As we all know, there are dozens of ways to chop a top. There really is no right way, it's all about the end result. Of course, there are hard ways and there are easy ways, this happens to be my way. Hopefully it will be of some help to someone that is thinking about doing one of these. I can tell you this, I have chopped many tops and this was one of the more difficult ones. These trucks have a partial metal headliner that basically has to be cut as well which kind of makes it like two chops in one. The other difficult part is the quarter windows. They have to be near perfect if you want to maintain glass windows. This requires a lot more cuts than if you were doing a three window cab. Of course you could do plexiglass and your cuts can be off a little. In order to have glass, you need to buy reproduction windows that aren't tempered. I will include a before and after pic as well as my unchopped truck in the background for comparison. First, decide how much you want to chop it. This one is 3". The owner is fairly tall which kind of dictated the amount we could go, plus to me it is just right. Layout you cut lines in the straightest areas of the top. You will notice across the back I angle cut it for this purpose. I mostly used a sawzall and cutoff wheel for the cuts, then enlisted my wife to help take the top off. She always likes this part. And of course you always have to have the goofy guy showin off the topless truck! http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/terrymcg/ 50chevychop033.jpg Laying the top back on you can see the amount of mismatch. Not to bad in the back, but the front will really be too short at this time. Now, this is where all chops will vary. The owner wanted this one to be a little more swoopy so I decided to lay the windshield back instead of making the top longer. This required a lot more cuts on the top and cowl area in order for the posts to realign. This required me to melt out all of the factory lead so I can reweld it later. I was quite surprized how thick the lead was and how crappy the seams were originally welded. Another tricky area is side to side. Some guys cut the top straight down the middle and weld in a strip to compensate for the top getting narrower as it comes down. Doing that creats more chance of warping, and warping means more body work, I want to keep the bondo to a minimum so I cut it closer to the outer edge where it is less prone to warping. I ended up with a 3/4" gap to fill on each side, which I simply made a filler strip and welded it in. As you go, you will have to make several relief cuts to get everything to join up and be symetrical. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pics of the quarter window work. This was a tricky part of the job. I had to cut them into 4 pieces and make them wider in order to maintain their shape. I made a pattern off the glass and really paid close attention to keep everything the same. You can fudge the top with bondo, but the glass isn't as forgiving.
The pics below gives you an idea of the inner headliner that had to be cut. This was harder than the outside to cut. I had previously suisided the doors and had them all done and aligned before I started the door tops. You are doing the same basic steps with the doors as you do with the top. Cut,fit,weld. This is also the time to make your gaps good. This truck had lousy gaps from the factory, so I trimmed here and there and made them better. Due to laying back the windshield, it required extra steps to make the inner garnish mouldings fit. I did a lot of gentle pushing aaginst the work bench, as well as light heating with the torch to get them to move. I used the same method for the outer stainless trim as well. Doing the stainless is extra tricky, but if you heat it till it turns slightly brown and dip it in water, you will somewhat anneal it and it is very bendable. But, be very careful or you will kink it. At that point I tig welded everything back together. Obviously there is a lot more to this than I can write here. I have lots more pics if anyone needs further information. This was not intended to be a step by step story, but rather a how I did it and what it looks like in the end. As I stated in the begining, this was a very complicated chop. When you look at the little bit of area that needs to be cut, it doesn't look like much, but take my word for it, it was. Below are the final pics. Thanks for looking.
Excellent chop, it looks very nice, a very informative thread. The photo's were very clean. Thanks for posting................. CRUISER
We tried to cut the originals with a water jet. There was a lot of discussion as to weather or not they were tempered or not. Well after cleaning up a million pieces of glass, I can reassure you they are tempered. We have since purchased repro glass that is laminated and not tempered and will again try to water jet them.
Your are not a very good model but your hands could be used in a palmolive commerical. And to think that you got the mrs out there. You should take her to a nice dinner and ice cream. good post on the chop now when is your truck going to be done with that olds dash in it.
Heres a better pic of the left hand. I'm sure you have seen this many times before! I have been occasionally working on the truck dash, but it's kicked my ass to be honest. I have figured out how to finish the ends ,and will have it soon.
I cut my 50 three window....and gotta say....your right, had I realized at the time it was going to be as much work as it was (the whole double wall deal....what you do on the outside you do on the inside too) I may have not tackled it....glad I did in hindsight....but I let loose with alot of swear words...and I didnt even have to deal with two extra windows....good job! Now its time for a section! (that actually was pretty easy on this truck...well would have been had the whole bottom of the truck not been rotted out on mine....all fixed now!)
See now you blew it with cut on there palmolive won't use that hand now. How about the other one is ok or is it just as screwed up as that one.
It must clank when you walk. I have entertained the thought of a chop. My wife is all for it of course!
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