Hi guys. I'm almost finished the metal work on my 50 fleetmaster and wanted to chop the top soon. My biggest question is once I chop the top I understand that the pillars need to be moved inwards to realign again But I was wondering about the door glass frame. If they move inwards also will the windows still be functional after leaning them inwards? I never see anyone mention this process. Please fill me in before I chop. ( Or not chop).thanks guys
Of course you'll have to change the angle on the window tracks, and do a whole bunch of other little detail things that usually get left out of the stories, if you want a nice, fully functioning car when you're done. Chopping a car like that is something that should only be attempted by guys with a LOT of gumption. The work will seem to go on forever. And you'll probably be on your own to figure out a lot of it, although asking specific questions as you have, is a good way to figure it out.
Theres an adjuster at the bottom of the vent window on the door and a metal track on the latch side that holds a felt channel, the angles there get changed to match the new angle of the door tops, but I've never heard of anyone having to shim the regulators so you should be ok there. That portion of the job isn't too bad. Sent from my LG-M153 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I've chopped many tops. I learned on my First one not to tilt the door tops inward to make up for the narrowing that occurs when pinching the A pillars to get things to line up. I also have never split a top down the center. Think about it and do a lot of home work keep it simple. Buy a Tig welder if you can. Don't do like most and just Chop and bend and fill gaps. It's not that difficult to do clean work. So to back that up here's a dead on front view of an old project showing the Windshield opening. The A post was cut 3.5". To make the front glass fit it only required the Bottom edge to be cut and the lower corners rounded to fit. NOTHING was cut off the top edge or either side. Now, here is a side shot showing the Door. Notice there is NO cut and tilt marks that would indicate the door top being layed inboard to get to the Jamb. That's because they were not. Look close, think about it. Yes you can ask me questions. What I should tell you is that I don't think like the Normal builder. I don't cut, push and bend things into submission. Sometimes it pays off to not follow the heard. The Wizzard
P.S. In 1971 I chopped a 1950 Olds 88 sedanette . To not have a hump above the back window or the need to cut up the Deck lid I removed 3" out of the panel below the deck lid and re worked the inboard shoulder of the Quarters. I also kept the B post vertical and did not lean the A post back. Sounds Totally KRAZZY eh? The Wizzard
I'm with Pist-N-Broke on this. I never split a roof skin in the middle, I've seen more poor chops (some terrible) when the roof is split. Usually a rookie mistake. I have leaned the door frames in on some but adjusting the tracks inside the door usually not a big deal as long as you keep in mind both tracks (front and back of the glass) HAVE to be the same angle otherwise your glass will bind and break. One of the other rookie mistake I've seen often is assuming the glass guy can work miracals. Metal can be bent, glass can not. Questain: Is your Fleetmaster a fastback style? If so that will be a challenge, the windows won't be the tough part. Can be done but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have really good metal working skills, the trunk area is a pain.
Hi guys. Thanks for the replies.metalman, yes my metal skills are fine, I not worried about that. I know from my first chop years ago to a different type of car was to make the metal fit the glass. I wanted this car to be the best I've done and my only concern was about slanting pillars and glass. I understand about sectioning the roof width ways but just never seen anyone doing this procedure in a video. I know this has probably been done by lots. That was what I done years ago. I was just wondering why people don't show this VERY important step. To me personally I think this is the hardest step in performing a chop. The metalwork tr I me isn't a big deal. Thanks again for everyone's opinion.
My apologizes Don, I guess I misunderstood your original post and thought you were a rookie. My guess they skip fitting windows in the videos/ articals since not very glamorous, doesn't have the "impact" of, say lifting the top off and setting it back down lower. Might be because they have to edit out too many cuss words. It's funny how most people think once up tack the roof back down the hard work is over, heck, I think that's when all the hard work begins.
Thanks for your reply and information metal man. I believe they do a relief cut at the bottom of the glass frame as per a video I just seen. I appreciate your response.
You don't need to widen the roof on your car. That is for newer cars with curved side glass and a lot of tumblehome. On your car there is not much difference in width. Waiting for the Wizzard to tell us how he stretches the roof.
Pist n broke, I don't understand how you can chop 3.5" without relief cuts? Please explain. The pillars on your truck are tapered and not straight up. I'm trying to figure out how you did it.
I would also like to know this. I don't understand your explanation. If there's a better way to do it, I definitely want to learn it.
On this F-100 project I used 2 Roof panels to get what you see. There's a give away where the A pillar makes contact at the drip rail. Also if you look close right where the windshield gasket flange begins the bottom corner radi. you'll notice a divot. So, on the A post what I did was brace the post on the Cab to each other and cut the 3.5" off the Top measuring right below the drip rail down 3.5". Then I sliced the gasket flange off that post down to where the lower radi started. Top #2 A post was cut long to fit all the way down to the lower radi cut. It also was braced very well. I slid #2 inside #1 and made inside and outside vertical welds and ended up with a little fatter A post than stock. I made a front to back slice on the center of the shoulder above the drip rail. I left a good bit of #2 roof skin on the new front half. I removed the back window out of the back panel leaving about 1.5" of metal on it. The back panel is cut and dropped keeping B Post strait to itself and made the same cut above the Drip Rail as I did on the front section. Then align and join the two door jamb tops to each other just about center of door opening. This actually makes the top of the jambs a touch wider than they were is stock height. Now the radi above the drip rails and the top skin are hand worked till they can be seemed back together. The shoulder is now just a bit flatter than stock. When re installing the back window it required about a 3/4" strip to be added to get the vertical edge of the window section to re join the outer edge left behind the B Post. Here's what it looked like Bare Naked. This was before I did the metal finish work. Also notice the factory seam above the back window is still there and if you look close you can see where I joined the drip rail together between the two top panels. Oh, and there is a horizontal seem side to side joining the front and back panels together. I always do that on the high spot of the crown. The Wizzard
https://www.customcarchronicle.com/custom-cars/de-rosa-chopped-41-caddy/ http://kyleverploegen.com/Chop top.htm these might help
When I did mine....I used square stock in the window channels to make sure the door tops were inline and the glass would move freely, I also used a piece of 3/8" roundstock in the A pillar to keep those square too and help keep it aligned, no pie cutting . Good Luck with your project!
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