57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Hey Vic,

Is it your plan to remove the B pillar from the body and morph it to the rear door? Have you ever seen a suicide door wagon or are you the pioneer? Thanks for all the little details you cover in your thread. I learn more from yours than most other threads.

I find it very beneficial to share... lots of times I'm saved by someone who's been down the road I'm headed. However, for this build I searched high and low for any posts with how-to descriptions or photos but to no avail. I did see one picture of a 4dr hardtop that looked like it had been nicely done, but no closeup to see how it worked. So I'm sorta pioneering, I guess. The shop that makes the hinge has been pretty good about responding to my text messages, but they mostly say, "Looks good, tack it and see if it works."

The B pillar stays like it is, but after I remove the rear door hinges, I'll have to plate over the recesses and transfer the striker plate from the left rear door to the rear of the B pillar on the right side.

Phase one is getting the hinge in place to where it will open reasonably level and clear the quarter panel and trim. That's where I am right now. I've been tacking it in place to make it sturdy enough for phase two which will be fitting and welding the plate that mates to the hinge into the back of the door. I will then unbolt the mating plate from the hinge, swing open the door and remove the front hinges. That will be the moment of truth. With the stock hinges removed and the door bolted back onto the hinge, I'll see how it looks and operates.

Phase three and four will be cutting out the door handles, swapping sides and moving them to the front of the door to mimic the mid-60's Lincoln Continentals. I'll also transfer the stock latches and make them work with the original striker plates. If that doesn't go well, one of the guys on the tri-five forum has offered to sell me a pair of Bear Claw latches he had leftover from a 34 Ford project. But that presents other challenges as well.

I'd be further along, but I had to make an unplanned trip to O'Fallon, IL yesterday to work on Crusty. The consignment shop used a jump box to get it started which somehow killed the Optima battery and fried one of the Viair compressor relays. They did all this in front of a buyer whose wife then convinced him to take a pass on the truck. Very frustrating. But I got it all fixed and good as new. My butt is still wore out from all the driving, though.