Projects topless 49 ford sedan question

Early Rambler convertibles were made this way. They were one of the first unit construction cars (no frame) and this style of top required little or no reinforcement of the body.

 

Heres a thread on the HAMB 1950 Ford Carson Top; https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1950-ford-carson-top.458747/ here's also link to Paul Braggs 50 : https://www.customcarchronicle.com/...cc-builders/paul-bragg-1950-ford-convertible/

 

If you want to do a sliding rag roof("M-400 "type, like the pic of the Sunshine Sedan Merc), you can use a sliding top from an acvw bug, or better, the Samba. They are repoped, nicely done. The same original company did some for a few almost-1-offs, like the Stude Lark, among others. Don't remember the name of it, or the current co that does them. There are a couple that differ in build quality & looks, too. Can end up looking factory-done, if you do a proper job on it.
Marcus...

 

Ouch!!!

 

Back in the '80s I bought this old drag car '51 Ford because it was cheap ($250). Didn't know what I wanted to do with it...but one drunken night (and a sawzall), cut the roof off.
Reinforced the frame (3/8" plate), built a buck and made a fiberglass roof. Threw in a 289/C4, some other custom touches and drove the wheels off it. Didn't have $1,500 in the whole thing.

 

You should do it, you'll need to reinforce the door pillars , use square tubing and then build a bulkhead that runs behind the front seat and ties the driver and passengers sides together and weld the bottom of that to the floor I've done it on my 51 Merc 4dr chopped top made into a convertible you can see it on the red merc 4 dr convert above.

 

I always thought if I was to do this I would build a big console/tranny tunnel that would go from the firewall to the package tray at the rear of the car. the 70's era Mercedes SL convertible [unit body] had something like that along with large [triple] rocker panels. I have cut the floors out of them, on the lift, and the doors still open and close.

 

I did that with my '56 Caddy, different car but, you get the idea.

 

is that entire' boot area' hard top/sedan factory tin or quite massaged?

 

Factory, the car was a 4 door hardtop. I cut the roof off, shortened it 16" behind the front seat, took the rear doors apart, welded the inner to the center post and rear door jamb, then used the remaining part of the skin to fill the gap in outer skin. The top irons are shortened '69 Catalina convert, the windshield chopped 4". The car still exists today, exactly the way my photos here from the late 80's.

 

Little rough, but I really like the roll top sedan idea. Probably make for a less wobbly car too. Gave it a mild chop.
Hey, nobody else has one.

 

worked out perfectly!

 

You have to think about “work economy”.

What’s the better effort, doing all this work on a crushed Fordor or using the good parts from said crushed Fordor another Fordor,Tudor or Coupe?

Maybe it’s better to “save” another car.

This is what parts cars do.

 

I’d fix that beater.

chop it while your at it.

 

I wouldn't drive it.

 

I would.
Look at old body repair books. Crap like this got fixed.
First rollover I fived all we bought was trim and glass.
Got nothing to lose but time

 

Post clear pics on the photoshop thread and see what the guys come up with it.

 

thats dang cool, its what i had in mind

 

i like the challenge, i like building something out of nothing

 

Here's my 51 Merc that made into a convert and kept the 4 dr's

 

Hello,

I like to draw tons of different types of old hot rods. When I am not writing a story to go along with a part of our own hot rod history, I like to draw. It takes away some pressure from coming up with clarity in my stories. I can make a drawing mistake, go away for awhile and come back to see it was in the wrong place or it looked funny. Sometimes, the drawing looks good and I wish I was 50 years younger to do a real project or two.

Back in November of 2024, I was in a sunny cruising mood. The storms had been hitting the coastline with a fury and we were staring out at the sideways rain hitting our tiny house. The double pane windows withstood the fury, but the yard was draining as fast as possible to the street.

So, what did listening to some good music and a drawing tablet do together? Why a convertible starting with a 49 Ford Coupe my wife and I were almost going to buy at one time. We had the cash saved up, the owner was going to throw in some extra parts and since it was cash, he took off some of the total cost. But, he gave off some bad vibes and my wife instantly fell out of the deal. So, with high eyes, she motioned to get out of that stuffy garage.

Jnaki

Those were the days that folks did not represent themselves very well. The car was supposed to be the draw. But, for us, it was the whole package and to us, it was important. It told us what kind of care the owner took to assemble the parts and get things in order.

So, to commemorate that period of time in our hot rod project buying days, I drew a 49-50 Ford coupe. But, it needed a better version or at least a different version of what we were actually looking for in a project. My wife loved convertibles. If her old 62 Corvair Coupe was a convertible, it would still be with us today. The art project started as a coupe, then a sedan to allow us to carry some friends out to dinner or old time gatherings.

Then finally, it turned into a convertible, and a custom one at that.
old Friday Art project
A custom 50 Ford Convertible with a smooth removable "California Top" to seal up the car for long road trips and no air leakage with the windows rolled up. No bulky Carson top to make any hot rod look as if the "Marshmallow Man" left a calling card... Plus, no flapping canvas convertible top in any driving mode. (See the story on the original, "California Top" for a 34 Ford Phaeton ) YRMV