Chop The Top (1952)

Let me open by giving you a tip for good vintage hot rod publications: Pick up the old Fawcett Books whenever you can. Their “Hot Rod Handbook”, “Sports Cars and Hot Rods” and “How to Build Hot Rods” little pages from the 1950s are excellent research material for anyone building a traditional car. Case in point is this great article I’ve photographed for your perusal- Now, notice I didn’t say “scanned”, since crushing the fragile binding of this book on a flatbed scanner was out of the question- Apologies in advance for the somewhat distorted images, but it’s better than nothing. The article ‘Chop the Top’ by Bill Thompson is a brief article explaining the fundamentals of lowering the lid on a car, accompanied by some great illustrations. A modern rod magazine might take you step by step with detailed bodywork photos on a shop vehicle, but early custom car publications often explain a customizing process with just words and cartoons. The rest was up to your imagination and a blow torch.