saloon to coupe conversion

[spam]

ive a 1973 coupe witch is far more rotten than i hoped the work would take me years. often i see saloons in great condition selling at very reasonable prices. is it posible to convert a saloon into a coupe

[enigmas]

Yes, but it depends on either your wallet or your skill levels. It doesn't make much sense to me unless you were doing something unique like building a 2 door convertible coupe.

[spam]

The coupe i have is in a bad way the four lower outer corners of the front and rear screens down are rotten . all the interior needs renewing . even the wheels are all rusty. Ive seen a saloon thats in great condition . If the coupe roof can be fitted to a saloon it would save me so much time and money . Does the tops of the coupe doors fit the bottom of a saloon door or are the doors a totaly different size ? 

[petervdvelde]

if you take a look at the Wadhams side, you will find that the repair panels (untill the SS trim) are identical for saloon and Coupe's so that should be possible but the site shows that the A and upper D post are different with saloon and coupe.
The sills are identical.
If you intend to swap the roof you need to support the shell very well as the roof gives the shell rigidity. I assume you will buy then a middle priced saloon but P5's are complex car's bodywise and can hide a serious amount of rot or bodge repairs so if an advert says it has a good body, this often isn't the case and as Rover's were not high priced cars, there are a lot around with bodge repairs. Don't ask how i know..

Peter

[richardlamsdale]

There are many small differences as well - window winders, locks, wiring harness, instruments etc. To do it properly would be very expensive and/or very time consuming, and you'd still have a chopped car that a new buyer may be wary of. But of course, it depends how adventurous you're feeling :-)

[spam]

Thank you both for your advise either way its going to be a very hard car to get back on the road . Im an ok welder fabricator but this one is way bigger than anything ive ever tackled. Were there a project on site that had done the same and shown step by step im sure i would go for the roof swap . Thanks again for your help  

[guidedog]

You would far better of buying a coupe. As previously stated it's not that straight forward to do a conversion.

[Roy of the Rovers]

You would have to replace the whole scuttle area underneath the front and rear screens due to the different shape of the screens. After that you would swap the doors and possibly replace the top half of the B/C posts. Its not impossible but to get it right would be very tricky and a complete nightmare.

You are better off repairing yours a section at a time or buying a better condition one. Or you could simply go convertible

[John]

WTF, why would you want to even attempt a massive undertaking of converting a saloon to a coupe? Unless of course like mentioned you intend to create a two door version which would then make it a real coupe, otherwise surely if the conversion was to be done it would be the other way around, a "coupe" to a saloon, more interior space, a far better looking model than the pretentious four door "coupe", now don't get me wrong, as I like both Four door models, but my heart falls for the taller roof four door saloon, and not the lower roof four door model, unless of course where the talented few have made corrective modifications to David.Bache's design of the "coupe" and given it the deserved two doors, now that's a coupe, other wise the Saloon is the way to go.
no more said.... Saloon's Rule.

[flashgord]

Apr 22, 2017 6:16:21 GMT John said:

WTF, why would you want to even attempt a massive undertaking of converting a saloon to a coupe? Unless of course like mentioned you intend to create a two door version which would then make it a real coupe, otherwise surely if the conversion was to be done it would be the other way around, a "coupe" to a saloon, more interior space, a far better looking model than the pretentious four door "coupe", now don't get me wrong, as I like both Four door models, but my heart falls for the taller roof four door saloon, and not the lower roof four door model, unless of course where the talented few have made corrective modifications to David.Bache's design of the "coupe" and given it the deserved two doors, now that's a coupe, other wise the Saloon is the way to go.
no more said.... Saloon's Rule.

Well said John!

[Simon H]

Regards the differences in the windscreens: do you get a better 'upwards' view out of a coupe? The biggest issue I have with my saloon is when I'm at the front of the queue at the traffic lights. I can't see the bl$£dy things unless I sort of crouch down and look out of the side window. The saloon windscreen has a very narrow up/down field of view, it's like looking out of a letterbox...