Ok- I’ve searched and came up empty handed, so I’ll ask.... when chopping a 56 ford f100, is it best to cut and widen the roof? Or angle the posts? Which method makes fitting the windshield glass easiest? Im planing on a mild 2.5 to 3 inch chop. Im not interested in sinking the glass into the cowl or front of the roof. I really DO NOT need anyone’s opinion on whether these trucks should be chopped or not. I simply want some advise from someone who has experience chopped no one of these trucks. Thanks in advance for any and all constructive advice -Brian Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
An extra roof would be nice, but could still be done. Your right the windshield is the main concern on this year becaause of the curves. If you slant the a collumns back you will have to trim the botton curve edge to get it to lay down, not to easy. I would shorten the a pillers so the windshield would need to be cut at the top, I think there would still be a problem at the top of the glass, Really think it through a 3 inch cut through the top will be a larger cut through the a pillar. unless all the cuts are horizontal. A 3 inch piece of wood or steel laid from the back of the cab through the door pillars and A pillar will give you the right amount of cut needed for the a pillars.
looking around the net (too damned cold to do anything productive) and found that a bunch of folks say to cut the windshield first and make the roof fit. @metalman on here seems to have experience with ‘56 s.
I thought the 56 windshield pillar posts were vertical; the 53-55 slanted back. Other than cutting the front glass it's pretty straight forward.. Which rear glass do you have? Standard pickup which was flat of the big window wrap-around which is the same as the car station wagon...
know a guy that broke 5 windshields trying to cut - but, he was cutting over 4" - think that he tried to do chop without cutting roof into quarters and adding filler piece - had chopped '54 Chevy car that glass was lowered into cowl area
You are asking for good first hand info. I have some based on several other Top Chops I've done however I've not done a 56 F-100. Closest I've done is my 53 F-100. No where near the same however, I've learned a little from the past. My advice is go find the Shop that says they Can and Will cut the windshield glass for you. Talk with them and then go cut the Roof according to there advise. Video's never show the little issues that cause ya grief, they want to make it all look simple. The glass guys want to avoid any problems. They are a much better choice. Best of luck to ya.
This book discusses 54-56 F100 Ford truck chop. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Book-Tex-Smiths-How-To-Chop-Tops,2851.html
I've chopped several 56 F-100s. They are an easy chop if you got a good glass guy that can deal with the wrap around windshield. DON'T cut and widen the roof!!! Least not if you plan on a glass windshield! Believe me, I've cut and narrowed botched 56 Ford chops back to stock width where they were split and widened. Angle the pillars to line up once the top is down, it's not much. Lean the door window frames in to match making sure the front and rear stay in the same plane so the door glass doesn't bind. Cut the roof right in the crown above the drip rail so you can align the rear cab pillar (lean in, you are actually narrowing the roof at this point but its not much, 1/4" or so per side) to fit the door, I usually cut it from above the vent window back down to the belt line. The rear window is dealt with like any chop, on mild chops I generally just lower it down by taking the metal out between the glass and the belt line, some guys like the "mail slot" look, your call. One last thing and it's a PIA but real important. You have to cut the pinch weld loose that the windshield rubber sets in and narrow it at the bottom corners to fit the glass right. You'll be able to set the glass without doing it but the glass will eventually crack from having pressure on the "wings", you will see cracked wings on a lot of chopped 56s. The windshield gets laid back so the bottom corners get trimmed and the top of the glass gets cut down. The glass guy will hate you, lot's of trial and error. Sounds complicated but it's not (other then fitting the windshield), anytime you can chop a top without cutting thru the middle of a roof is a winner to me. I'll chop a 56 anyday rather the a 53/55! If I remember I chopped this one 4" vertical down (been 20 some odd years), more then I like, I prefer 2 1/2" myself, enough to know it's chopped but not "cartoonish" looking. Regardless, windshield been in it for all these years without popping!
Some great advice from Rod Powell, of Salinas: "Cut the glass FIRST!" (due to 4 cracked windshields in 2 Rancheros?) Rod perfected this act, but only after the valuable lesson.
I'll add this. I believe it's a combination of widening the opening at the top, slanting in the Door tops and cutting some off the bottom of the glass as it comes around the corner towards the doors to adjust to tipping the top of glass back to get to the top of the opening. This is due to the top getting narrower towards the top. The doors are not 100 percent vertical. Very involved!
