Station Wagon Convertible

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by Harry Clamshell, Aug 21, 2007.

  1. Fat Tedy

    Fat Tedy Island Red Neck

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    Yup it is a full frame, frames flex. Flex even more when designed to have a body structure to help them out and you just remove, you just can't "remove" and expect nothing to happen. may take a day, may take 2 years but something is going to happen.

    I got beer, you can have the whine, I'll take the cheese though for snacks............
     
  2. KevinVarnes

    KevinVarnes Well-Known Member

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    We could always ask since almost nine years has elapsed since this thread was started. I'm sure he has plenty of test miles on it by now.
     
  3. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    Didn't realize this was a (very) old thread......
     
  4. joe_padavano

    joe_padavano Well-Known Member

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    Not a structural engineer, are you? :rolleyes:

    The "full frame" doesn't account for the lack of a top. There's a reason why back when cars had full frames, the convertible frames were significantly beefed as compared to the hardtop frames. The issue is STIFFNESS, not strength. Lacking the roof, the stock frame isn't sized for bending stiffness of an open car with a load in it. Even factory convertibles with full frames got wedge plates on the doors to provide an extra load path and reduce cowl shake.
     
  5. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    Just been informed that the topic of this discussion is NOT the 'Ratmaster' built by Pat O'Malley. It's some other vehicle....

    THIS is the Ratmaster:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Oh, and Pat's a member here. Goes by 'Ratmaster'.......
     
  6. vacationtime247

    vacationtime247 New Member

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    This is my 1991 Buick Roadmaster Wagon chop top! Funny to see it live on thanks to the internet. The Ratmaster is much better done than the hack job I performed with a sawzall. Here's the back story on it. Originally bought this years ago for $500 in good condition from the Strawtown auction in Indiana. Drove it for a few days until a friend begged me to sell it to him. So, I offered him up a sweet deal at $600. He drove it for a while until someone busted all the glass out. He bought another car and wanted me to rebuild the engine. In exchange, I'd get the beat up Buick back. So, he got a basic rebuild kit and over a couple days we had it out, apart and back in. So, did a quick clean out and drove that pile home. Honestly didn't care at all about the car, the engine and transmission were what I was after. It had the 350 roller engine and a 700R4 trans, pre LT1 . Figured, before I yank it's heart out, let's have some fun with it. Got out the sawzall and went to town. After that, scuffed up the paint and rolled on some flat black paint with a 4 inch foam roller. Using the el cheapo Rustoleum roller paint job method. My wife wouldn't ride in it, but did find it hilarious. So did many other people because yes, I absolutely did drive this around. Got a mix of thumbs up and laughter. Amazingly, I was able to find a pic of what the car looked like when I first got it before the carnage.
    VT247
     

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  7. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    Welcome aboard vacationtime. Looks like it started out as a decent car. But hearing what happened to it while your friend owned it, I can see how it arrives at it's final configuration. I'm glad you were able to prolong it's life and get some additional enjoyment out of it.
    Reading back through the thread it sounds like you have had some interesting whale wagons. I for one would like to see the Pontiac-ified version.
     

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