Customs What is the 'perfect' '35-'36 3-window chop?

I have to agree with you there - it could do with a bit more out of the rear window. Looks slightly disproportionate to the side windows.

Scanned the R&C feature this afternoon...





I'd love to see a side on shot of this one.

Bear

 

Bear! Here´s a sideshot of mine. 3 inches from the A-pillar and 4 from the rear.

 

I kind of like a 2'' chop.

 

Sorry, Bear.

I thought it was just right but never bothered to document the specifics... duh!!!

I wish I had.

I'm honored that you and others liked the car. It was a sweet one but the firewall was set way back.. had plenty of room for anything yet interior still had plenty of room.
Al

 

Hamtown Al,

My '36 3w has no chop and the windows are out of it. I can give you any measurements you'd like and you can check your car against those figures, if you'd like. Just thought I'd offer.
-Bob

 

Thanks for that Kenneth. Great to have some 'real' numbers to compare.
Looking at that pic I would have sworn you had taken the same amount front and rear. I guess it's the way you moved the rear of the roof back to meet the body -gives more 'crown' in the rear whereas the 'more slice in the back' type chop usually tapers the roof off. It's amazing how changing one element can affect the overall look of the chop
Yours definitely has the traditional 'Calori' look!

I've been busy re-reading yours and Kipp's build threads....

Bear

 

TagMan,
Thanks for the great offer but sadly I no longer have the car.
It was another of many keepers that I didn't keep!

You might want to take a few pictures and record a few measurements as an aid to others that got a car that was already chopped and are trying to figure out just how much and where so they will know and also can share with others on this thread. A kind of "public service"... or should that be "public reference?"
Al

 

Another 'purple' one. 3" front and 2 1/2" rear chop.





Bear

 

Hey Lon, does this one look a little better?





Bear

 

Is this a trick question?
JMO, But your building a mild '36 3/W custom, mild being the key word to me.
Stock back window would be "out", heavy hot rod coupe chop would be "out" so your stuck with something in the "middle'. The problem I have with the Brizio built chop (on page 3) is it reminds me of a '30-'40s Chevy coupe back window, once that stigma was stuck in my head I replied that I hated the back window. Hate was to harsh of a word to use, but it turned me off. I understand this is all personal taste that varies with each person. Since you asked, the back window on the coupe above would work for me with another 3/4" to 1" taken out of the middle of opening.

 

Actually, kind of a trick question! A real observant guy may recognise some of the background details.

This one has 2 1/2" vertical (3" of window height) taken out of the back window, and the opening has been moved around an inch closer to the beltline.

Bear

 

Fan of the calori coupe chop personally.. was thinking it was almost the perfect mix of custom and class when studying my hot rod mag.. always thought the car could have been greater with a different cap and tire treatment.. thumbed threw my mag and all it said is that The top has been chopped 3”...

 

Not the perfect chop but someone chopped the back of this 35 3 window and made a pickup out of it. I noticed that they mounted the Model A body backwards on the frame also.

 

In progress, 2 1/2" front and 3 5/8" rear measured vertically. Rear pillar section cut out and relocated to avoid pie cutting rear pillar.



Bear

 

Nice work, interesting approach. I like the amount of chop, but personally like the pie cut rear pillar look better........takes some of the "bubble" out of the roof and looks a little more swoopy. But that's just me.

Keep us updated please.

 

Interesting that you say the pie cut chop takes some of the 'bubble' out of the roof - I actually think that moving the rear pillar section up and laying it forward does just that, and is the reason I did it that way.
The picture I posted above probably doesn't show it off at it's best, and it seems that particularly with the very curved '35 - '36 roofline, the camera angle can tend to 'trick' your eye.

In an earlier post I compared the Rusk and Bello coupe rooflines, and said that (in my mind), perfection may lie somewhere between the two.
Now that I have the main portions of the door top mocked up in place and can get a better comparison of the profiles, I'm thinking that I'm actually dead on where I want it to be.








