Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp rat
Holey crap! I wish one of these days i could watch somebody do this so i could see how all the parts are moved and stretched into place, i'm sure there is way more involved that the pictures let on. Nice work!
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thanks man and there are a lot of things to factor when doing a chop measure measure measure and then measure also brace the body to keep everything square most of the chops i have done where cut it down to what i think looks good and has a good flow for me and also the customer must love it and approve i say all of this because #1 it is there car and they must love it but a lot of times they may see something that gives them a base of what they want but dont really know what it could become by improving on someone else s idea also i say what i think looks good because there are people out there that would disagree and say it looks bad or they dont like chop tops. with all that aside chopping a top you have to know what your working with flat glass cars and trucks are easy you can move pillars to cooperate. curved glass cars and truck is where things get a little tricky you have to retain that curve so pillars have to kind of stay where they are.
here is a write up i did for a guy on another forum when i was building my chopped gmc i know its not the same as being in the shop and seeing it done but it is good information to have
first off chopping a top is not for a first time fabricator. there is a lot to take in account when doing a chop. what are you wanting to chop is it a car or a truck does it have flat glass or curved glass. as far as how far are you wanting to chop is is all in what you think looks good and what is the theme of your build.
when doing a chop you need to brace the cab or shell of the car in multiple spots to keep any thing from moving when you go to cut the top off both cross bracing the inside of the body and all the door openings before you make any cuts. you will also be making A LOT of measurements to keep it all square and to insure it will come out right because if not it will look bad and all your hard work will have been a wast of time and hard work. like the chop that was on my truck when i bought it i had to find another roof and start over and do it right and also make it safe.
a flat glass chop is the easiest of all the chop top you can do. the 20's and early 30's cars and truck had flat glass and straight posts. this makes it easy to just take out the section you want lets just say 3 inches all the way around. ***the easiest way i have found is to use masking tape to mark your cuts wrapping it all the way around the pillars to make sure your cuts are straight all the way around. to make your life easier your first cut should be on the top of the tape so when you remove the top you can make your second cut on the bottom side of the tape easier on the car or truck because it will stay still to ensure a nice clean cut also on a chop like this it is best to brace the roof as well so it dose not flex and move and always make baking plates to put in the pillars to help keep the strength in the sections your welding back together the best way to do this is you can use the 3 inch section you cut out. just take it and cut it apart so you can slide the peaces into the pillars and drill some holes in the pillars on both body ans roof sides 5/16's to 3/8's holes is what i recommend and put the peaces in on the body side and weld the holes up with the metal clamped tightly this adds straight and holds the peaces in place when you go to put your roof back on. but just when you think you are ready to wild the roof put it on and measure all openings side to side and cross measure the openings corner to corner and do it again. if all is spot on weld. and now for the doors cut your 3 inches out the same as the pillars but you will not use backing plates in the doors because you have a window track make sure you doors are aligned and have good door gaps weld back together.*** (this will be done on all chops)
late 30's to late 40's cars and early 50's trucks still have flat glass but had tapered pillars and where also angled in and back. because it is flat glass you can cut and angle the pillars as needed. take that some 3 inch chop and you will see that the pillars will not line up because of the angels you will have to cut in the corners making the roof side wider and the lower body side wider to ensure that they line back up and you may also have to pie cut the pillars if they are tapered making the bottom a little thinner and the top wider. on cars lay the back glass in and make sure you brace the window opening to keep it true so you keep your back glass you can also use the brace back glass method on trucks if you want to keep the back glass the same size.
50's curved glass with straight pillars (like a 55 chevy truck) it is like the 20's and early 30's cars and trucks. note do not angle pillars.
50's - present curves glass with tapered pillars. when doing these chops you have to cut the roof into 2 to 4 sections because you can not angle curved glass pillars in so you will need to widen the roof and also the pillars are tapered so they will need to pie cut them. you can however lay the pillars back but have to cut in the corners and make sure they lay back equally if you do not want to lay the windshield back you will have to cut the roof to make it longer like i did on my truck if you look back through my build. also when making your roof longer the door glass opening will also have to go longer most of the time you can use the peaces you cut out to fill in the gap but in some cases the body lines are different and you will ether have to make filler peaces or get a second set of doors and use the sections to fill the gap.
on cars and trucks with tempered curved door glass when doing the doors you can eater try and find laminate curved glass some windshields have that same curve and get it cut to fit if that will not work you will have to use the tempered peace and pie cut and fill in the gap with metal because tempered is not able to be cut.
note*** a 1 inch chop is going to be easier than a 3 inch chop the more you do the harder it is because the greater the angles will be changed.
now my truck has a 5/8 chop that is a 5 inch chop in the rear and 8 inch chop in the front when doing a rake you will have to reangle the pillars
this bug is a 5.25 chop in the front with the back glass laid down similar to that of a chop you would see on a lead sled i will have a lot to rework on the back to keep the flow of the roof line also i did reangle the the pillars in ward because the roof is narrower at the top and wider at the base of the pillars it is all flat glass on the sides so i will be fine in doing this but i have seen guys split these roofs down the center to keep there pillars at a more factory angle