Best of all, none of our precious classics have been sacrificed (yes, I understand there was a 4 door b-body that was pulled from a junkyard and given a new life).

 

You are 100% correct!  Here is a picture of the car after Steve cut it apart, had welded in some rocker panel sections and the metal surround for an E Body windshield.  Also  pictured is the Body without the Doors in place.

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Below are a few photos that show one aspect of the cutting, reconfiguring, reshaping and welding of the Rear Doors.  Notice the top of the Door frame and how straight it originally was.  We had to cut the frame at the belt line, remove a two inch tapered strip of horizontal metal, put vertical slits in the top of the frame, re-bend the top section to incorporate a curve and then weld everything back together.  The Door skins had to match perfectly with the frames.  The rear Doors are made from a “stock” E Body front door skin and a Cuda Quarter panel.  The front of the Rear Door is made from the rear section of an E Body Door and the rear part of the Door is made from the front section of an E Body Quarter Panel.  The two sections were welded together and then the outer perimeter of the Door skin had to be cut to the shape of the reconstructed Door frame.  We (literally) made those custom Door skins from scratch.  After the recessed Handles were repositioned, the “stock” B Body lock mechanisms had to be reshaped to fit behind the recessed areas that now hold the new E Body Door handles.  That’s the work for just one Door!  Every aspect of the Body has been a challenge but it looks Factory “original” and is a good looking design!

Stock B Body Rear Door

Stock B Body Rear Door

Rear Door with metal removed, vertical stress cuts to curve the top frame & welded back together again.

Rear Door with metal removed, vertical stress cuts to curve the top frame & welded back together again.

Inside view of Rear Door after conversion.

Inside view of Rear Door after conversion.

Completely "new" fabricated Rear Door Skin.

Completely “new” fabricated Rear Door Skin.

Back side of Rear Door Skin, Handle cutouts re-located - two part sections welded together and reinforcement on top edge custom fit for Door strength.

Back side of Rear Door Skin, Handle cutouts re-located – two part sections welded together and reinforcement on top edge custom fit for Door strength.

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More of the alterations that had to be made to get the skins to fit.

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Here is one of the first bolt on parts that was acquired for this project. Notice the difference in this Wiper Motor compared to the typical Assembly Line Units. It is one of the earliest dated Motors made for the 1970 model year. On the very early units, the barrel is longer and the stamped numbers are smaller. Also included in the photo is the VIN plate that will be displayed and riveted to the dash pad.

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