What glass is the same as what wagon? That big back glass is very similar to the 57/58 ford wags now that you mention it.
Hey M, Nice chopped Ford truck!!! It is very low in the head room area, but still very nice. When I was a little kid, the first hot rod/custom truck I saw was a Ford F100 truck. I eventually got my first ride, it was in this chopped, Tahitian (candy apple) red truck. It was owned by a local business man and he had the first custom truck on the Westside of Long Beach from 1955 until we moved from the area after college. Our parents knew the family, but, I lost all contact with him. It was an unusual truck for the times. My recollection was that the front edge of the roof was taller than the back window edge. The custom truck was unusual because of the chopped look. He had chrome reversed rims, whitewalls, white tuck/roll, and chrome everywhere. It was his daily driver. Also, he had it lowered and back then, sometimes, could not get up into the steep, dip driveways of those 40s-50s houses. Jnaki My question to you (AND OTHER TRUCK FOLKS) is since you are a custom car guy working with chopped trucks, would you happen to have any old photos of trucks built during this era from 1955 to 65? With a Tahitian red (or candy apple red) paint, unusual chopped top, it did stand out even without being lowered. It was the first custom daily driver truck in our neighborhood and made a lasting impression on a little hot rod/custom car kid. In our early hot rod days of 1959-63, I am thinking that it may have been in a custom car magazine or two. If you (AND OTHER TRUCK FOLKS) have a collection of past chopped trucks, from customers or magazines, did you ever see this description of a Tahitian red (or candy apple red), Ford F100 chopped truck from the 50s-60s? If you do, we can work out a trade or two. Thanks... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...read-show-me-your-cool-trucks.407080/page-159 post 4742 august 2016
Thanks. One tip I can add. When fitting the windshield I have a bunch of 1" pieces of the windshield gasket (rubber) We use those spaced 6" or so apart to support the glass as we fine tune the cut, that way you can see how the glass is lining up to the pinch weld that holds the rubber. You HAVE to adjust that pinch weld align exactly like it did originally to the glass all the way around, I can not stress that enough. It's not as complicated as it sounds, usually a little tweaking is all it takes, of course the lower you chop it the more things change. Remember, bend metal to fit the glass, don't try to bend the glass to fit the metal. Those wrap around windshield are real fussy about that, seems ANY extra pressure from a bad fit will pop them. Maybe not right away but sooner or later....
I've learned this lesson in the past. I'm looking forward to cutting my 57 Ranch Wagon and it has the same issue. My old reliable Glass Guy is gone now so finding it hard to get someone to replace him in driving range.
Look into fairlane 500 series windshields, they’re supposed to be 1.25 inches shorter stock Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is correct in just height however, The top itself is just as wide as the 300 series witch means the 500 glass is a bit wide at he top corners for a 300 fit. I have actually set the glass for my 2d h.t. in place on the Wagon. Close but still requires a lot of fit work. Plus I want to go 2.25" for other reasons. Thanks for the info, wish it could be just that easy.
I've got Kustom7777's old F100 here at the shop. It had been chopped, and a fiberglass insert (made by Wescott ??? ) was bonded to the widened side and front/rear sections. I had done a few, including my F1, where I chopped it, cut into 4 pieces, tacked each corner to it's respective post, made small filler pieces for the edges, and used an extra roof to fill in the center. No seams crossing the entire roof through the center! Myself, not a huge fan of angling the posts backward.
This Mid Fifty F-100 Parts has a 3 1/2" chop top glass and roof kit $1455.00 but it appears to be for 53-55 only Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
All I am going to say is that I have seen more Botched F100 chops than almost anything else in the past 50 years. There was one floating around this area that changed hands about once a year and once again made the rounds of the glass shops being told hell no before being sold again and repeating the process. Word was that at least three glass shops had tried to put a windshield in it with no success. I'm thinking they had split the top on it though.
I don't think F---ed up top chops are any more specific to F-100,s than any other vehicles that get Whacked. I also know not just any Glass shop is qualified to cut a Windshield. It takes more than a tape measure and a Mig gun to do a good job. I will say that since the movement has drifted into "how it used to be done" I've seen more Crap than Quality and good lines.
So a fairlane 500 glass is 1.25 shorter stock i am thinking that is enough of a chop for my truck [ i am 6ft 2 What years would i look for? thanks in advance Chris
On a '53 to '55 F100, it looks like the doors are higher in the front than the rear so I think the front should be cut shorter than the back for it to look correct.
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