Here is what I'm trying to do on my 1937 Chevy Tudor Sedan: Graft the 'B' pillar and door section from a coupe into the sedan. This will give a slanted post with the nice looking curve of the coupe. Obviously, a 37 or 38 Chevy would work but what about other GM coupes from the late thirties into the forties. Knowing GM's affinity for commonality of parts, could Pontiac, Olds and Buick have shared these sections? The length of the doors and feature lines below the beltline would not matter. My thinking is that if the garnish mouldings would interchange, the doors and pillars could be made to work. The reason I am pursuing this is, that I do not want to cut up good doors or a roof from a salvageable car. If I can expand the range of donor vehicles, I may be able to accomplish my goal without destroying someone else's dream. I have seen cars with the original (straight) posts slanted. They do not look right to me. Here is a cropped photo of the area I'm talking about: Can anybody share knowledge?
i'd bet that shape is the same on all GM cars of those years. i have (2) 41 chevy cp. doors in the cl***ifieds, take a look at their shape.
Here's some info that may help determine your doner vehicles based on the body groups. A body - 1937-1948 Chevrolet 1938 Pontiac Special Six (Canada) 1939-1940 Pontiac Arrow (Canada) 1939 Pontiac Quality Six (model 25) 1940 Pontiac Special Six (model 25) 1941-1942 Pontiac DeLuxe (models 25 & 27) 1941-1948 Pontiac Fleetleader (Canada) 1946-1948 Pontiac Torpedo (models 25 & 27) 1939-1940 Oldsmobile series 60 (F) 1941-1941 Oldsmobile series 66 & 68 1941-1942 Buick Special series 40-A B body - 1937-1940 Pontiac DeLuxe (6&8) (models 26 & 28) 1937 Pontiac 224 (Canada) 1938 Pontiac DeLuxe Six (Canada) 1939 Pontiac Chieftain (Canada) 1941-1948 Pontiac Streamliner (6&8) (models 26 & 28) 1937-1938 Oldsmobile Six & Eight (F & L) 1939-1940 Oldsmobile series 70 (G) 1939 Oldsmobile series 80 (L) 1941-1948 Oldsmobile series 76 & 78 1937-1940 Buick Special series 40 1941-1942 Buick Special series 40-B 1946-1949 Buick Special series 40 1937-1942 Buick Century series 60 1937-1940 LaSalle series 50 1941-1947 Cadillac series 61 C body - 1940 Pontiac Torpedo 8 (model 29) 1941 Pontiac Custom 6 & 8 (models 24 & 29) 1940 Oldsmobile series 90 (L) 1941 Oldsmobile series 96 1941-1947 Oldsmobile series 98 1940-1948 Buick Super series 50 1940-1948 Buick Roadmaster series 70 1940 LaSalle series 52 1940-1947 Cadillac series 62 1942-1947 Cadillac 60 Special (with a 3" wider B pillar)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' for your custom project the above info can work, but for repair panels and normal work this is not complete info and can lead you down the path, check our web site www.emsautomotive.com for more interchange info and if you need to call us 216-541-4585 it would help that you have the year and body/style number from the firewall tag and our tech dept can give exact information the ems guy
Thanx for the information guys. I am pretty convinced that the 'A' body coupes listed will have the right contours. Mr. Chevrolet's doors sure look right. Anyone else have any insight? I think I have located a donor roof but won't be able to get to it until the last 3' of snow melts, probably around July.
Why not reshape the sedan doors and posts? If you have the talent to swap parts over you should be able to handle the small amount of fabricating necessary.
Just that the coupe stuff has a real nice curve to it. The ones I've seen slanting the original posts come out looking like someone well, slanted the original straight posts. I want it to look like the one that GM should have built. Maybe not even noticeable to the average guy. You know, someone might say, "Is that the way it came from the factory?" Or, "Something about that just looks different."
Well, to keep the character line in the door, you will need 37-38 Chevy coupe doors. They should be near bolt-up on the hinge A-pillar side. Then get the B-pillar from a coupe and it is just a matter of fitting that into your sedan. Now if you want to just get the door tops and the upper B-pillar, there is probably more selection. I can't tell you what to use, but as you suggested, stay in GM family and it will be better chance of having the same shape for grafting in.
Thanx, I wish it was that easy, but the coupe doors are shorter. I guess I need to find a 37-38 coupe and make a pattern of the door opening, and door top. Then, I can match it up to a roof section or door from a potential donor. Like I said earlier, I have some leads on various parts and pieces, but none of them are in the same place.
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