I am trying to find info on chopping a 57 chevy I have heard of sinking the windows but I was wondering if anyone has leaned the rear glass. Thanks for any info
Those 2 with the 59 and 60 roofs are about the only 2 that have done it and looked good in my eyes. Theres a 56 that comes to my home town show with a whopping 1 inch chop, it looks damned good, but all that work for a 1 inch chop, meh, not worth it to me.
My first post just disappeared.('59, '60 roofs.)???? I'll see if I can reconnect. In the mean time, here is a link to a 'nice 57 Pontiac chop in progress, using a '57 Dodge rear window. https://www.dannypascoemetalshaping.com/1957-pontiac-chopped-top-custom-conversion.html
There is or was a company to produce a fiberglass 55 Chevy with a chopped top. Find out who they are (Google) and buy a "already chopped" windshield from them and then chopped your vehicle the same to match the windshield. Call them don't e-mail them.
there is also a magazine article on how to chop a 55 and it is the car I own that was used in the article. the article lacks specifics in my opinion, but I will dig it out and post it here for you in a day or 2 ok?
If you are chopping a sedan you may be able to get about a 2 inch drop by using a convertible or a hard top windshield I believe. If not. I would think about getting the windshield cut first and then make the top fit the glass. Torchie
Here is my progress so far I went for a 3.5 inch chop. So far I'm happy with the way it's going. This is my first time attempting to chop a car. I am also planning to section it.
Mo, that's one of the finest rooflines I've seen on a tri-five GM. That is truly outstanding work and I hope to see the rest of the car completed. I'm an unapologetic lover of tri-five Chevs, '57s especially. My first "old car" was a '57 Bel Air, it was my entry into this hobby, it was my high school car, and I have fond memories of it and good times I had with friends in it. I'm not impartial. That being said, after studying them for as long as I have, I think they're one of the most difficult cars to chop and get to look right. I don't think that any sedans look right chopped. Period. That includes the A Bros car pictured here, and the Lanny Erickson 56 that Winfield built. With all due respect to the builders, IMHO they didn't go far enough to get the look right. The 2 biggest reasons the chop doesn't look right on the sedan is that; A) to keep the door frame square, the roof has to be too flat and linear for too long of a distance front to back, then has to basically dive for the catwalk from the B pillar back. But from the A pillar to the B pillar, the roof is flat and doesn't flow. Also, B) the full length of the roof looks too long relative to the length of the hood and decklid. The car almost looks stubby in the back with a short trunk, which is exacerbated by the full-sized rear "quarter" window. Therefore, in my opinion, only a hardtop can look truly right. Chopping a stock roof is difficult, too. These Chevs have a high crown at the back of the roof that needs to be drastically reduced even if the roof is laid back. The '56 and '57 4 door hardtops actually have a nicer roofline from the factory and I've always wondered what a 2 door hardtop would look like with a chopped 4 door hardtop roof grafted on. I honestly think the best bet is to do what Mo and others have done, which is to eliminate the chevy roof or rear window section entirely and use a roof that flows better. Mo's chopped 57 Poncho there is a truly stellar example. There needs to be a steady swoop from the top of the windshield to the bottom of the rear glass, and that car achieves it. Anyway, those are my musings on the topic.
My top was brought strait down on the A pillars, which moved the C pillar to far forward to use a glass window, so mine is gonna have to be Plexiglas and made to wrap around further, the good news for chopping a tri five Chev if its done right is they actually make a laminated back glass that can be cut like the windshield but you have to stretch the roof.
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