Projects 57 Chevy 2 door conversion pics/build thread

I figured, just a general response for those who had mentioned it. I had been looking for those pictures to show it had been done, but you were quicker on the draw. Makes for a neat conversation piece at least.

 

What a waste a 3 door would be in my opinion. Once you've gone far enough to do one side, why not do both? Seems crazy just to impress people with an oddity.
I recently saw a video of a 2 door conversion done on a budget, and enjoyed it. I prefer yours being a step above by using the right parts to leave no trace of it's origins.

 

Great post.

 

I love this thread because there are so many roached 4 doors and there are no shortage of brand new, high quality body panels available for the tri-5. It’s a perfect combination where you can get into a project inexpensively, and with time and skill, can turn it into a complete knockout.


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We cut up this shell (mostly cut up in this pic). There really was no saving this shell either.

Hopefully we can start our conversion this spring. Threads like this always help.

 

your 57 is perfect as is .and i cant see anyone of sound mind building a 3 door .but everyone has their visions/ illusions ? gota admit loading wifey/kids on the safe side has merit .perfect family car !!lose the wifey /kids , finish the job !!!!

 

What is that hood scoop, I like it with chrome grating.

BTW, very cool build.

 

I've seen a few done this way, I always thought of it as "Australian style" since they didn't get any 2 door sedans there when they were new, I've seen several converted with stretched front doors and filled rears in Australia. Nothing wrong with that approach I guess, but the donor pieces make it so much easier, garnishes fit and window regulators work, etc.

Definitely let me know if a build thread gets going on this, I'd love to see it. Looks like you found the best possible use for that donor car too!

It's a Ford "super duty" truck hood scoop, used from 1957-1966 (I think) on really big Ford trucks (like 2 ton or bigger). Pontiac used them on their "super duty" 421 cars, buying the pieces from Ford and even had the Ford part number in their Pontiac parts book, and it was a real popular piece to stick on your hood back in the 60's. I have a bunch of pics of other 55-56-57 Chevys using this scoop, found this one in a junkyard, on a hood flipped over in the dirt. The paint matched so well, I had to use it.

 

Oh man, you’ve made this look easy! I mean I know it’s not, but you’ve got me thinking about it now man! [emoji848]

Awesome work! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!


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Going through old pictures and I found a few things of interest to post here. These pics are the front seat. I figure I had about 40 hours work into it, and that's just using some generic 50's aftermarket slip covers. I had to strip out two 4 door front seat frames to salvage springs from, every spring was replaced, along with some of the metal of the lower frame.

The finished frame picture might be helpful for someone looking at a seat frame, since they can be hard to identify without any upholstery on. The other pics I just took as a reference for when I had to reassemble the seat, but they show pretty clearly how rotted this seat was. Turned out nice though, and I feel lucky to have it.

 

Also, I have a couple sets of B-pillar cutoffs that are extras which I could sell if anyone out there is looking for pieces to do their own conversion. There's a set from a '57 150 that I parted out, which are pretty rusty and would take some rust repairs to be usable but still would be better than nothing, and a pair from a '56 210 which still need some cleanup blasting but are in better shape. I'd like $250 for the '57 set and $350 for the '56 set. I'd work with someone on shipping but not sure how to do it since they're big. I could piece together a shitty pair of doors too for a few bucks more if someone had nothing to start with, would still be easier than stretching 4 door front doors.

I figure I put about 3000 miles or so on the '57 last year and it's been a really easy car to live with on a daily driver basis, at least for the warm months. Gonna swap out the leaf springs and get the heater working hopefully in the next couple weeks and then it'll be back on the road for this year.

 

Time spent on that seat was worth it!
Long ago, I bought a sedan like that from the eastern shore in Maryland. Non runner to part out. Crusty on the outside, the windows were up and the interior was like a terrarium. The roof started to float off the car on my way home. Had to stop the rollback and duct tape her back together. Good times, always an adventure!

 

Really cool! I am collecting parts to do a 2 door conversion on my 55, thanks for all the great pics and info!!

 

If I run across a decent 4 door for dirt cheap I'm snatching it. It doesn't need to be perfect for a gasser and that's exactly what I'd build. Primer 55.

