Making Parts

I had a client ask me to repair a convertible top frame from a 1983 Cadillac convertible. These were coach built cars, meaning GM never made them in house, an outside vendor took regular Coupe Devilles and cut the roofs off, plus the rest of the work including the top frames and mechanisms. They were all hand made and there were only 400 made over the entire production run from 1979-84. This means finding parts are a bitch.

Which bring us back to the story. My poor client bought one of these cars over the internet fro Florida, and when it arrived it was a total mess. The car was so rusty under the paint. cloth and trim that it started falling apart as they took it apart. He deiced to save the car, and he asked me to make the top frame sections.

Since parts are impossible to find, he brought me the following. The very rusted remains of the top frame that came with the car, two top headers from later production convertible Cadillacs (totally different cars) and a nice chrome plated front section from the right car. After laying it all out and measuring stuff I discovered that these were all different! Without having th car here to base it all off, the best I could do for now was make some pieces which could possibly transition the smaller headers into the correct shape. He will have to take these parts and tack weld them to the header while it's on the car, then bring it all back for finish work. It was a bitch, but here's how I did it.

This is what was brought to me. He even cut the top of the windshield frame off the car! After checking all these I discovered none were the same. Even the two which were known to be off the same car! That's the problem with hand built cars, they are all different.

After a lot of head scratching, I figured out these sections had to be made and then maybe, just maybe the smaller header panels could be turned int o something that might work. I cut three pieces out of 18 gauge sheet steel, shaped them and clamped them in place on the pattern.

Here's another view.

Tack welded with the tig.

Then finish welded in short sections with cooling from compressed air in between welding.

After sanding, there's this. Hopefully he can use these to weld on the bottom of the short header while the rest of it is installed on the car. Then he can bring the whole mess back to me and I can finish.