There's still a long way to go to finesse the lines, and I know that my metalwork is never gonna' reach the level of these two, but right now I'm pretty bloody happy with the overall look!

Bear

 

And now, with the door top stitched back together, I think I'm there! (apart from all the work left to do)


As this thread has shown, everyone has their own opinion of the 'perfect chop" (or not), but I'm happy to say that the lines of this are as close to my vision of perfect as I could get them.

Now I just need to focus on all the small stuff....



Bear

 

Any updates on this 36 chop?

A few years ago I was resurrecting a rough 36 3 window with an eye on a chop but unfortunately I eventually sold the car which was subsequently completed and ended up in the Netherlands ,last time I saw a pic of it, it was still un chopped Looked good but really needed a roof top trim .

Fast forward a few years and a friend of mine turns up with the car in the attached pic . What a beautiful car . If any one doubted if these should be chopped stop looking at pics for comparisons and find a very nicely chopped one and your mind will be made up.

It doesn't matter what angle you look at this car from the proportions are simply spot on. If Michelangelo or daVinci built Kustoms this would be there vision..

Im sure the car was built in the USA , Lived in England for a while and its now in Scotland . Making Scotland brighter and better place to live

Does anyone know the history of this car ?

 

SurfCity passed away a while back, don't know what happened to the '36................

 

Wonder where it is now?

 

For what it's worth, it seems like many of the chopped 3 windows turn out looking quite nice. They lend themselves to this quite readily.
Most 5 window chops end up looking clunky and disproportionate. Like they were stepped on. Maybe 1 out of 10 look good. I happen to prefer 5 window coupes over the 3 window, and mine will not be cut.

 

My vote is 0 !

 

It was John Saint Germain's car. Built in Canada.
https://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11...cars/35_ford_custom_cars/john-st-germain-193/
https://www.customcarchronicle.com/forums/topic/for-sale-1935-ford-coupe-custom/

 

Im sorry to hear this . It might be informative to add with reference to another 36 Kustom referred to on the post that Kenneth Kristiansons 36 project had stalled due to Kenneth having had a massive stroke . Unfortunately I have lost contact with Kenneth and a mutual friend . I hope that Kenneth is making a good recovery .

 

Hello,

We have seen plenty of 1935-36 Ford 5 window coupes. To us, drawing and photographing various makes and models has become a fun thing to do during the pandemic. But, the more we saw the chopped 5 window coupes, the more a 3 window coupe became front and center. For some reason, on the drawing boards, a 5 window does not have the looks at any level of chop. The less chop, the better, but overall, IOHO, the chop looks out of place.

The 35-36 fords have a cool front end that makes people notice. When most of them are sitting at car shows they have the hood up to gaze at the motor. The hood and sides make is easy to view what is inside without peering over the top of most fenders. But, despite the cool hood/sides, and front end with fenders, the 5 window still looked better not chopped.

The story on Manuel Reyes’ 3 window coupe got me to thinking of various versions of the 35-36 Ford 3 window coupes. The chop looked well done and did not look like someone dropped a piano on top. The proportions looked good.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=51120

So, I drew a 3 window coupe and started chopping the top lower and lower. Finally, there was a compromising position on paper that did not look like the hot rod got stepped on from some giant person, like, Andre the Giant Wrestler from the old days.
Manuel Reyes
My versions were adjusted each time a chop was made to the original drawing. The 5 window looked too awful, but the 3 window looked, as Goldilocks once said… “ahhh, just right.”

Jnaki

Then, I went to town drawing various styles of 35-36 Fords.
Car show version with early flames...
A mild chop + rake with Purple paint and Claw flames.

Even to a radical chopped coupe set up for the vintage hot rod division of the El Mirage Dry Lake Races and/or Bonneville when it is not flooded.

Not only did I go a little overboard with a different design, I made a custom RPU for those that did not just like Model A RPU builds. This one had an extended bed and cab to fit two teenagers comfortably.

So, what is the best chop top? Why none at all in the 5 window, where any level of proportion is good on a 3 window. Then, there is even one without a top that fits nicely, too. "... in the warm California sun..."