BODY, A fool chops at home. Step-by-step photos.

[cleatus]

OK I have been meaning to post these photos for a while know, since a few people have asked me to post some stuff on how I chopped my car, but I have been busy as hell at work and the last thing I wanted to do was spend any more time on this damn computer.

[cleatus]

So here’s my story: When I was about 14 or so, I found a old publication (don’t remember which one) in my cousin’s room that had a story about Duane Steck building Moonglow in his driveway - something about restyling a car to make it uniquely your own design really stuck with me, and ever since, I have wanted to chop a car.

Fast forward many years, and I spot a classified ad for a 40 chevy coupe and half heartedly point it out to my wife who says “well...if you really want it....” So I buy the thing pretty much sight unseen (it was dark and I did not have a flashlight) before she can change her mind, Later, I realized it is just a serious pile, but since she had the confidence to give me the go ahead, I figured I could not turn back now. Oh well, I wanted something that was pretty much junk, so I would not feel guilty cutting it up since I was a beginner and all.

Here’s the p.o.s. I drug home as a starting point:

[cleatus]

Well of course, the first thing I wanted to do when I got the car home was to cut that way-too-tall roof, but I refrained for a whole year or so while each night I spent some time in the garage staring at it (with a good buzz on) deciding HOW to cut it to get that “custom swoop” I was after. During that time I also was turned on to the Barris books which really helped me refine my plan and made customizing seem so doable. In the meantime, I taught myself how to weld by replacing the rusted out floors/rockers/firewall/tailpan etc.

Finally the time came when I was thinking I was ready to attack the roof. I did not want to invite any friends over to help, cause I did not want to feel pressure to move ahead any faster than I could ponder each step, so I decided to just tie the roof to the rafters in the garage and just cut it loose, then lower it down myself.

[cleatus]

Here you can see just how incredibly tall the roof was on this thing.

[cleatus]

The red lines indicate where I cut the back window to lay it down. Note that I did not cut it all the way across the bottom below the wind - this was to keep things in registration. My plan was to cut it right along the body line and then just push the rear corners inward so that they could slide inside the body as I rotated the rear window down - that strategy worked out great. The red arrow illustrates where the corner will come down and attach to the side.

[cleatus]

So, I took a deep breath and cut it loose and dropped it down and forward to line up the A pillars, which luckily lined up perfectly with no need to modify the angles of the posts. Then I had my wife help hold things in place while I clamped and tacked.

This photo shows just how far forward and downward the roof went. Now it is time to make the cuts around the rear window in the areas marked by the red lines in that previous photo so I could rotate the rear window down to create the swoop I was after.

[FONZI]

Great post.....keep going.



Fonzi

[cleatus]

And just like that I went from too-tall dork mobile to custom - it was a happy day!

[cleatus]

Here you can see the rear window area rotated forward to meet the back of the roof. Notice how the corners were pushed inside the body so it could just rotate down. Then, after welding, I just went inside the car and trimmed off the excess.

[cleatus]

Now, at this point , looking at those side windows, many people might think “Oh shit what have I done?” but I was stoked, cause I could see I had created the basic shape I was after and I had planned to make it a hardtop anyway. Here the top of the door was clamped to the roof to give me an idea of the shape of the side opening. Later, the tops of the doors were welded into the roof because I wanted to retain the body line around the side opening to keep some of the 40 chevy character lines. Keep the good stuff and get rid of the bad.

[cleatus]

In this photo you can see the jagged mess left from hacking out the door posts. Since I wanted to retain the nice multiple curved body lines, this was going to be a real challenge for an amateur.

[cleatus]

So what I did was cut a small cross section of the body line from the top of the door and took it to a place that had a sheet metal brake and asked the to provide me with 6’ of metal bent to that same shape. I must say they did an outstanding job matching the profile I provided. I then used that metal to piece together and fill in all the jagged holes where the posts used to be.

[cleatus]

Now, this might look pretty straight forward, but keep in mind that the side opening not only arches up and over, but in and out at the same time. So making that 6’ straight stock into a compound curve took quite a bite of trial and error. Hear you can see where I am working the top forward to meet where the tops of the doors will be welded into the roof.

[cleatus]

Another shot of that area. Later, I went back and spliced in a more rounded rear corner from the bits I had saved because I thought it was a bit too pointy compared to the rest of the car.

[cleatus]

With the top of the door in place, I am close to closing the gap to finish my side opening - now I just have to do it all over again on the other side and make it match - damn!

[cleatus]

At the leading edge of the side opening, I wanted it to come forward into more of a point, so I spliced in a better curve from the piece I had discarded when cutting out the rear of the factory 1/4 window.

