The first thing I do before I start a Chop is look at the Door Gaps, and if the Body ( or Cab in this case ) is straight. (I Chopped a '50s Ford Truck once that was so twisted that I had to unbend it while the Roof was off...) On this Chevy the Door Gaps were really bad, and I had to cut the corners of the Cowl out and weld them back in lower ( 3/8" on one side and 1/2" in the other to make the Belt line match the beltline on the door. And one of the Doors I had to adjust so far up that I had to cut the top of the Door off to make it fit in the Door opening. But I had plenty of gap on top of the other Door, so the Cab itself was way off. ( I knew it had been hit on the Driverside A pillar at one piont ) So to correct it I decided to Chop the Doors first, and then cut the Roof to match them. Most of the time I like to keep all the angles of the Posts stock, so that means that the Roof will be wider and longer after the Chop. When the Posts are not leaned in, all the guides for the wind down Windows can stay unmodified, and when its wider it looks like its Chopped more. ( its more work, but I like it better...) I only Chopped this Truck 1 1/2" , but I also took some crown out of the Roof so it doesn't look to massive over the Drip Rails.
After I cut and tacked the pass side Door and Side of the Roof, I cut the Top ( middle ) of the Roof Skin off. I Cut and Tacked the driver side Door. And cut the Dr side of the Roof off.
Then I cut the Back Window area. I put the Corner piece back on, and the rest of the Dr side of the Roof. And the top of the Back window.
Then I welded the Corner pieces to the Beltline area, and tacked them to the window area ( with filler strips). I had a Donor Roof, so I took a bit of the crown out of it with my English wheel, and tacked it in place.
I tacked everything in place with my Mig Welder, but all of the Roof Skin that I could reach from both sides I Hammer Welded in with my O/A set. Welding it that way gave a nice soft Weld that I could work, and its smooth on both sides so the Planishing Hammer can slide over it. Places where I couldn't reach the back of the Roof Skin, I Mig'd it because its faster.
Then I put the Drip Rail back on ( I used part of the Drip Rail off the donor Roof to minimise the number of welds in it, and to offset the welds from the welds on the Roof itself. ) I put the liner back in the Cab. Cut the Braces I had welded in the Cab out. And then I finish welded the Doors. I forgot to take a Pic of the whole thing Finished. I'll post it later...
Very nice. That is the perfect amount of chop....it makes it look chopped but not dispoportional to the rest of the truck.
Alex, is that the Chev truck that was in your yard whern I visited in February? The chop is spot-on. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways there are to chop a top. I like the way you approach the problem. The end result is amazing! John PS, still nothing on the Balchowsky car from my contact at the Watkins Glen track. I'll keep asking with the hope that he will come up with something.
Thanks guys. John, yeah, it's the one you saw when you were here. I was very glad the owner of this Truck allowed me to only take 1 1/2" out of it. Its about the same amount of work as a heavy Chop, so I dont get to do a "Gentleman's Chop" very often... I'm really happy with how this one came out...
outstanding chop, i'm a very big fan of the "Gentleman's Chop" style, sometimes less is very much more. Thanks for documenting it, this should be in the tech section.
Links to other Threads. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122746 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45023
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