My grandparents have a Gran Torino (year unknown...maybe a '74). It has a vinyl top, and I was thinking about converting it to a convertible. Where can I find information on how to do that?
Torino conversion to a convertible
Oct 03, 2004
9 Replies
Sell it and buy a convertible.
Convertibles are constructed completely differently than a car with a hard top. You cannot convert a unibody car to a convertible without a huge amount of expense and trouble, and it will never be quite as good as a car that started out as a convertible.
Unsafe to try a conversion like this. The frame is a heavier unit the a hardtop.
Brian
It can't be done, even if you could afford the cost. That body could not even take a sunroof hole without losing rigidity.
mike hunt
ur3001 wrote:
Except that year Torino is a body on full frame. It can be done, but why, unless there is some exraordinary attachment to the car...
Rob
AND... there is no "convertible frame" for this year Torino.
Rob
OK, my mistake, I assumed it was a unibody. I still say it is an incredibly bad idea, full frame or not.
It might work for a Red Green episode, though.
Well the '70-'71 is a unibody, so without actually crawling under a '72 and up, or looking at someone's pictures, I would be inclined to believe the '72 and ups are also unibody...
And you would be completely wrong. The platform, 1972 through the 1979 Cougar/LTD II/Thunderbird/Montego/Ranchero were all body on frame.
Rob
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