[cleatus]

After chopping the top, the windshield area seemed too squinty and there was too much crown above the windshield which made the car look top heavy, so I took the idea from the Matranga Merc and sectioned out a piece above the windshield. Basically, the 1” of metal under the tape will be removed and the top of the windshield area slid up into the roof to open up the front glass and make the top visually line up with the top of the side window opening.

[cleatus]

Here it is whacked out - scary!

[cleatus]

And a shot after carefully welding it 1/2” at a time to keep from warping that thin and unsupported metal in the roof. The patience in welding paid off as it needed very little filler to finish it.

[cleatus]

And, finally a shot to show how it turned out.

[OGNC]

This thing is going to be really cool when you get it all finished up! Wanna do a 42 pickup next... J/K

[daign]

One of the best posts in a while. Awesome Cleatus. Love how you attacked it all yourself. One of the most involving chops I've seen.

Great job. Did you get any pictures of it at Paso? I've yet to see it complete...

-Dane

[manyolcars]

That is Great. About how much time did this take? The roof, chop, windshield, etc-

[cleatus]

Here's a shot of the car at Paso Robles. I just barely got the car running in time to make it, but Paso was my goal for the last year or more, so I was a maniac during the last few months trying to get it driveable (thanks go to elPolacko for helping me solve my brake problems).

[Elrod]

Oh man!!! That green car is this??? SHIT! Congratulations!!!!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/image_uploads/95098-start.jpg

[cleatus]

Manyolkars, it is hard to calculate how much time it took me to chop, I would work on it for a while and then when I was unsure of the next step, or just burnt out, I would work on some other part of the car for a while. I can say this car took up a most of my free time over the past 4-1/2 years. Thanks to my wife for her understanding and support!

Another shot from Paso. Eventually it will have a hood - I just have not got that far yet, since the hood will need to be widdened and modified to match the 37 Caddy grill I swapped into the front (that was a whole 'nuther huge ordeal changing all the front sheet metal to make that work).

[Hellfish]

that car is awesome! and you're an amatuer? you must have natural abilities! I hope my 48 turns out half as good.

[DrJ]

That's a beautiful top line.
Great work!
Especially moving the windshield up into the turret.

I'd like to see a detail of where the "A" pillar door-window frame stops and the roof frame addition starts and how the door glass fits regarding a weatherstrip and what the glass "stops" against, or whether the glass still goes up into what was the door-window frame channel (which would require opening the window before opening or closing the doors)
Or does it not have door glass?

[cleatus]

No side glass yet Doc, but I am beginning working on that now - have put a lot of thought into it all as I went tho' and I think it will work out fine.

It will still have wing windows and the new door frames I am making will stay up while the glass rolls up and down inside them. I will make them so they just clear underneath the roof when sutting the doors and come to touch a rubber gasket that will just barely hang down from inside what was once the tops of the doors.

The 1/4 glass will slide into a channel and have a curved leading with a frame around it to match the one for the doors - sorta like the Metranga car - but a little different.

Here's the only photo I have on hand of the area you are requesting:

[burndup]

OH, HELL YEAH!

Badass.
Liar, that CAN'T be your first chop! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[DrJ]

That's areally nice resolution to that door pillar.
I was just trying to visualize your stainless? window frames and the frames on a first generation Datsun 240Z came to mind (because I have the frames and door glass in my "collection I guess) You might want to check one out to see what kind and how big of an inner flange/lip they used on hte body and the shape of the rubber weather strip, just for an idea, design inspiration. Also, about any Corvette since '68. A lot of cars had frameless door glass in the 70's. Most of them the rubber was huge and ugly but worth looking at to see how or even how not to do it.
I'm sure your sollution will be as tastful as the rest of the car so far...
I gotta see it some time!!!

[DrJ]

What are those door mirrors???!!!

[CURIOUS RASH]

<font color="green">I saw a guy this weekend that did a hardtop conversion on a similar beast.

Although yours is WAY more refined.

He solved the window deal with Electronics.

Not TRAD I know but it was some cool engineering.
when you worked the door handle, the window rolled down enough to clear and then a solenoid popped the door open.

Just a thought.

NICE WORK! </font>

[rickyracer1962]

how much did you take out of the roof? looks good. post more photos!

[CharlieLed]

NICE JOB! Thanks for taking the time to post your photos.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Curt Six]

Awesome post...and one of the nicest kustoms I've seen. It's especially nice because it isn't one I've seen done quite like that before.

Do you have any detail or in-progress shots from when you welded the patch in place over the rear window to contour the original roofline into the new back window surround? I noticed in one shot you had a strip of sheet metal in place...did you cut out more of the original roof? When adding metal across the width of the roof like that (or on the front like you did) is it best to work from one side to the other, or is it best to do a little on each side and work toward the center? I'm not familiar enough with the way metal behaves under that kind of heat, but I'm going to have to do some similar work on my chop and I'm terrified of warping the metal.

