Projects Help me save/fix this ‘54 Chevy chop

Hey everyone,
I bought this car yesterday and am pretty excited to start on it BUT, the rear window is f’d on the chop; sits too far below/in the drip rail. I would love to hear some advice/suggestions on how to salvage this roof. My intent is to make this car useable for video/photo shoots.


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Let's get a side full pic to see how it flows
I googled and it looks like some have an earlier rear window, or a merc

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https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/index.php?threads/390824/

Here is my build, and it shows how I went about fixing the rear window in my 50.
Hope that helps

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Thanks! Your photo links are broken


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Btt


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You can't cut that glass, so it has to go somewhere. I'd think there is no other solution for the sides overhanging unless you use a different glass. Like the guys said above, using smaller windows would be my favorite. Like a 50 Chevy rear glass.

 

Just eliminate the drip rail. Lots of customs do that.

 

A smaller rear glass and some metal work should fix it.

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Here’s a full on side shot


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The drop rails are gone.
The belt line is looking sad.
The rear window wrap around part looks strange when it's lined up with the quarter windows. Angles are off.
And like you stated the back glass is recessed what looks like a mile !!!
Also why is the window frame squared off when the glass has rounded corners?

Don't mean to put the car down as the rest looks good but you can see where there skill level fell off the rails .

50 Chevy rear glass or even 49-50 merc rear glass would be much easier to work into the chop with much cleaner results.

And it's my preference only but put the drip rails back on I think it looks better and less of a pain if you are caught in the rain

 

Have you confirmed the rear glass has not been cut (by tracing the glass onto a large sheet of butcher paper then folding it in half?

In all honesty, when looking at the pic taken from the rear in your lead post, I believe the lower passenger rear window corner looks considerably lower on the tulip panel than the driver's side. I placed a straight edge on my monitor and it looks way off/out of level. The body bead line that runs under the rear glass is considerably off: it's much thinner under the right hand side. In fact, the very first photo in your lead post shows there's almost no bead. It looks very "soft" and thick with bondo. I'd bet someone welded everything up without taking close measurements, then troweled on a ton of bond (over unground gumball welds) to try to make things "fit". Look how badly shaped the beltline reveals under the quarter windows look and the reveal above the quarter windows. The C pillars are probably thick with filler. The door frames don't fit the roof. You have some serious grinding and rewelding to make things right. How do the welds look on the roof skin and pillars from inside the car. Lap welded or butt welded?

 

I’m thinking a different glass is needed for sure. I wish I could use this wrap around but like stated, I think it’s too late for that. I may also slope the roof a bit more to flow better with the 1/4 windows...you can really notice that when looking at the full side shot


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A little digging revealed...


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With all of that filler, and the poor window fit, you might as well take it back to metal and see what else needs to be fixed. Before working on that rear window. As mentioned the side view angles do not match. I don't understand why the square corners on the rear? Did they use a different car window, maybe even a front windshield???? You may even need to get a new roof with the rear window section to fix it. As suggested, a smaller window would make it easier.

 

Take it down to bare metal.

Whenever I see pink filler, I shudder. Pink filler is often Bondo brand filler, which I would not use to fill a dent in a dumpster.

If the "builder" would not even spring for good quality filler, more is likely wrong.

As has been mentioned, I'd look for a 150 window and surround, or a whole surround and window, that has not been messed with.

 

I like the look of Fosters ‘54 and I think that’s a ‘50 rear window. Let the search begin



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That squared corner is stock. It is covered by the window trim.

 

I'm pretty sure it's a '50 plymouth rear window.

I need to make some rear belt line sections for my car, if you need help with that, let me know.

 

Wow! So maybe I CAN make this window work if I get the molding for it?


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In the pictures I posted, that is a cut-down (new glass) '50 Styleline rear window.

I built the chassis on that car. Tony Parker did the chop.

 

The bottom of the frame is crooked in relationship to the body. The passenger side lower corner is sunken into the beltline.

 

Right, I would need to cut out the window as it sits now and reposition it properly. Yes?


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Yes, but you need to make sure that the rest of the frame was never cut. If the plan is to lay the glass forward in a chop, the entire glass frame is cut free, and moved.

If the frame was cut apart, you have a bigger headache. Fixable, but will need careful planning, measuring, cutting, and welding.

 

I was talking about the rear window in Cole Fosters '54 that he mentioned.

 

There are a variety of arrangements of gasketed window designs.

Each is something like this:

Sometimes the relationship of the positions of the glass and steel are different, but they all have one thing in common. The glass and the metal are always the same distance apart (except the upper corners, in your case. There is a bunch more rubber there. Everywhere else, the glass and steel remain equidistant from each other).

You need to make sure that your glass and steel relationship has not changed, and if it has, you need to fix that.

 

Ahh, then I believe that you are correct!

 

I think I would get the rubber and see what it looks like actually installed.

no way I would take that car down to bare metal. you don't want to open that can of worms... if you plan on building a high quality car start with something else.

 

Before you even think about fixing the problems with the top you need to:
1. Make sure the body mounts, floor, and rocker panels are in good condition. You must make any needed repairs before doing anything else to the car.
2. Rebuild the door hinges and align the doors. It is impossible to get the door gaps right if the doors are sagging.
3. Align the front sheetmetal and decklid. This lets you see if the frame or body is out-of-square due to accident damage.
4. The easiest way to remove mile-thick body putty is with a propane torch and a putty knife (round the corners of the putty knife so it doesn't gouge the body). In tight areas, a wire brush works well.
Best of luck with your project.

 

I personally would get the whole rear roof section from a 49-52 Chevy, cut the current wraparound window out and start working from there.

You might be able to make this one fit, but it's awkward looking, and from the side view, there's a bad bump right where the rear seat passenger's heads would go, I feel like it needs to start tapering down at the B pillar so there isn't more crown the further back you go.

This is a fixable issue and if the rest of the car is solid I don't see this being a dealbreaker at all. Sure the rear window area is full of mud now but that's a tricky area of a chop to do, especially trying to use that glass. Someone may have gotten that far, got frustrated, and slopped it together quick just to sell it. I don't think I'd try to force the use of that window but it wouldn't scare me off of the car either.

I'd also be very carefully looking over any other work that was done to the car just to make sure that's not the only thing they bog'd up.

Dive in there, make this car something great!