Projects 53 Chevy Mild Chop (w/ a ton of pics)

Great looking job, the rear window solution is great. It looks like it should have come from the factory that way.

 

Excellent work! I can't wait to get to this point on my car. Your build is inspiring.

 

Being as I was working on the car by myself most of the time. I got tired of fumbling around trying to hold stuff while fitting other pieces so i made these simple hooks to hold the upper door frames in place while i messed with other stuff. Heres some pics of the door frames going together.

 

And here's after the passenger tops were done. Sorry. Didn't get any pics in between. I get on a roll and forget to get pictures.



And here is the inside of it. I tried to get it as close to factory looking as possible.

 

Here's the only pics i have of getting the garnish moldings together. Pretty straight forward. A lot of pie cuts in the back. Everything else was pretty simple


Comparison of the new molding vs. the stock

 

Anyone who has one of these knows that the package tray sits lower than the top of the seat. Ive always hated that, and thought it looked stupid. So i built a raised tray that matches the contour of the top of the rear seat. Little piece that was a bear to fit and get matched up to the seat. But in the end i think it was worth it (even though nobody will ever notice it.

 

Very nice work and the 57 Buick in the background looks good too!

 

Thank you. I finished up that Buick about 8 years ago. One of my club brothers owns it now. He's actually trying to sell it. Its on Portland Craigslist... http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/5112252113.html

 

Love it

 

Great idea , I've had that issue before of trying to hold it in place . Magnets and trying to tack it with the other hand , always a pain but I'll def take that into consideration


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And here it is before bodywork and paint. Just to recap because i know people will ask. I took 3 inches out of the front and about 3.75 out back and moved the beltline forward about 2 inches.

 

Mud and highbuild

 

PAINT!

 

I didn't get any pics of the process. And this shitty picture is all i have of the shortened belt trim. But basically all i did was cut it to size, leaving about 3/8 of a inch extra. Then slowly and carefully folded the edge over with pliers. I had to make a couple relief cuts on the edge where the corners and center detail were. But once it was done and on the car you can't tell it was ever modified.

 

Thankfully when it came to the glass i had a club brother who had a buddy that cuts glass. A bottle of booze and a couple hours later I had a front windshield. I was out of money and only had a week to get glass in it, so i had to use a used windshield. The laminate was delaminating on the bottom so thats where we cut it. It makes the glass just a hair small in the seal. But that was ok because i didn't really have to worry about it being too tight going in and cracking. Heres some pics of the process.

Marked out


Him cutting the glass


Soaking it with alcohol


Set on fire to soften the laminate


Pulling off the cut pieces


My cut glass. All that was left was sanding the edge


And here is a chunk of pillar i had cut out against the glass that was cut off. After sanding the edge of the glass It was a even 3inches off the bottom

 

Fantastic work and thanks for the great documentation. I know this really helps me and I am sure others as well.

 

I like this chop. Nice work.

 

Glass installed

 

And a week later at its first show

 

Dayuummmm! you nailed that man! Nice friggin work!

 

I had Collected some packard trim over a couple years of swap meets. Finally got a whole set collected. So I tried it on.

 

This part was scarier than cutting the roof off.

 

And finally. Heres some pics as it stands now. With mirrors, rocker trim and Packard trim finally. Hopefully this thread and the pictures helped someone planning their chop. I know i read about 100 threads before doing mine.

 

Beautiful job! Thanks for sharing the process.

 

You nailed it...looks awesome. What color is the roof?

 

Thank you. It was a custom mixed gold I made for my truck i had painted a few years before. I had some left over so I decided to use it on the roof. This time I cleared it instead of leaving it satin like on my truck. The color started as a metallic green that I added a bunch of gold to, to give it that greenish gold color (we call it GROLD).

Heres a couple pictures of my old truck

 

Always thought a 53 would make a nice custom, but this one came out really nice looking. Love the chop on it, and the Packard trim works really well.

 

WOW , it looks prefect - Fantastic job !!
The Packard trim was certainly the right choice , BTW .