Hey folks! Long time member here, was here back in high school and got to know some folks on here way back in the day. It's literally been a decade and I thought I'd log in, catch up, and since I'm building a custom for the first time in a while, I thought I'd share. I picked this up off of Skoty Chops when I was working with him in hayward last year. It had been a running, driving stock car and the chop never got finished, so like most things, it just sat for a few years. I've been hardcore on it for about six months, and she's finally at the point I can drive and enjoy her, and it's about time to start the design and look of it. The top had about 3 and a half inches taken out of it, but only the front A pillars had been done and the rest was just gutted. I'm not a metal worker and I've never done a chop, but I wanted to challenge myself and made it happen. The rear window is out of a '50 Ford I believe. I converted it to a hardtop by smoothing out the body and blended the windowframes in the body. I'm kinda digging it as after all my searching through images of '52-54 fords, I've seen this done once. After new floorboards, wiring front to back, fixing a crushed passenger fender, and re-vamping the top end of the motor she runs and drives and now it's FINALLY time for some fun. I startedm last week with peaking the hood, and fabricated the eyelids over the headlights as I kinda hate the stock ones for these years. I'll keep updated as I build her, and I appreciate any thoughts or comments! My next step is smoothing the body and trying to figure out if I want to fix the old sixes OD or just lower the rear end gears to make her a little more highway friendly.
Yessir, that car has some real potential to be a subtle-but-eye catching custom. Love the mint green tint look of the "paint" as it appears in the photos. If it was mine, I'd paint it that color with a white interior. Good luck, hope it builds well for you.
Thats a different chop for sure. Have you thought about doing some custom forward slanting side glass with stainless trim to break up the large open sides? Similar to the Hirohata Merc?
Nice job with the lights, front and back. The hood will look good peaked. I like it with the skirts.. My priority would be side glass and vent windows, and opening up some rear quarter panel scoops. The rest will surely fall into place. Here is a '52 that Barris cobbled together for Ron Fagundes, using a '54 Dodge rear window.
I've never seen that! Wow it looks good too with the back glass. I wish I had found something a little more wrap around in the rear like that... It fits perfect.
If the Six runs good keep it and fix the overdrive or this: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/289-302-351w-swap-mounts.41498/ And you still have overdrive but easier to find and cheaper engine parts.
Thought I would post an update... she's coming along! I was going to sell her but I'm on the fence now... I've gotten so far! I got a hold of a '55 Plymouth and grill...a long with the splash pan and bumper. I've never really seen custom bumpers on these Fords... always the stock one. So I chopped up the splash pan, molded in the '55 one so it would blend with the '55 grill and shortened that to make it fit. It looks like I'll be extending the fenders to match the angle of the grill... but I think it'll look good. The biggest issue is blending the lip trim into the grill.
So I got some primer on it to make it look like less of a junkyard dog... just enough done in time to make it to Midnight Mass and not look like a total turd. I'm pretty happy with my first chop and it doesn't look too bad... but a glass paint job is gonna tell more. I extended the sides and added scoops on the quarter panel... it's coming along. I've been into customs for YEARS and it's finally feeling nice to feel my skills have caught up with what I've always wanted to do!
Agreed! The Plymouth parts look good. Nice to see some thing a little different then the rest Torchie