 

Me and a friend of mine swapped out the leaf springs this week. Went with new 5 leaf packs, got them on sale a year and a half ago for a bargain (like $80 each shipped I think). Here you can see the driver's side, gives you an idea of how flattened out they were. Was relying on the air shocks to keep it from looking saggy.



Never noticed one of the leaves was broken until I dropped it on the scrap pile, was covered by a U bolt.


Passenger side was much worse. I could see the rust jacking between the leaves, but it wasn't until it was out that I saw the main leaf was broken right in the center. Really glad I swapped them out now. Had to cut one end off and then slice through the bushing to get it out of the car.




Car sits a lot taller in the rear now. Rides nice though, way less body roll than it used to have.

 

We also put intake gaskets in it which were leaking. This engine was a totally unknown quantity when I got it and apparently the valve covers had never been off. Was nice to see how clean it is inside.

 

Lastly was an experiment with cerium oxide for polishing glass. These pics aren't the best but it's hard to photograph glass. This windshield isn't cracked, but it's bad in every other respect. Heavy wiper burns, lots of scratches and wear on it. I used my big Snap-on buffer with a foam pad and the cerium oxide in a paste. I pounded on this glass for quite a while. I could get it better yet, but it would take a couple more hours. But the difference was very apparent. It's got way, way less glare now and the scratches are diminished. I might come back to it and give it more polish but this was a big improvement.

 

Great build! My father and I rebuilt a 1956 Chevy 210 years ago. We bought it from a guy who had it stored in a shop that was also a corn crib. Seeing the state yours was in initially brings back the sweet smell of mouse crap! lol

 

That's really good info about the polish, that glass is significantly improved

 

I'd been wanting to try it, you can buy a little jar of the stuff on eBay for like $28 and you could do a lot of glass with that amount. It just takes a lot of time and effort but it does work.

 

Man, I really need to hit my windshield with that stuff. I used the Griot's polish with the glass polishing pad - it did nothing, I'm sure the swirls are cleaner but that's it.

Also, is that the 'thumbs up' Jesus from Dogma on your dashboard???

 

I'll give it a shot on my OT daily. It has 230K miles and counting of highway miles where the windshield is basically sandblasted. Thanks again for the tip

 

A couple more tips I learned on the windshield polish, take your wipers off first (one of mine got caught in my buffer pad and the blade went flying) and it's not a bad idea to mask off the surrounding areas of the window before buffing. The compound doesn't seem to stain paint or anything, it just makes a sloppy mess. The stuff comes dry, I poured a bit onto my pad, sprayed some water on it, then smeared it onto the glass to make a paste. Helps to spritz water onto the glass every once in a while during buffing to keep it wet, you apparently don't want it to dry out.

And yes, that is Buddy Christ on my dash.

 

That color looks familiar...

 

Got the heater working last week, mostly just replacing rotted ductwork since the core, motor and switch all tested out good. Drove it probably 200 miles this weekend on a memorial/fundraiser drive for a friend of mine who died a couple months ago, too young. He was a hotrodder and a local club member and we raised money for his kids.

Car drove great and is so much more comfortable with working heat, especially on a day with a high temp of 37 degrees. Grabbed this pic at the last stop.

 

Ain't heat wonderful. I've driven Clarence 49 years without. He's being worked on as we speak, HOWEVER, the next time he's on the road there will be Vintage Air heat-A/C. I'm gettin' to old for frozen rod runs.

I really like your conversions.

 

I added an Addco sway bar to the front of the car last week and put a couple hundred miles on it since then, and the difference is very noticeable in handling. I can run through a roundabout pretty hard or take a decent curve at speed and the car has very little lean. Combined with the 5 leaf rear spring packs we put in last year, the difference in handling is night and day.

I ordered the bar last spring but had to pre-pay and wait like 4 months for it to get delivered, so it never got done last year. The installation instructions are pretty weak/basic, and the wait sucked, but the quality of the parts was excellent and it was well worth it.

I didn't take any pictures of it, but if someone is adding one of those to their car and wants to see pics of what it looks like and how it lines up as a reference, let me know and I'll take some.