1960 Cadillac Coupe De Ville Gets Body Drop and Hydraulics

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville Project Car

Karl Fisher at Make It Kustom is starting on his wife’s 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville project car. The plan is to drop the car 2 1/2 inches so that it will lay rocker after the hydraulic suspension is installed.

How To Brace ANY Car For Surgery: Top Chops and Body Drops

A body drop involves cutting the car completely in half horizontally, so the bracing must go in all the right places to keep the car perfectly aligned during the process. This video explains step by step the process and theory behind bracing a vehicle for major automotive surgery…

Now that the car is fully braced, Karl removes a 2.5″ section between the inner body and the floor, to allow the outer body to lower around the chassis. This is also known as channeling.

Channeling the 1960 Cadillac Coupe De Ville ~ Body Drop Part 1

In this episode of Make It Kustom, Karl starts the body drop on his wife Kristina’s 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville…

Body Drop Part 2

In this episode, Karl fabricates new front body mounts and repairs the under rear seat pan area on the 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville for the body drop (channeling). He also installs structural inner rockers (Z plates) that the main X frame body mounts tie into.

Fabrication, Rust Repair, and Bracing

Karl works on the metal fabrication for the body drop. He stitches back together the bracing as well as fabricates fillers and connectors for the body. He’ll be hammer forming, spot welding, and repairing rust.

Chassis Modification, Front Hydraulics, and Shocks

Karl works to install hydraulics in the front as well as mounting shocks in all four corners. He had to cut the frame up quite a bit to allow for the suspension to drop to where he wanted it…

Making Small Block Chevy Engine & Transmission Mounts

Karl mounts the small block 350ci engine and TH350 automatic transmission in the ’60 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. He takes you step-by-step through fabricating a removable transmission cross member and rubber donut flathead Ford-style engine mounts…

Fabricating Bumper Mounts from Scratch + Installing New Chassis

In this episode, the boys come over and they swap the body onto the gold frame and build bumper mounts from scratch using the CNC plasma and press brake.

Stay Tuned…