A few years ago I picked up a rusty Gran Coupe 'vert because it was a deal. This was before all of the AMD replacement parts. I'm thinking of doing a restoration on the car. For some reason there is no rust in the interior, but the rest of the car is toast. to get the passenger door open I have to jack up on the rocker panel to relieve the flex!! How would I lock in the shell to start replacing parts? Block it up at the rockers until the doors operate, then weld in bracing?

Depends on how nice you want the car to turn out..If you're going to spend the money on all new major panels then it's worth the money to get the car to a frame machine...Have the unibody plumbed up and add the bracing to start the project correctly...Using a floor jack/jacks at home and possibly having a twist from the start is'nt going to give the results anyone would want to see...

And we all drove twisted up pretzel cars before the frame machine was ever invented.

Can you do it at home? Yes.

Is it easy, no it's tedious.

But it can be done right at home, just better pay very close attention to detail.

That's another question, I'm going to add frame connectors and everything I've read says to make sure the engine and rear end are in and it's on the wheels to make sure you have proper alignment. Were the convertibles built on the same numbers (frame machine) as the hardtops? Or did they add a little arch into the build to allow for flex?

The rockers on a Convert are stronger to make up for the missing roof structure. adding the frame connectors can be done whenever you want , just square the body before adding them.

It would be best if you could get the unibody on a surface plate , square and fix the structure first, then do the panel replacement.