65 OLDS STARFIRE CONVERTIBLE FRAME - HELP!

[slhandpaz]

HI, I AM TRYING TO LOCATE A FRAME FOR MY 65 STARFIRE CONVERTIBLE I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE KNOWS WHAT FRAMES ARE INTERCHANGEABLE WITH THAT MODEL? ALSO, CAN A HARDTOP FRAME BE EASILY MODIFIED ( BEEFED UP) TO USE ON A CONVERTIBLE? ANY HELP ON THIS MATTER WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS VERY MUCH, STEVE

[ednavy212]

Did you ever find out any info on your frame? I'm in the same boat with a 1962 98 convertible. It's got 77k original miles but has a bad frame.

[joe_padavano]

I'm pretty sure the 65-70 B-body convertibles all use the same frame. It is not easy to convert an unboxed hardtop frame to a convertible frame. On street rods, where the frame is a relatively simple C-channel, boxing the frame is not too difficult. On these cars, the convertible frame starts with a hardtop frame then uses a number of specially shaped sections that fit inside the channel of the hardtop frame for reinforcement. These are not simple plates or even channels, but are formed sections that taper to clear the floor pan and other obstacles. Look closely at your convertible frame and you'll see where these additional pieces have been welded in. If the welded-in parts are in good shape, you CAN carefully cut them out of the old frame and weld them into a hardtop frame. I doubt, however, if this is really cost effective. At some point it's cheaper to just buy a complete car from the desert and start with that. Unfortunately, the very nature of the boxed convertible frame retains moisture and promotes rust.

[Guest copper128]

Contact Kenibil@aol.com, he was advertising a 66 or 67 convertible frame but I don't know if he still has it.