Thanks again for the great post.
Curt

[DrJ]

The first factory stainless door window frames like what you're describing were on the 41-42 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special that a "rookie" Bill Mitchel designed. They called it the convertible look.
Thought you might like to look at the history of the breed; http://www.car-nection.com/yann/dbas_txt/Phocad42.htm

[NoSurf]

Nice.

Someday someone's gonna say "I chopped it like the Cleatus Chevy" and they will reply "Oh, yeah, cool."

[bdrake]

You did good, looks nice.

[cleatus]

Oh yeah....I guess it would be good to say how much it was cut: 4" in front / 5" in back.

Doc: those mirrors are something I found at a swap which appear to be old aftermarket items that have "AECO - Hollywood" cast into the base. I have not seen another pair exactly like them.

Rash: I client/friend of mine is building a 49 Merc that will use the electronic partial roll down before opening the doors feature (from a BMW). He is even doing curved side glass in it (cut from a Yukon windshield I think) to match the curve of the door. Definitely not a traditional styled car, but it will be very cool when he is done with it. But that all seemed way too complicated for my more basic building skills, so I am using the low-tech approach.

[saltflataddict]

great post, I love all your posts regarding this car.. One of my favs...

[antichrysler]

Incredible! Thanks for the post. I learned a lot.

[49monarch]

WOW! that is one great job! What type of welder are you using?

[speedaddict]

nice post cleatus. Great work.

[injectedA]

Wasn't even going to come in here, then I remembered what you were doing. Damn glad I did. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Thanks. A lot of great tips, patience, and work.

Said it before. This place is better at putting forth the info the mags should. Real world.

Dead heat with Bleed's radiator shell post, and Sams buildup as my favorite all time.

[raaf]

i think this is one the most interesting projects on this board. cleatus, some time in the future, it would be great to see a comprehensive post covering the entire buildup. i want to see that car in person sometime too - it's beautiful.

[Nads]

One of the best posts ever.
Cleatus, that car is incredible. Just a gorgeous work of art.
Your dedication and workmanship are admirable.
I wanna see it in person one day. The magazines ought to be jumping all over your Kustom.

[ratster]

what they all said, great job......

[PorkChop]

Thats super RAD...

nice chop dude....

PC -

[NealinCA]

Great progress shots. Your attention to deatil is awesome.

Ryan needs to put this in the Tech-o-matic.

Keep up the good work.

Neal

[james]

DAMN!! If you're an amatuer, where the hell does that leave us real amatuers? Maybe we can say you're in the minor leagues, I guess that would put me at the t-ball level. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[TP]

Cleatus, I have a question. Do you have to have the window down to open the door?That is one fine fat fendered custom. Thanks for posting the pictures.The light green primer fits the car also. TP

[Hackerbilt]

TRIPLE WOW!
(1) The post is right on and very well written...
(2) The workmanship is inspiring to say the least!
(3)The (mostly) finished car is incredible in line and proportion!

But don't get a swelled head or anything! Your still only little Cleatus from the HAMB...even if you do become a customizing legend!
WE know were you came from... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Thanks for a deadly post!


Bill

[Django]

Yeah, I agree, first chop, just learned to weld my ass! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif That is some seriously wicked shit my friend. Damn, I NEED to learn to weld pronto...

[bradberry00]

that makes me want to just start tearing into my 41.....

Thanks a lot for the pics cleatus!

[-=LD=-]

Thanks for sharing and especially the detail cleatus. It's posts like this that make me feel braver in my garage (and also embarrased at my own slow progress.)
--------------------
"My Doc said stop drinking... so I'm going to freeze it now and eat it like a popsicle." Dean Martin

[Skate Fink]

"I am not worthy....I am not worthy..." AWESOME!!

[cleatus]

Thanks for all the kind words my brothers, it means a hell of a lot, and I sure do appreciate the knowledge I gained from the HAMB - wish I'd found this place a couple years sooner into this project!

The car was certainly a labor of love thing and a real learning experience for me. Still working the bugs out - I do all right on changing the sheetmetal, but I sure wish I was a better mechanic (as you could prob tell by my various dumb questions on the HAMB from time to time), but I did put over a hundred miles on it this past weekend just motoring around the countryside without problems, so I think I'm getting close - then I can get back to the fun stuff (customizin!).

I have plans to change the whole front of the car - again!

[LIMEY]

What they all said, i was reading the chop with great interest, until i came to the almost finished pic of the car. WOW then i realised it was that car...i love that car, so i went back &amp; read it all again!!
one of the best posts &amp; very very inspiring.

[Brootal]

SENSATIONAL!

Nice work Cleatus. So what colour you going to paint it? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[cleatus]

paint?

