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Projects 1927 T coupe

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Nightheat Fab, Jan 31, 2019.

  1. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    A1C08E14-B317-4345-A98D-14DFDCD38110.jpeg 02022650-A95D-4A80-90A6-F6355E5B33B6.jpeg 812B9C29-43D1-4C64-BB3E-62DE9C2BE74F.jpeg B56DA39B-C1B0-4187-A308-2B54A22C850C.jpeg well it’s a working progress to make it more traditional I’m going to change out the radials as well as the disc brakes. Need help deciding to chop it or leave it tall. It is channeled 3” over the frame
     
  2. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    Well I think leave it a tall T .:cool: I have a '27 T Tudor That's channelled about the same but with a stock roof.Plenty of headroom. One advantage with a Tudor is you can have the seat as far back as you want with a nice leg stretch. But, chopped right they do look cool. I am going to list mine sooner or later on here so the next guy can do what he wants. Unless your keeping yours it may reduce the eyes that want it. Just a thought you should chew over.
     
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  3. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Thanks ya I’m in a predicament. I know they look low and sweet when chopped but, I’m afraid I’m going to regret it later on down the road. The chopped roofs might be what’s in now but what if it changes down the road and I can’t go back
     
    loudbang likes this.
  4. Looking good, I would say keep it tall.
    As you can see from the picture of a Coupe that I built, chopped and channelled,
    They look great but I regret not having it tall, for that little more head room.
    However each to there own.
    IMG_0233.JPG
    Best of luck with the build, "T"s for ever.
     
    fiftyv8, loudbang and Nightheat Fab like this.

  5. To my eye what you have going is the Fat Boy look, not the I'm a Bad Ass Hot Rod look. Those are way Kool head lights but to me they are on the wrong car. That said were it me I'd cut it and remove just the Header above the Windshield. Then add a Model A visor leaving the windshield itself alone. I'd cut the rest to fit and keep the Top door hinge. That would just clean it up enough to not be like all the rest that are Chopped to much and still not be a Stock lid.
     
  6. Rustridden31
    Joined: Oct 9, 2003
    Posts: 260

    Rustridden31
    Member
    from Denver, CO

  7. raven
    Joined: Aug 19, 2002
    Posts: 4,698

    raven
    Member

    Why does everybody think you need to chop everything? Really? Chopping doesn’t necessarily improve the looks on everything. Besides, if everyone chops, then the really cool cars won’t be ...
    r


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
  8. hrm2k
    Joined: Oct 2, 2007
    Posts: 4,839

    hrm2k
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    a simple chop might be eliminating the wooden brace above the windshield frame and the roof. it would still look like a stock height to most everyone who saw it
     
    sunbeam, upspirate, Cosmo50 and 2 others like this.
  9. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    You have one badass rod love everything about it!
     
  10. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    hrm2k can’t thank you enough for the parts! You are helping me out big time I couldn’t thank you enough hopefully one day mine would look like a badass rod like yours
     
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  11. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Love the old school Burbank chopper T it’s one badass old school hot rod
     
  12. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    IMHO, I figure there are a group of key board bandits out there, who just want to chop everything and may have never chopped a car of their own and then there is the group who chopped a car so bad that they don't want to feel lonely, so they encourage others to make the same mistake they have.
    I accept a nice chop job looks great, but chop happy is not my scene...
     
  13. T Coups do seem to have taken a Beating when it comes to there Tops. We've seen so many over Chopped ones that the few well done ones can get overlooked. What we forget is what they look like not Chopped. Here is one on your standard Fenderless Hot Rod chassis not Chopped and it almost looks like the Lid was Lifted.
    Picture020.jpg This in Stock form almost looks as Silly as to much Chop. Driver in place, his head would make him look like a Weeble.
     
  14. AndersF
    Joined: Feb 16, 2013
    Posts: 884

    AndersF
    Member

    [​IMG]
    I like them best with 7 inch chop.
    But they got cramped fast with chop and channeling.
    On my build i did a semi channeling i hope to hide behind my lakepipes.
    I allso put in some bars as teporary top 7 inch down from stock height to plan my driverposition.
    If i dont like how i fit in my car i can chop less or not at all. As it look now i problaby settle for 5 inch.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    May I ask what size tires you went with in the bias ply? The stance looks good
     
    loudbang likes this.
  16. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    Maybe you should make a temporary false roof like Ander's car to see if you like that scrunched down feeling. I like my 7" chop but then, I am 5' 4" tall.
     
