im with no choppin as well.. but u seem like u will do it regardless.. so take ur time and make it kick ass then!
About 25 years ago I wanted to cut the top off from my 39 ford Coupe. I really liked the Carson tops, glad I didn't, just have to put time and money in it now.
I'm kinda at work so this post will be a little sketchy... Anyway I understand all you anti-chop guys, this 40 was destined to be a full anal restoration by the previous owner. Fortunately he was a family friend and got heavily into early harley restorations, so got it on a pay plan. I didn't realize the body was so straight, none of those crazy hard-sanding indentations or cancer or too sagging doors. Also not perfect enough to worry about ruining original paint or anything. (the green is 10 cans of Kragen's Duplicolor "hunter green" and some clear coat!) I had been stuck behind a 40 coupe at a reliability run thing, it was beige and the more I had to look at the rear windows the more huge they got. Its one of the things that started me on the chopped thing. So thanks to the sale of the Red Dot roadster (featured this september in the HAMB Calendar, THANKS DJANGO!!!!) I was able to afford, to the relief of you all this beater 40 coupe on ebay. It ended at $620 and spurred one of the funner road-trips i'd been on in a while... ...if you're super bored here's the play by play! http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=308451470&blogID=367353229 Perfect for chopping! TP Hey Ken!
Hopefully that's just for practice so you can attack the nice one with all of the small problems worked out. I think the rudest replies to posts like this are from people "who have only ever seen a small percentage of chops like this that improved the car," and the rest were crap so you shouldn't do it. That's a pretty blatant kick right in the balls and a not so subtle way of saying you don't think he can pull it off. I just skip right over the "should never be chopped" posts. Watching and waiting. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
well fast forward a couple months, and I ended up moving to San Diego, about 200 miles, but it took 6 or so heeaavvvy loads to bring all my shit down here, ditch the ventura shop find a shop in SD and everything that goes along with having 3 kids and a wife!! Seriously recycled 7000 lbs just in steel scrap too! new home! TP
Thanks KEVIN your coupe project is kinda parallel to my thought process in this one, I just need to do it and see it out of my head! TP
Chop that sucker man.....period custom. That pink one above looks pure evil.....aside from the paint...haha... Didn't know ya sold the roadster......love that car.
Just for those that haven't seen this a million times The motor that goes in it is on the left And if you don't like Chopped 40's SO WHAT! Don't look at it
Fortunately the coupe didn't have the best body work on it, unfortunately the doors were welded on crooked, hinge base rusted out, rear missing... and lazy rushed moving tweaked it even more! It took a night just to square it up. At this point I wish I had spent another hour or two more prepping, especially cause the front firewall is kinda caved in and some reallly bad hackwork had to be cut out. Fortunately I had the green one to base all the measurements on. After alot of hemmin an hawin, 3.5 inches was decided as a cut. This was brought on cause I had 1", 1.5" and 2" masking tape! Also 3" is not enough and 4 inch is a little too radical... If I chopped the green one, i'd only chop it like 1.5-2 inches, really subtle. I like the tape and paint method, cutting out only the painted area after semi-precision measurements with the tape. The windshield will be leaned back, so figured that the windshield would only be shortened 2.25 inches, cause it needs to stretch to meet the roof. Unlike Zachs friends chop (which looks good), the goal was to keep all the ford curves just reduce them. The idea is to not replace metal in the rear 3/4ters, just match curves and for sure not to add a strip in the roof center or door tops, just the decklid or rear panel. It was alot harder than I'd thought (as noticed by the multiple prep marks!) It took one night just to tape the back end all wrong, (not all night...) then sleep on it and realize my measuring tools were not being utilized right. Remember from the model that the rear panel will be slid forward, So basically there are 4 slide measurements that are important to make this work, 1-the quarter window(s) 2-the drip-rail line(s) 3-the rear slope near the rear window 4-the side slope after the drip-rail line to #3 so using my super-accurate tooling figured a 3" slide... and came up with this... TP
Cut it up! If it's done right I think the 40 Ford makes for one of my all time favorite customs. Here are some pics of one my dad did for inspiration.
Having 3 hot rods and 3 kids! There was a point when they all ran great, than after 2007 shows, (friends would drive the other 2) it ended up that they all needed some attention=$ and each one had serious issues, other than the roadster! A friend ended up buying it (I got to chop/hot rod his '35 4 door the previous year) and he ruined it but loves it. Was gonna wait til september to tell that story... TP
I'd hate to see the green coupe chopped but can't wait to see how that '40 "hull" turns out. I'm all for cutting up a total piece of shit. Good original cars aren't being made anymore though. JH
Bluto what the hell's up with that coupe? Its been years since any updates! Current pics? This chop will be similar more race than custom. Holy shit kustoms2 you musta had a good childhood bein around that thing! TP
well, how about the shell of a '40 YOU DID CHOP successfully? edit = ...and you posted it.. i didnt even bother to look at the loaded images!
Yeah with all the cool cars my dad did when I was growing up it was unbelievable, unfortunately I did'nt relize it until I got older. Crazy thing is he's still at it.
So after a couple cans of liquid courage... the whole thing kinda fell apart! No really! glad I had that roller cart thing. There was an issue I got out of alot easier than expected, and my deal with myself was giving 5 nights/weekend to chop this body. That is why I rushed it on the cart. I think it woulda been stronger on a frame, but didn't want to wait month(s) or take the green 40 apart! (besides there being no floor or bottom structure that would match a stock frame!) My goal right now is to have it in the shop wanting to be built, not looking like a POS! Also after its done I think the height/rake/style of a custom frame will morph with the body, instead of the reverse. TP
I always wondered why no one ever chopped one and hardtopped it. That's what usually gives '37-40 Fords a peculiar roofline when chopped, the chunky B and C pillars. Seems to be de rigueur on '40 Mercs... why not '40 Fords?
Zibo, I hope we can get daily updates until this one is done. I can't wait to see those pieces go back together. You've got big ol' balls my friend. Big uns. JH
I'd really have to agree, even though it appears the owner spent serious time/money to do a quality job isnt the whole idea behind chopping (and sectioning too, for that matter) to improve the proportions of a car to make it flow better? Model T coupes, for example - chop em all! Or '50 Mercs. Same deal. But it is tough to improve on something that is already so well proportioned - and a '40 coupe is a very tough design to improve upon. When it comes to chopping, just because it can be done doesn't mean it should.
I'm holding my breath on this one. There hasn't been one posted yet that is BETTER than an origional. Some are OK/NICE but none BETTER. I've heard it said that you can't improve on PERFECTION. The '40 coupe is a perfect example. Frank
Well said my man. Just because lots have people have done bad chops on these things does not mean everyone will turn out the same crap. There have been some very nice ones. & since we're in the midst of an opinion fest here, I think a stock 40 top looks rediculously bulbous.
Go for it. Not an easy body to chop... but it can be done right. Hammonds coupe... Another one with the drip rails removed for the ultra 40's look... Its all about proportions The 40 Ford top sits a little low in the front, and needs to be choped more in the back to remove the humb above the rear window and and to prevent the windshield from looking to low.
Even though i said dont chop it i have to agree, some look like the have been stepped on, The reason i say that is they dont lean the rear panel forwar. Some just leave the angle of the rear panel and chop it. This gives it the stupid look. Then if you look at ones like the pink one posted here, or the candy red one, and even the blakc and white photo of the hardtop thay are done right. Back panel leaned forward with a slight chop. Nice. But still wouldnt chop the one u have. Nice pantina. I like it.
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