had some time to do a little more work on the car....the radius at the bottom of the side window opening was making the sail panel look a bit "odd" to my eye.....i know that usually a kustom is all about curves, but in the case of a hardtop, maybe not.....i have always loved the roof on the buster litton ford, in fact i think it is probably my favorite chop on a shoebox ever,,,,,with that in mind, i reshaped the opening to more closely resemble the buster litton shoebox,,,,it wasn't that i thought the radiused corner was terrible,,but i do think reshaping it has given the car a much better flow overall,,,,,,it took me way longer than i though it would. i was thinking i could get both sides done in a day,,,but believe it or not this took me pretty much all day....the other side should go a little quicker (not that i'm in a rush)....happy i had the sense to keep all the post material i cut off during the initial chop.....
worked a little more on the sail panel...it needed some relief cuts here and there...also took some time to drop the rear of the roof an additional 3/4 inches to give the profile a tad more taper..the "patchwork" sail panel and the catwalk area will be replaced with fresh sheetmetal at some point
buster litton shoebox roof for comparison,,,,trying my best to get somewhat close to this chop....in my opinion, the ultimate shoebox chop...
I like the change and again as many do agree that the Buster Litton chop is perfect in taste and flow.
Hey, Jim! From the angle of your pictures, I can't really see, but I think you're going to run into a problem or 2. First, aesthetically....You are trying to duplicate the look of the Litton car....a hardtop. But by welding the window frames onto your roof, you are visually thickening the roof top when viewed from the side. Hardtop roofs are thinner than sedans, you might be making yours even thicker than a regular sedan roof. Please stand back and get a good profile look at what you're doing! Then, of course, the problem of opening the door with the glass rolled up, and the seal to the quarter window, but that's another issue. Second problem is how you will address the vent window. This is what makes or breaks a hardtop conversion. Most are completely wrong. You'll need to use a hardtop or convert vent window, but that won't be easy to integrate naturally into your welded window frames. Please be sure you can do this before continuing! You might just want to get a hardtop roof, even a different 'make' one, to do this! Hate to see you do so much work, then have to go backwards again!
hi mark....not really trying to DUPLICATE the litton chop..just using it as a guide...weren't the window frames on littons car welded to the roof? i always though they were...i understand it does thicken the roof top, and have compensated by grafting a roof skin from a 54 ford, which is thinner,,,less crown...i'm planning to adapt some crown vic vent windows,,and want to build a stationary window frame ala the hirohata merc...i looked for a hardtop roof, but had no luck,,,,pretty sure i can make this work,,it won't be easy,,,,but i like a challenge...here's a couple better angles of the profile..
It sure looks like the door frames were also welded into the roof on Buster's car. It just looks a bit skinnier with the chrome trim covering part of the width. I also did this to my 40 and made the vent windows open along with the door by carefully making sure that they just barely slipped past that corner where the bottom of the old door frame (now welded into the top) meets the cowl. When shut, it seals against a rubber lip that is hidden up inside the old door frame channel and extends down just enough to engage the stationary frame / glass, but not really be visible otherwise. No wind noise or leaks. Pretty happy with it. The easiest way to make a new stationary frame (al la Hirohata) is to start with square tubing, bend it to shape with a power roller, then cut out one side of the tube with a small reciprocating to make it into a channel. That way it bends to shape without kinking or waving.
I realize this crappy photo doesn't show it that great, but I can't get out and take a better photo right now since I am recovering from a broken femur. The vent window is also slightly open in this pic, so it makes the angle at the corner look goofy like there is a gap there, but when everything is closed up it is actually pretty clean.
Cleatus, yours looks better than 95% of all I've seen, nice work! Jim, from the new views, it looks better. Just want to make sure you plan for ALL the changes making it a hardtop will do, esp. the tough ones! Sealing out wind and weather is a tough one, along with a natural looking vent window.
I am going to look into shipping this week on those vent windows and hard top parts. Looking good by the way, busters car is one of my favourites and it's a great place to draw inspiration from.
That later model top makes it look way to flat for me... it goes towards the back and then BAM back window drop. This is the opening I think works better on the side... also I think when you look at this opening it shows the how the lines are off now.
i'm thinking maybe i need to make a plywood template for the window opening..i was pretty happy with it, but looking at the pic chadillac posted, maybe it does need a bit of adjustment...more of a rear-ward taper.....and if i do that, the rear window will need yet more repostioning...i suck at photoshop, but maybe something more like this would look better,,,,
I don't mind the current shape of the window since you made the c pillar sharp rather than round. I think this profile suits the shoebox body style and the other suits a car like a 39 merc more. Just my 2 cents.
One thing that Chaddilac points out shows how the curve of the roofline flows in a beautiful curve from what looks like from the front to the back on the Litton car. Your window looks flat in the middle, and even looks like it dips down in the middle.With that line it makes the roof look flat. Maybe as you say you are using the Litton car as a guide, it's a good guide.
ok....had a few minutes to play around with the roof...moved some stuff around, and i think it's gettin close.....shifted the rear window a bit,,leaned it a bit,,,taped in a mock sail panel.....almost there...........
I like it Better this way. Looked strange/ too thin a the c when it was moved forward. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
ok,,,studying the latest pic, i see what needs to be done...the 54 ford roof skin needs to be cut away again from the roof rails (thankfully, i only TACKED it for this very reason) and have the rear section pushed down an additional inch (+/_) , which will allow me to lean the rear window a tad more,,i think if i do this, it'll be right on the money.......
i think the beltline was removed on the litton car as well.....at least that's the way it looks in these shots....
The slope looks much better. But make sure the rear edge of your door's window has a forward slant, not like the vertical tape. Or maybe a Hirohata curve.
not sure on the window frame shape yet,,,,the three options i can think of are: hirohata merc style, slanted, or straight......i like them all, so this will be a tough one..
VERY crude photoshop to illustrate the direction the car will be taking....just picture it with the roof from the second pic..going with a thinner c pillar because it gives it more of the "jet age" look i feel...
The Jalopy Journal
