chop the roof off it ??

[Hottrucks]

ok it's a rainy day and I've been bored and thinking trucks and parts. I found another truck that may end up part of the fleet I'm thinking that maybe I want to cut the roof off it???? I see some of you guys have made them topless and they look pretty kool...not sure where to start but if I get it I'll prime it the same as my 70 I run now put all the good panels/bed on my 70 and make a topless beater out of this one???

any ideas in this or where to start or should I get it home and plug in the saws all??

[lolife99]

I personally hate it when people do this. Just my opinion.

Everyone has there own ideas,... so saw away at it.
Keep us posted with pics.

[Hottrucks]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I personally hate it when people do this. Just my opinion.

Everyone has there own ideas,... so saw away at it.
Keep us posted with pics.

just looking for something dif around here you don't see'm topless??? probably because it's cold 6 months a year and it rains the others...I will say I love running my 32 duece with the roof down..

.If I did it I would want to keep the vent windows and the door glass...not sure how that would work with no window frame around the top 2/3???

Maybe a T top??? wounder if there is and glass that would fit our roof??

[csa daddy]

take a look at some blazers of the same year modify your doors like the blazer doors an get an upper windshield pillar from a blazer so that if you can find an half cab top you can bolt it on. i done a 79 like this once but never finished it

[Hottrucks]

great idea but I think I would need a top before I got the saw started??? probably nothing I would ever find in this part of the world..I may have to check with VTblaser???

[VanceH]

This is in the Blazer thread, I thought it would be cool to do on the 67 c-10??
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=363025

[Hottrucks]

what is the dif in the blazer door to the p/u door??? is it just the window frame???

Hmmmmmmmmm??????

[big_al_71]

There are plenty of these buckets around so go ahead and cut it up also dont forget to cut the dash also to put a nice cd player

[Boog]

You know while a topless pkup doesn't do it for me I understand it might be for others. Oh well if the cab is in real bad shape I guess it's alright.

What I haven't seen is anyone mentioning the strength of the cab also being clipped. By that I mean without the roof to keep the back wall of the cab inline and door openings square what's to keep the door opening from closing up a bit? Parking on the unlevel will surely cause the door gap to change.
It may be ok for a show truck but not practical for dd use. JMO

[Hottrucks]

Al I live in New england we don't know what a decent cab looks like imagine dipping your truck in the ocean everyday for 6 months for the last 30 years.......

I never thought of that Boog I would imagine someone else has daone this mod before so I was hoping for some help in that department

[Cochise]

I always wanted to chop my top an inch or two because I thought it would match the lowering of my truck, but alas, twill not get done since she is gone.

[Hottrucks]

there are 2 chop top truck farely close by one is Junk ( fleetside) the other is very nice ( stepside) niether have a very good look it seems that they get out of perpotion when they get chopped

That being said with all the lowring going on these days I havn't seen any channeled trucks?? Z'd yes but just not channeled old school style where you basicly cut the floor out of everything and drop the body and weld it back in?? Ok yea guys do it witht her bed by raising the floor for axle clearance but a full body drop?? guess I should check to see if this truck is a HIGH hup....lol

I'm just kicking ideas around for something that is mostly labor we al know our time aint worth crap (ask my boss) will just be different while still keeping it looking like a truck........and I'm not a show and shine guy make it fun,work and make it safe

[Longhorn Man]

cutting the roof off shouldn't cause issues with door gaps or anything, the roof doesn't span a distance long enough to add to the strength of the frame. With the body being split in two (cab and bed) right in the middle, all the strength is built into the frame, and the body isn't used.
They sold trucks with no roofs... cowl/chassis models.

[CPNE]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

cutting the roof off shouldn't cause issues with door gaps or anything, the roof doesn't span a distance long enough to add to the strength of the frame. With the body being split in two (cab and bed) right in the middle, all the strength is built into the frame, and the body isn't used.
They sold trucks with no roofs... cowl/chassis models.

I have no real world experience but why did Blazers have rocker boxes to stiffen them? I think the roof does help keep the cab "aligned" to some degree.

Also cowl models had no windshield doors or anything beyond the firewall, they were designed for aftermarket companies to graft their bodies too, firewall back.

