I just picked up a 48 hudson comodore 4 door and was interested in turning it into a 2 door. After seeing some of the kick ass two door conversions of lead sleds I was wondering if any one has done this to their hudson. Any and all info on the process would be great.
I've never seen a Hudson done like that but I'm confident it could be done. I think the best way would be to use coupe doors but keep the roofline of the car and fill in the gaps with donor pieces of your back doors like the '55 Chevy that was posted. I love the fastback rooflines of the stepdown Hudsons and I think it'd be well worth the effort.
I'd like to see the results. It'd probably look like the broughm they offered. And look at hudsoncustom's car for inspiration.
Yep, it's been done before, a couple of times (in Australia at least!) Here's one by Paul Kelly. Owner Paul McKennariey. And another one, and please correct me if I'm wrong, chopped by John 'Chopper' Katsanis. Not sure of the owner's name.
It certainly can be done, and nicely too. But the funny thing is that in stock form, the Hudson was one of the few cars which looked better as a four-door than a two door! If you compare the profile views, the proportions of the four-door seem better suited to the bulk of the car. It was already low from the factory (step-down unibody). The window height to body, and short tail seem to look more "custom" than the two-door. The looooong roofline and B and C pillars remind me of a graceful suspension bridge.
Ya know....it's pretty much the same procedure for just about any car, it's not brand specific! The most subjective part is getting the proportions right. Yeah, extending the front door and shortening the rear door is a given, but also, if you REALLY want it right, you need to play around with the roof. Not an easy task, but makes it look better.
That chevy conversion is pretty bad ass, but with a hudson four door what is there to do with the rear windows?
4 door Hudsons and 2 door Hudson Broughams share the same roof skin. The rear window corner at the C pillar is shaped differently, so that would take some work. Both of the above Australian built cars were 4 doors. Both have been chopped as well. I've got a 49 Brougham that I chopped 2 inches. You can see the threads here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236046 and http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=251575
Rod Taverner sent these pictures of his no more more door conversion. He wanted me to post them on the HAMB. Hopefully he will hop on here and explain some of the pictures. If you need some other pics, send me a pm & your Email address and I will forward them to you... It is really Kool that they didn't go ahead and chop it why they were at it. No one will ever know what they started with. Great Job Rod keep up the good work!! Happy Trails, Mick
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