Chops in So Cal... come get your top whacked

Howdy HAMBers. Recently myself and Brandon Winters teamed up after a couple of years apart to do some chops. Brandon is an extremely skilled fabricator with a an unbelievable eye for proportion and design. He has chopped a lot of cars around here over the years and currently moonlights at Circle City Hot Rods. For some extra cash we decided it would be fun to get back into business together (we worked together for a while at Jacks Lowrodders... so long ago) doing chops and metal work out of each others garages. You can search his name to find some of his projects. Just word of mouth type work but I have already talked to a handful of interested folks who are amazed at the going shop rates for a chop. Believe me, I understand why they cost what they do... it's an intense amount of work. But if we can offer you a great finished project for less without the cost of shop overhead we both win eh?
Anyway I thought I would turn it over to y'all and see if you liked what you saw and see if anyone is interested. I will be posting a lot of pictures of current projects and some of past work. Believe me. the guy is no joke. I recently saw a post of top 5 guys in So Cal to get your car chopped by and he was on it. Check it out... some before pics and all tubed up

 

top coming down ... 4.5" on the a -pillar

 

Another 50 shoebox but this one is a coupe. only a subtle 3 inches in the front and vertical b-pillars

 

wow i never new there was a ranking system envolved with chopping tops?

 

I believe someone asked for a referral and a few names came up over and over.

 

Chops in the past... told ya the guy was good

 

51 merc....

 

and a 40 ford... 2 of the hardest to do (so they say) .... done exquisitely

 

Wow buddy love it

 

how about posting pics of all those cars done?(ie,with the back window metal work done AND glass back in them..)

 

I`d like to see in progress pics of this chop.Very nice.

 

Very nice proportions on ALL these past cars!!!! BITCHIN!!

 

Hey thanks a lot Ian!! means a great deal coming from you. I have admired your work that has been posted here as well.

 

He definately has an eye for proportions. Cars all look great!

 

I knew Brandon back in the day (back when I was in The Mishifts CC)...nice guy and nice work, glad to see he is still at it. Best of luck with the business

 

the 2 shoeboxes are currently in progress and the rear glass area is usually the last to get completed. I will post pictures of them as we go. We generally don't do the side glass on a car but we do take care of the inner mouldings so that the glass shop has everything they need to do their thing. Flat glass is relatively inexpensive and a glass shop is much more able to complete the car. The way I see it... you don't take the chop to the glass guy so why take the glass to the metal guy?

 

Yes... Brandon has serious talent and pays very close attention to detail,I met him at Circle City during some of those late nights and I got to see a good amount of his finished work in person and he takes alot of pride in what he does and has a great eye for detail.

 

Another thumbs up for Brandon. He did a lot of sheet metal work on the Vicky and everything he did was the work of a true craftsman. Talented guy.

Terry

 

'64 CAD chop?!?!?!

 

looks good

 

a few shots of some progress on the 50 shoebox sedan...

 

a pillars getting close

 

just as important for the inside of the a pillar to be worked and dressed

 

rear window test fitting... we think that we're going to slide the whole thing forward a bit... she needs a bit more deck too

 

some more updates on the coupe... coming out nice - at least i think so. I really wanted to maintain a "stock" appearance, hence the small chop 3" and the vertical pillars bit more work to do in the rear window area and we'll be done with the outer sheet metal. the white area back there is just posterboard/ template paper to help see it

 

So... back to the sedan... we definitely feel the top improved by sliding the window forward. There is a bit more adjustment to go up and down but that's about where it will stay as far as distance moved forward.

 

Brandon also started working on getting the "C" pillars aligned. The roof needs to be relieved so as to pull the roof towards the outside of the car to line up with the body at the "C" pillar/ sail panel area. With sedans... there seems to be a "flat spot" through the roof / upper quarter window area due to the long length of the window itself. The slanted post (customer request) further enhances this because the upper part of the quarter window is "longer." The following photos show the removal of about 1 1/4" inch while doing the relief cut. You can really see what a difference an inch makes from the 1st to the last pic.

 

Chilly Willy, beautiful chop work by your buddy. I have a '49 Merc (4-door) that I am considering chopping. Would never hold your buddy to it, but what is he charging on average for his chops? I have price quotes all over the map.

Mike

 

Nice to see Brandon back in the business- he is one of the best!
Rob

 

I love the proportions on this coupe, it reminds me of the chop on mine. It's difficult to chop a coupe and make it look right.