the fifties.. I will add a cross brace of some sort from the second pillar as the door like to spread when both are opened due to the excess weight,rightfully so! The last car I bought is a 56 Dodge too ,just not a custom Royal,different dash and trunklid..but it had the fins as well. Unusual car. Have any projects or finished cars at all?

 

sub'd. Cant wait to see where this one goes!

 

Chris you are telling the truth about Chrysler product stability. I know a guy who tried the same thing on a 48 Chev, as soon as he cut the roof off the doors, cowl etc were flopping all over the place. He had quite a job to true it up and brace it.

In fact I have a 49 Chrysler with the rocker panels gone right out of it and the doors open and shut like new. So yes, they made some solid cars.

 

Ok Rusty, I'm going to have
to come over and see what you've got there now,ha,ha....

 

49 Chrysler sedan, 51 DeSoto club coupe, 66 Coronet sedan, 66 VW beetle, 74 Porsche 911, 68 Triumph Saint, 55 Dodge sedan, 73 Travelux Princess, and a bunch of junk.

I think I bought some Jaguar carburetors from your father or grandfather in about 1968.

 

Hmm, I like junk... I would say you'd have bought from Dad, in 68 I was a year old , my brother who runs the shop would have been 10 and my grandfather would have had no use for Carburetors of any kind, he was still stoking steam engines at that time,ha,ha....
Chris.

 

I am my own worst enemy when it comes to adding extra work to a project ...I know what you mean though...I gotta freebie 46 Ford pickup to drag home..I SHOULD just put together a stock bodied beater but my inner custom nut says something entirely different !

 

Ha,ha, I've seen you work Steve.... I have a poster of your "winter beater" 47 Ford for the times I stray off the easy path,ha,ha....

 

Hmm just looked at the "parts bomb" from a koolkemp perspective and had a vision if one neat lookin stubby 2 dr speedster. kinda like that neat 59 chrysler imperial one someone made, but not as short. Anyways, keep up the good work and get cruising!

 

Come up with a trailer and a small wad of cash and I'll have two parts bombs to dispose of in a few weeks Heavy Chevy, not gonna clutter up the "golf co****" like back yard,ha,ha with a bunch of old Dodge **** , when I'm done with one, I'm done with 'em all... Probably gonna sell the remainder by the pound.. I'd like to save 'em all but my yard will fill up very quickly. I have a 53 Buick that's teetering on that fence right now, don't know whether I should finish it or make it in to a new Civic??

 

Well, It's been a long time since posting but once again life has gotten in the way( the whole reason I don't build like I once did) My truck had the transmission puke on it($3000) to rebuild, my daughters found a four wheeler for me to rebuild for them and if it weren't for a good friend of mine continually prodding me I wouldn't even bother but here we go. I decided that the Buick was beyond repair finally after kicking it around the yard for 25 plus years and am going to graft the front 12" of it to the Dodge for a cool headlight, grill surround and will stuff the hole with 54 Corvette grill that I've also had well over 20 years awaiting my lazy *** to use it!

Here's to hoping that I can post enough photos in the next little while to gain interest!

 

Here's the last of the parts car too, got myself a better fitting rear window frame( using a rear profile window spun around as a windshield and yes I found a company that offers a laminated version of this back window surprisingly reasonable at Vintage Gl***.

 

Don't worry,didn't carve up a good car, this thing was so rotten that when I carved in to the rear quarters to save for a furniture project that I only had to cut across the tops of the sail panel and down the door jam, then the bottoms just fell off... Everywhere that had been patched over the seventies had been done with aluminum tape and body fill. I am doing the Mopar followers a favour by making this one go away...

 

Do you have any of the right headlamp bezels left over? I need one for a friend's 1956 Dodge. John at keiser31@charter.net

Thanks in advance.