I have a Chevelle with a vynil top and someone before me had one on that didn't take good care of it. anyway can I just saw it off and get a top from opg or ground up and make it a converible for a comparable price of a new top and quarters? could it still look factory? just thinkin'

Zac

I'm far from an expert, but I know you'll also need to beef up the frame for the additional weight. If you really want a convert, you might look for a convert project car to back-half your coupe with. Would probably be alot easier and maybe cheaper!

Just my .02

Andy

I think it would cost a WHOLE lot more to convert it to a ragtop. You would have to box the frame, find a ragtop to get all the top frame mounts and rear seat pieces for, the top frame, the pump setup, armrests, the list goes on. Nice thought though. smile.gif

well I guess I'll just have to break down and get another chevelle :D The not so cool part is that the top has the ONLY rust problems. at least I don't have to pedal through the floorboards like the Flintstones ;)

The inner structure of the rear body is also different from hardtops, where all the convertible top frame attachment points are.

Another option (I have thought about this before) would be to find another A-body convertible project car (LeMans, Cutlass, Skylark,etc) and use that frame/main-body to "build" a Chevelle convertible... You would have to graft the Chevelle rear 1/4s and trunk lid/rear panel, but I think the doors and fenders/hood/grill should (probably) bolt right on... The top-frames and trim are usually the same too.

Quite a bit of work, but these cars are usually much cheaper to buy than a Chevelle...

Originally posted by 1966_L78:
Another option (I have thought about this before) would be to find another A-body convertible project car (LeMans, Cutlass, Skylark,etc) and use that frame/main-body to "build" a Chevelle convertible... You would have to graft the Chevelle rear 1/4s and trunk lid/rear panel, but I think the doors and fenders/hood/grill should (probably) bolt right on... The top-frames and trim are usually the same too.

Quite a bit of work, but these cars are usually much cheaper to buy than a Chevelle... The trunk pans and rear bumper mount ares are totally different as well.

It's fairly easy for a body shop to replace or repair your hardtop if the rest of the car is in good shape.
Switching to a convertible would cost a heck of a lot - everything is different including the frame of the car.

i have a roof that i cut off of a 70 chevelle coupe!