I own an 81 cutlass supreme that was custom made into a convertible. I would like to rebuild the the car with a new engine, trans, top, and paint. Im looking for a reputable shop or shops to help me with my rebuild in the Chicago land area, or any to stay away from. Any help would be greatly appretiated

 

Welcome to our site. Hope we can help you out more. Maybe a little clarification would help us help you. Do you really mean the convertible top has been chopped? If so, then probably the car has already been customized. Second, usually restoring a car implies bringing it back to factory specs and to it's original condition. If you are interested in re-building the car not to factory specs, then it sounds like you are wanting to do something else. If that involves engine/drivetrain components like you mentioned then it sounds like you want to build it up or hot-rod it. If you want to do some special body and visual work on it then you want to customize it (Kustom). Clarifying this will determine who someone would recommend you to have the work done.

 

"Do you really mean the convertible top has been chopped?"

That would be nice to know ive got a 81 Cutlass Supreme. A convertible sounds PHAT!

 

Dread,

You can get a convertible conversion done but they do take quite a bit of work and aren't cheap. Since the hard top and the associated C pillars are not there to provide structual rigidity to the body they have to put reinforcements in the doors. That is why most convertibles are heavier than their hardtop cousins of the same model car.

 

O ok kool, thanks for tha info. I might have to do that. Not for a while tho. I want The Lambo doors 2 lol. But all that is way down tha line