Thats a nice chop but I would chop it all the way! My saying is chop it as much as you can, but still be able to fit a beer can through the window.
I chopped a '36 3-window 5-1/4" front, 6" in back at age 13. Endless slicing and fitting...(no die grinders then!) It had nice proportions, I thought...'til I did the door tops... Holy Moley! My Mom: "Why'd you cut it down so low?" Me: "So you could tell it's chopped!" Lots of fitting here, just excellent metal work. The 'forehead' made the difference you predicted. As soon as you mentioned it, I was hooked! My favorite I.D. (ever look at a finished model car? Look right there at the 'forehead', right above the windshield. They can never get that right!) Congrats on another Milestone!
The armchair quarterbacking is really annoying. I think this is an excellent chronicle of a very well thought-out chop. It IS very difficult to see the overall look when the car is still in so many different colors. I hope that as soon as you've dressed all the welds, you'll blow a light coat of primer over everything and show it to us again.
I also like the(close to stock) look, I don't think I would even chop mine. Why did the ads. use "chopped" images? Good Job!
I guess there arent such a thing as perfect chop,but nothing wrong with this thread.That forehead issue has never bothered me,but i guess it is more visually disturbing thing on shoeboxes with really heavy chops,than its on mild chops. But you did a good job with it anyway.
Not really, I have seen some chopped 2 door cars, that flow much better than the original OPs chop, turned out very similar to mine.
I use to do that. I was a kid though. I grew up and realized that it just looked horrible. No proportion to chopping 10 "out of a car. I will never do it again. I even chopped a van once ( choptvan ) 1970 econoline. 10" Stupid idea. It found its way to a crusher pretty quickly! After I drove it for a few years... we do seem to be getting a bunch of flack for the term " perfect chop ". for the customer, it was. But nonetheless, that will be getting changed on the thread title. Thanks to all that have had something to say though. THe feed back helps us figure out better ways to term things and better photos to take. For example, sanding the roof down to bare metal and getting a better shot of the profile to show that it is not bubbled and to get better pictures of it in better lighting as to show the real profile. Thanks again.
I love it. When the glass is back in, car is all same color and rear is dropped down a little, it'll be killer. I'm also one who's getting tired of seeing shubox "fastbacks". This coming from someone who drove a super-chopped, "laid down" tudor.
Here it is in a nutshell. This chop is something that some one can EASILY do on their own with a 110 mig welder, vise to hold parts, a swazall, and a pipe to bend parts over. EASILY. In order to build a sail panel, or a "c" pillar as it has been called, takes a certain amount of practice and tools. Not an "english knee" method. To do a sail panel correctly, WITHOUT use of a gallon of filler is a hard thing to do. Very complicated. Lots of compound curves on a sail panel. Especially on a shoe box ford. That takes a lot of SHAPING not bending. So the opinions of "chop it all the way!" odviously don't take this sort of thing into account. The customer was sick of seeing overchopped hunks of metal full of bondo. Yes that can look good. But when you look inside of a car that has no headliner, and you get sick knowing there is no way that was done right, it kills it. More of these chopped "cars" than ever are showing up lately. The thing to do is chop the hell out of it, lay metal over metal with no regard to fit or quality, tack weld it rather than finish weld it. mud over it who cares how thick, and then do a damn s-10 frame swap. Not here. Not on this one. That was the point. To those of you that missed it, sorry. But why build a car that took NO skill? And more fab work than what was needed? And STILL miss the mark?
Thank you. Very much. we aim to do a few things this weekend to get the rear down a bit. Maybe even sand the roof to get a good overall appearance so it looks close to the same color so it all makes better sense. Hind sight is always 20/20
As I had said on facebook, great job on the article. Even tho some may not like the flow. Its still a great tech thread. I can see where some would get wound up on the orig thread title. IF its the perfect cop for you then thats what matters.
Nice job, and lots of helpful pics for if/when I do my chop. I only have 2 real criticisms, one being that lots of helpful details were left out, such as how much was cut out, what measurements were taken and why, how the side "catwalk" pieces were made, etc. The other is that much thought and effort went into making sure the windshield height flowed with the side windows, but in the pic from the rear, the rear window looks much taller than the sides. Looks a little out of proportion, though it could be the angle of the pic. Anyway, nice work.
The FAB work is like fine surgery. The technical aspect is clear and laid out and the chop looks fantastic. Everyone has differant tastes thats why we all have differant cars. This car is unique and one of a kind and the customer loves it. Isnt that what its all about? Great work guys. Pot O'Gold is top notch quality work handled by experienced artists that care.
Thanks. Seriously. We did leave a few things out. I will talk to pete and see if he wants to add those to it. The measurments that is. All in all, it was 2.5 and a little more out of the rear to bring it down level. As far as the windshield goes, the peak of the center of it is just a bit higher than the side glass. But we were willing to make that happen to get rid if the forehead these ugly "boxes" have. as for the catwalks, I got VERY sick monday and tuesday. Had to go to the hospital. We were already close to being out of time as it was. After that trip to the ER, I simply ran out of time. So I do apologize about the catwalks not really being 100% gone through. They still are not done to be truthful. We have stripped the top half of the car and are currently lowering the rear end so we can get a few better pictures to add. Try to clear up a few things. I appreciate the feedback. I really do. Thanks guys. Means a lot.
another happy customer! Thanks steve. I appreciate it. We need to do a thread on yours soon as I am done with your chop 100%
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