Technical Making head room in a heavily chopped coupe

I have owned a chopped 26t coupe for 16yrs. It sets on top of 32 rails and I finally found a seat that I really like. It came out of a 90s model Ford van- the rear seat. It is only 4in. thick including the frame and all and sets very well. Find em in the junk yard............

 

What I want to know is how the heck did you get those pails in the kick panel......

 

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Ditto. I used a ford van seat in my 5.5" chopped 33 pickup and after narrowing the sides of the bottom cushion, it fit great, was comfortable if not beautiful.
I found my van seat sitting beside a dumpster.

 

Thanks guys, I'll be on the lookout. It would be nice to have some sort of seat for mockup. Right now it was the original seat riser and then a 2x4.

Rocky, looks like you lost nearly as much headroom in the channel as you did with the chop. I like it.

 

I have driven a long ways in both
severely chopped cars and T-buckets.I can honestly say,I'll take the chopped coupe any day.Want to see something cool? Go to Drods build thread on his 33 5window ,check out the video of him driving the car out of a car show.Love that car

 

My 2c worth....

I was a bit worried about head room when building my 30 AV8. I am 6'3" and didn't want to have a headache (literally) when driving my hot rod around - especially on bumpy roads.

I chickened out a bit on the chop - wanted 4" but thought 3" was all I could have. I cut 3.5" in the end. With a 4" foam pad seat on the original seat riser and slides and the back rest slightly tilted back it worked out fine. Even kept the parcel tray all intact too. Sure I am sitting a little further back than stock but the car is comfortable and doesn't feel unsafe. I could have gone for the full 4" after all in hindsight but it's no biggie. The floor and frame is untouched from stock so the pedals are where they are normally mounted etc. I did extend the column drop a couple of inches and shortened the column etc 3" for more access room too. With a chopped Model A you have to peer under the visor to see traffic lights but that is all part of it. Hope that helps too...

 

The interior of my Roadster is dark and claustrophobic. ( so I guess it wouldn't be for everybody )

But its much nicer to drive with the roof on than with the roof off.

Visibillity to the front and the sides is not a problem at all, I've driven it in longer highway drives as well as rush hour traffic in town.

I have to arch my neck to look at overhead traffic lights, but I have to do that in most cars anyway, because I'm tall.

Visibillity to the rear is not very good ( but not as bad as some Vans and Italian Sportscars I used to own ), so it has a rear view mirror on each side and that solves that...

The only safety issue I can think of is that if I would get hit on both doors, and they wouldn't open, I wouldn't be able to escape through the window openings
Which is the same again as that Italian Sportscar I used to own.

And nobody questioned the safety of that car...

So it seems to me that as long as you carefully set up the seating position with the glass you have, there is no real problem.

 

I get you Metalshapes. It's always easier to judge and ridicule from the outside looking in. I get people that say my cars to small to drive, but after they sit in the drivers seat, they get it. Perhaps, if I had sat in the drivers seat of that guys car and adjusted the mirrors etc., my opinion would be different. Good call.

 

The view from D rod's 33 looks great:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpheie3ov3U&feature=youtu.be

 

Chopped hot rods always look great, I just dont have the guts to do one.
I prefer the tall look.
Nothing wrong with chopped done right, but I sometimes feel some guys go in too hard without doing the maths.

Ive seen several cars for sale unfinished as the owners have realised a little late that they just wont fit in right.

It is probably a good idea to mock up a windshield at the proposed chopped height and get into the car and really see if it will work for you...

 

Yea. That would drive me nuts. That's not a view, it's a peep.

 

One thing you could also do is raise the header in the car. I raised mine. Top is chopped 5" but the windshield only got chopped 3 3/4".

 

Thanks ty, I read something about removing the header in a previous post, but hadn't considered raising (shaving?) it. I'd have to see how it might effect the look of the chop, but definitely an option. Do you happen to have a photo from the front?

 

This is not the best pic, but you can see how much of the header i cut out. I then placed a piece of 1" sq tubing in. The windshield frame will be attached to the tubing after i drill and tap the holes.

 

Once the visor is put back in place, you'll never know, except the fact the windshield is taller. I need to blast and finish welding/grinding yet.

 

That's a pretty slick way to get back an inch and a quarter. Thanks for the visuals. Most of the time I need someone to draw me pictures

 

Check out the So cal coupe verses the Pierson coupe.There are some great restoration photos on Monterey speed website.

 

Excellent idea!