Has anyone ever widened a car body by chopping it down the middle and welding filler metal in the gap? I'd think this would ruin the integrity of the body, but has it been done? ~Jason
You talking the whole car? Or widening the chop (top) by adding metal to the center? Im ***uming you mean body and I think someone did that to a Merc if I recall. It might have been that stylistic abortion "Mercules" maybe.
Wasn't it Winfield that widened a 41 Lincoln Zephyr to fit over a MKVIII ch***is and used the interoir too, just a few years back? Something like 2" down ea. side of the middle and lengthened it too for fit and proportion.
You can do it that way and you can get another roof and use that so you only have one weld line. This works out well especially if you are chopping the car too.
stan betz did the 40 pheaton Street rodder did the articles don't know if it ever got finished He started Betz Speed and Color in the 50
I've heard of it being done to performance Miatas so fatties could fit in 'em... and fibergl*** Cobras, but never something like this. It it hard? I mean, is the only thing separating someone from actually doing this is being a *****? Seems you could put an F1 on top of a MUCH more substantial frame than an S-10 this way... ~Jason
This may be a dumb idea and if I get ripped for it, so be it. I have a 49' Cadillac Sedanette and I was contemplating grafting in a 51' Cadillac front end, but a 51' is about 6 inches wider then the 49'. My idea was, rather then take the 6 inches out of the front end. I would split the difference and add 3 inches to the body and remove 3 inches from the front end. I even went as far as having a line drawing done so I could get a better mental image, but I thought it might look better on paper then in person. It still is not out of the question, but the project is on hold while we finish our home remodel and the Zephyr. I just might be too big a ***** to cut it up like that though!! ... If it sparks anyones interest, I'll post the picture of the line drawing.
Well, letssee. Rework just the nose to fit and only have to work on 1/3 of the car; or Rework the entire car and have to work on weld lines the whole length of it. Hmmm. Hey, it's your spare time to use how you see fit, but I'm a lazy ******* - I'd probably just run whatever nose was on the car now.
That was the original idea, but it just didn't have the right look to me. No offense, I understand what you are saying, but to me working on cars is something I love to do and I want to take the time to make it look right in "my eyes". I never cut corners when it comes to my cars. I didn't want to run just the 51' hood. I wanted to run the entire front end, including running the trim to the end of the doors. Of course it would be possible to just modify the front end, but to me it would lose its appeal if 6-8 inches were taked out of it. I have also always thought the 49' was a bit narrow for a Caddy. That is why I wanted to split the difference.
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