Is unchopping a car around the corner? I've wondered this on several occasions, more so with all the radical and not practical chopped cars that are being built now. Anyone see a day when the panel manufacturers will be offering replacement panels to RAISE the roofs of some of these cars to render them useful and buildable again? Would even benefit the restorer crowd as well.
be hard to make panels in my opinion cause chops are so individualized. man would'nt that be a job to do!
I would think someday it might happen. The trend is today to chop A's and Deuces HARD, which I think looks bad, and is going to date the build. Kinda like pastel paint, and early billet wheels. 5-10 years down the road somebody is going to want to undo that 5-6 inch chop on their deuce 5 window. Gonna take a damn good metal man and some cash though.
Seems like there was a thread about this last summer. Sheetmetal guy I knew unchopped (or re-chopped, depending on your point of view) a car using a roof off a really rusty donor. Owner of said car tried chopping the roof himself and it wound up looking like a real bad copy of the Pierson Coupe.
I agree with some of the unconventional cuts but if a panel company made the complete sections from beltline to just before top of roof and maybe A and B pillars, etc. for A's Dueces, etc. could be done. Don't get me wrong, I love a good chop and have done some myself, but bad or overdone chops I think will be redone once the uncut roddin material starts to dry up.
Panels could even be offered with less radical 2-3 inch chops already built in. I can see it happening.
I'n honestly suprised nobody is doing that for A sedans. When you look at the labor to fill the top and chop it, plus the inevitable rust repair on pillars etc. Why the heck isn't somebody offering pre-chopped complete tops that go down to the body line?
theradicl chops will standthe test of time if the work / car are quality. the shit jobs will become parts cars. Timeless cars with timeless lines will be the key. If the chop is cartoonish and doesnt follow the lines of the car it will become faddish
maybe there will be a huge wave of carson tops in the future. I think it's a good idea to some degree but would take alot of demand for a company to do it. I agree with most that a mild well done chop is pretty timeless. If I were one of you guys with an unchopped t or A, I might try making some molds to get some panels made.
Chops were popular way back, now and for years to come. The (trend?)would have faded by now if it was going to.
I've seen want ads in the classifieds on here looking for sections removed from chops. Seems like they were usually in Europe. I saved my 4" chop section mostly for conversation, but you never know. I think we'll be seeing this more in the future, as cars change hands and a new owner thinks " Damn I could enjoy this car a lot more if it had another inch of headroom..." The above process wouldn't be any harder than than a standard A or 32 chop.
RARERODDER...UNPRACTIBAL? man where is your head, because i have an idea! like maby some day we'll pull the v8 engines and put the 4 bangers back. man i think the disney channel is better suited for you. what dimention do these people come from?...POP.
Hottest thing on the HAMB is banger powered builds. Disney? Not at all. Just a case of revisiting hot roddings prewar roots. One might even say rodders who can't see the appeal are one dimensional. Still don't get it? Search out threads on the Newport hillclimb. Those guys get it.
Not quite what I was saying. I like a chopped car too myself, just not one that is chopped ridiculously hard just to say it is. "Hey my deuce is chopped 5 1/2 ! " When a Hot Rod, say an "A" or a Deuce is chopped too hard the proportions are messed up and they dont look right. Today that is the "trend" in "traditional" Hot Rodding. In my opinion 5-10 years down the road its going to date the build to this time. Hot Rods with tasteful chops in the 3-4" range will always remain timeless. Anything past that is usually too much, but there are always exceptions. Thats my opinion on that. Hang onto those sections you cut out. Someday they will come in handy.
Haha! Thanks ELD and the other guys. There's always a few who just don't get what you are saying even if they fell back in it.
I don't know why but for a long time I saved the pieces removed every time I chopped a top, had a big box full of piller sections. Tossed the box out during a move, figured why am I keeping these. Are you saying I should of kept them? Might be a hot Ebay item someday, 32 Ford piller pieces!
I could see it happening. I mean its happening in the harley world. Companies are making replacement necks and other frame parts.
Pretty much what he was saying. I've already seen a few cars that had the chop reduced to a more attractive and timeless chop and one that with a top switch was unchopped. The chop on that one wasn't very good anyhow so it actually saved the car from being junk. It was one of those projects that changed hands several times and never had progress made on it. The outfits that are stamping out bodies now already have the dies and maybe someone could convince them to use the old dies that have been replaced to stamp out the parts needed for those sections after they feel that they are too worn to use to make the whole piece.
NO ! never happen. Just cut a hole in the roof,put on some goggles and stick your head through it. Jesh whats this hobby coming to asking a question like that?LOL.
I think your on to something. A look at all of the Model A bodies that have virtually ruined by this obsession with radiacal chops will tell you that there will become a time when building a true traditional ride will require someone to save these clown/cartoon builds of today. The person that is ready to supply that market will have a leg up on some nice income. It won't be huge like supplying whole bodies but a nitch market for the retired tool maker perhaps. Frank
I have all the leftover pieces for a 30-31 A following a 4 inch chop.......maybe I should hang onto them. I see what you're saying, the trend (for some) the past few years has been to make a car virtually unuseable because of a radical chop, channel, and sometimes sectioning as well.
A guy down here chopped a 49 merc and popped a mold of most of it and sold several glass tops for some such occasions. Not a fan of glass but it was done. He actually had intentions of making a complete glass car.
I recall seeing ads a few years ago for a company selling pieces to undo or repair chops. The company name was "Sorry I Did That" or something similar. Apparently the idea didn't catch on at the time because the ads only ran a time or two in a couple of rod magazines.
Crap man we got guys tryin to make thier cars "look" worn out and bolting useless crap to um. Guys primering over good paint jobs and runnin wide whites on minitrucks man. If someone said it was cool you would see all the squares liftin the roofs back up. Jump on it man you can tell your buddies you were the first on your block to unchop your ride. But its gonna need a snappy name Rat rod and barn find are taken
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