[old beet]

VERY! VERY! NICE JOB!!!!! You should be proud of your hard work......OLDBEET

[FEDER]

Cleatus My Hats off to YOU!!! What an outstanding job.That first pic proves you can polish a terd and make it a thing of beauty. You the Man Cleatus---FEDER

[CTFuzz]

outstanding.........you can only see this on the HAMB
CT

[Glen]

nice job, most people would not have seen the problem with the turret top.....you moved the windshield up perfect to eliminate that bald headed look.

If the pics are good quality one of those mag guys should get some of that on print.

[Shiva69]

Very Nice job
Congrats
Keep the picturs coming
thanks
Garth

[Jugghead]

thats one of the best posts lve seen on here, congrats, top job and l love the paint.

[Tuck]

cleatus that car ROCKS

i love it...
makes me wana build one someday

right out of the magazines
kick ass post.

Tuck

[Toqwik]

VERY NICE, love the color. Makes me want to wack on the roof of my 41 Chevy. way kool......To

[D Picasso]

really wonderful job, inspirational, even. great post; takes a lot of mystery out of the process.

thanks for posting this!

[Bass]

cleatus, after we met briefly in Paso, I went and found your car a little later on...and I must say, your concept for the car and the craftsmanship it embodies is incredible.

I really love the dash as well....any chance you have a pic of it?

Great post and even greater job on one of the best cars of the HAMB. Thanks for sharing.

-Brian

[Kommuter]

I don't normally reply to a post just to jump on the wagon, but I gotta tell you cleatus, that is truly inspirational.

I've been spending a lot of time cutting up paper copies of my fantasy 41 Ford coupe (since I dont have an actual car to cut on), but your story really helps me to see that it's possible for a real person to do this kind of work.

Thanks for the inspiration. Your kustom really is a work of art, thanks for sharing.

[Boyd Who]

That is a GREAT looking chop, Cleatus! Thanks for sharing all the detail shots of the work.

[slazzen]

I met you at paso you are a really humble guy he told me and gordini about his car like this {yes mine is that green forty over on the street its not done yet though} I went over later and looked at it my jaw dropped one of the best cars at the show in my opionion

[DrJ]

[ QUOTE ]
paint?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, paint.
I can see that car looking good a pearl butterscotch or pearl brick dust orange.

[Mel]

Wow! Looking real good man! Keep up the great work!

[Fraz]

FTH, it looks too damn bitchin hoodless.

This compliment is from a guy who doesn't like Chevys, so you know it's good! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ray]

i'm sure you've humbled many pros.

great to see you take the time to learn it right the first time, instead of the common attitude that you can just carve it out of bondo later.

you have really got the lines down on that car!

fuckin A.

[ShortBus]

Holy schniekies cleatus, that car is supoib. Very nice work.

I think you need to do more thinkin' on your window frames. If you leave the frame rigid on the door, you might as well put the b-pillar back in.

Check out the door windows in a 59-60 GM hardtop. A chrome frame is attached to the (flat) glass and the frame's trailing edge (where the b-pillar would be) extends about a foot into the door in a heavy track to keep it vertical when it's rolled up. The vent window post has a felt u-channel that holds the bare leading edge of the glass. All you'd have to do is make the frames above the beltline and use the hardtop parts below. I measured the glass on my Olds and it's 13 1/2 inches tall, they travel down the same distance. You might even take a peek at how the quarter windows roll down if you're really feelin' froggy...

I know you're itchin' to call it done so you can drive it, but please do that beautiful car the justice it deserves.

Is it too early to call dibs on shooting it when it's done? I LOVE that style custom.

Hey Ryan, TECH-O-MATIC!

drooling.

[BARNETT]

I don't know what to say...that looks beautiful! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Zodoff]

Love it!!

[Kustom7777]

One of the best posts in a LONG time...You have a great eye, and apparently the skills to pull it off...My computer is a piece of junk, and took forever to download all of those pictures, but it was worth every minute...The proportions on that car are perfect...GREAT job.

[RocketDaemon]

very inspireing... good work!

[38Chevy4door]

I keep looking at this, and just realized I never posted...
that car is BEAUTIFUL. You've done a good job.

I vote for TECH-O-MATIC...a lot of good information, and it's just so stinkin' inspiring!!!

Steve

[jamie]

One of the best posts of the HAMB... I feel like I could go out and chop a car right now!

I'm looking forwad to watching it progress. Beautiful car!

[ESnacky6]

Super bitchin' car Cleatus..!! I've said it before, it is one of my favorites cars I've seen on here, and you could never post too many pics of it in my opinion... I saw it at Paso as well, and it looked even cooler in person...especially cruisin' down Spring Street..!! You better be at Billetproof..!!! So ruling..!!!

[deuceguy]

Damn that's really impressive!

[lowsquire]

Amazing work cleatus, and proof that standing in the garage,beer in hand, just lookin at your pile (I do a lot of that)is not time wasted.