Where to start?

The plan is simple, remove the coupe roof and weld the fastback in its place. So where to start?

This car is a work in progress and I am sure that I did not do every step in the most efficient or practical way. So if I lead you astray then let me apologize in advance. remember this is your project I am just trying to share mine with anyone who cares to read about it. So I will begin by describing everything that I have determined so far that I will need to replace once the fastback roof is installed.

1. Interior trim and rear window - I know it goes without saying but I'll try and make this complete.

2. The front windshield is the same so don't replace it unless you need to

3. The side glass (not the front vent glass you can keep that) needs to be replaced but you lose the rear quarter window on the coupe.

4. The trunk lids are different and this includes the hinges but I have been told by another guy that did this conversion that the coupe hinges can be modified.

5. The impossible part to get is the side window weather strip molding. This is the part that the weather-strip rubber attaches to, not the drip rail molding but the chrome piece inside the door jam. You should try very hard to get these with the donor roof if possible. They never made any reproduction and you never see any original ones for sale. If you do find a set they go for around $500 plus. With that said I was fortunate enough to get this part with my roof but the other guy that did this conversion was able to make use of the molding off his coupe roof. He was never satisfied with it but he said no one else seemed to notice.


I began by removing every piece of the interior, including the seats, carpet, headliner, panels etc. Some of the stuff I chose to remove because it was necessary for the conversion but mostly because I plan to build the car from the ground up and I really didn't know what I was getting into so it all went. One thing to remember is to bag and tag, even if you don't think you will use it again do your best to organize everything. I did not do such a good job of this and now I regret it.

Remember to continue to do your research. If anyone has any good links pertaining to this type of conversion by all means share them. One link to another blog I want to share because this guy really inspired me in the first place and his car is complete at least to the point that I can tell, it is to my understanding that you never really stop on these kinds of projects. But check out this guys blog. He was more than willing to answer my questions when I first began this project.

http://users.zoominternet.net/~jmiller126/