But then if you're just building a beater for the heck of it, give it a go, just do it to a chevy and leave the GMC's alone.

[cl79c10]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

That being said with all the lowring going on these days I havn't seen any channeled trucks?? Z'd yes but just not channeled old school style where you basicly cut the floor out of everything and drop the body and weld it back in?? Ok yea guys do it witht her bed by raising the floor for axle clearance but a full body drop?? guess I should check to see if this truck is a HIGH hup....lol

Mine is body dropped about 4"s

As for cutting the top off I did it too my mazda pickup years ago and I regret it now but it looks cool just make sure its someting you really want.

[Hottrucks]

thanx Longhorn
Cl do you have any info on the drop and why the regret on the roadster chop??

I can't believe I'm highjacking my own post...lmao

[cl79c10]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

thanx Longhorn
Cl do you have any info on the drop and why the regret on the roadster chop??

I can't believe I'm highjacking my own post...lmao

It’s a standard Full floor traditional body drop cab and bed. As for my roadster I love my truck (hell I have owned for 17 years now) but its extremely unusable on less than nice days and I really cant take it any were that I cant see it directly. It’s hard to go to dinner or go any were overnight without locking it up in a garage. It gets a lot of attention but if you really want to drive it you’re limited in my opinion.

[Hottrucks]

Hell I havn't taken a key outta anything since 1981 but I get the weather thing since I just came out of a 32 roadster

[cl79c10]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

Hell I havn't taken a key outta anything since 1981 but I get the weather thing since I just came out of a 32 roadster

must be darn quiet in lebanon Cow if you dont lock anything the other issue is cats and other animals love to crawl in it.

[Hottrucks]

yea things are pretty quiet and I have tendincy to park up front reguardless of parking spaces I find that the more people around it the less likely some jackazz will jump into it and try to drive off....I'll tell one quick story that happened years ago
I was in doing laundry at the laundry mat lady comes in and tells me that some black guy who was walking down the street (mind you this area is not very cuturly diverse) just got into my freshly restored 70 Monte carlo and drove off..she was insainlty crazy about it you have to call the cops...I looked at her real calmly and told her not to worry about it they make them everyday.....finshed switching my cloths walked outside and sat on the bench the hole time she was going nuts!!! 5 min later the car comes rolling back in and she starts jumping up and down pointing the car parks back in the same space BIG BLACK GUY gets out....with a brown bag comes over and sits on the bench opens up the bag hands me a beer and says I love that car..I give him the skinny now he starts to stare at her inside she takes her cloth out of the running machine throw them into a bag and makes a run out the other door...the 2 of us are laughing our ass off and so are a few others that watched the hole thing go down..

Makes me augh even to this day........

anyway any pics or things I might want to know about a body drop and issues that you learned could be avoided??

[fine69]

Well back some years ago........ah bout 15 years. I cut the roof off my 69 short step with a sawzall. Took 20 minutes.

Now mind you the cab was rough back then. But there really was some flex in the back of the cab. Doors didnt align right. But it wasnt much better before i hacked the roof off.

I drove it that way for probably 3 years. Even in the winter. I used it to go get parts for my other stuff if i needed to.

If you have a rough cab, just freakin' hack the top off. It was tons of fun. Always had someone saying how cool it looked.

I will do it again someday.

[BarryB]

You might check into getting a kit for making a convertible out of it. remember looking at a Datsun truck years ago that had a convertible kit put in it. basically you cut the section of cab off, fabricate this kit into the "splices". You then could remove the top on nice days, reinstall it on rainy cold days.
Thats my opinion
Funny story by the way.

[Hottrucks]

thats what I'm talking about!! makes a body drop easy to since it only weighs half as much

[jbristo67]

NO way its a long bed. Go buy a blazer instead

[jamis]

I think my sig line says it all but what do I know....I can’t decide to finish my roadster LOL I'm tempted to go look a short step bed for it tomorrow.

If that don’t work there's always the rat rod concept, if that don’t work we can give it a 400 shot of NOS a full roll cage and go drag racing, if that dont fly add chiken wire and raise some hens

endless possibilities can be achieved thru the power of the sawsall LOL