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  17. hrm2k
    Joined: Oct 2, 2007
    Posts: 4,839

    hrm2k
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Scott, if I may. Everything I have ever read about chopping a T coupe had to do with the shape of the back window. When Clark Bates chopped my old coupe, he made the window behind the door almost square. My old coupe was cut 8 inches to make that shape.
    This side shot shows how square the window was. The car that AndersF posted is almost square
    [​IMG]
     
  18. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Ya I can see it on yours there is a lot involved with chopping these. I know the B pillars are wider at the bottom than the top towards the roof. If I do decide to do a chop would have to split pillars and add a little filler metal so it looks like it’s a factory job. I don’t want it to look like a step right at the joint where it’s butt welded the roof back to body
     
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  19. AndersF
    Joined: Feb 16, 2013
    Posts: 884

    AndersF
    Member

    8:20-15 rear and 7:10-15 front.
    And there is 2 schools how to deal with the taper on the pillars to get rid of the step.
    One is the one with widen the top pillars as you mention.
    The other to take a strip from bottom up to narrow the taper on the bottom ones to match the top ones.
     
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  20. AndersF
    Joined: Feb 16, 2013
    Posts: 884

    AndersF
    Member

    And one more advice.
    Try to keep the top of the grilleshell level or a tad lower then the firewall.
    Not as easy as you first belive but make a big difference how its going to look.
     
    Just Gary, loudbang, hrm2k and 2 others like this.
  21. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Thanks! I’m going to go with those sizes. I like the way they fit yours and follow the rear quarter panel. And that sounds like a plan on the pillars see way too many chops where they just bring the roof down and the top pillar doesn’t match the bottom so the just weld it together and fill the gap and it just looks half ass’d in my opinion
     
    loudbang likes this.
  22. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    Here's pictures of the vertical taper problem. The widen the top of the pillars idea didn't appeal to me because you have to slice the whole length of the door top and add metal and your work depends on how straight you made the cut and how uniform your filler piece is along with the fact that the roof section that meets up with it hasn't been widened to match nor will the taper in the quarter windows match. But mainly because it looked like a whole lot of work. The vertical cuts beside the rear window is needed to narrow the top because it is wider at the top than at the bottom. The header above the windshield is cut by bending a new lower flange on a sheet metal brake rather than having a long weld down the length of it. Also, I cut it about 5/16" less than what the larger windshield and 7" cut would give you doing the math because there is originally a gap under the windshield frame that I wanted covered. Did vertical slits on the door posts and quarter windows to line everything up and even with this slight change in the angle of the window opening, the glass rolls up just fine. I kept the upper hinge but in hindsight, leaving it off would have been a lot easier. The wood kit for the top no longer fit because the roof is now narrower and had to be adjusted. I gas welded everything except the A pillars. The vertical strip between the rear window and the quarter window is just cut off the top. IMG_1163 - Copy.JPG IMG_1164.JPG IMG_1165.JPG IMG_1166.JPG IMG_1167.JPG IMG_1168.JPG IMG_1169.JPG IMG_1170.JPG IMG_1171.JPG
     
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  23. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Goldmountain the chop you did looks great and you still have all three hinges
     
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  24. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Good work Goldmountain, I'm not pushing either way on chopping, since a good chop job always looks great, it is just the many impractical ones that make me shudder at times.
    However reading your detailed account of how your chop worked out, there is a very small possibility that anybody would really want to attempt a reverse un-chop without a lot of skill and motivation to take it on.
    Personally, I would think that all that effort could be better spent on other parts of the build if one was borderline on skills.
    I have a partial built T coupe project that I decided I would prefer a full steel roof over a chop, so all effort went into getting that done instead.
    Full steel roof was chosen as I had a nightmare of a time with an early T coupe wood roof frame that was sent to me and was poorly cut out/made and ended up being refunded by Snyders.

    Your project, so your call...
     
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  25. Dan in Pasadena
    Joined: Sep 11, 2009
    Posts: 867

    Dan in Pasadena
    Member

    EXACTLY! I especially don’t understand chopping pickups. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chopped pickup that I thought looked better. Strokes/folks I suppose.
     
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  26. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    I think I’ve come to the conclusion for right now not to chop I definitely need to chop my 32 shell to fit the radiator and the top of the cowl. Right it’s just sitting in front of the crossmember IMG_2676.JPG IMG_2675.JPG IMG_2627.JPG IMG_2626.JPG
     
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  27. LM14
    Joined: Dec 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,936

    LM14
    Member Emeritus
    from Iowa

    Keeping my top tall. Everyone wants to chop them, not me.
    SPark

    mockup19.png
     
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  28. Nightheat Fab
    Joined: Jun 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Nightheat Fab

    Spark it looks good! Quick question is that the hood speedway sells? And could you possibly measure the length for me?
     
    loudbang likes this.
  29. No chop, but raise the back so it shows a rake.
     
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  30. Baron
    Joined: Aug 13, 2004
    Posts: 3,636

    Baron
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Owned my 27 body for 6 years. Still two projects away, my plan was to give it a radical chop, but after looking at these cars for the last several years, I've decide not to chop mine. Love the look of the sixties style T-Coupes, not chopped and radically raked body. Great look and they scream Hot Rod. Here are a few examples. Good luck with yours, what ever you decide. Model T Coupe 9 18 2013 a.JPG A great looking T Coupe.jpg IMGP9864.jpg 26Tcoupe_2.jpg Pileup%202011%20146.jpg
     

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