Im chopping my 49 merc and I narrowed it down to 2. Either a hard top chop or a slanted post top? The back window low or high? 4 in the front and 7 in the back? What do think is a great chop? Help me decide on what chop to go with.
i like this 4 door chop especially how they handled the back doors, i did my wife's merc a bit different and have been wanting to re-do that area and think i'll follow what they did http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500443
look at pics, pics, and more pics!!! a push back up the driveway is worth it to get in and pretend isnt it??
Hard top is a ton of work but well worth it in the end.It opens the car up and you have better vision. Its nice driving with windows down.Ben there done that.Slanting the B piller post looks good also.
7 inch's in the back is way too much ... the back window is going to lay down too much and it'll be hard to make the roof flow smoothly through that area to the trunk lid ... I'd go 4 1/2 at the very most in the rear.
My advise is to be REEEEAL sure what you are going to do before you do it. My Merc was the hardest chop I have ever done....I won't be doing another one any time soon. Remember, when you cut your roof and set all the stuff back together, it's gonna look like this: The hard part is getting it back together without it looking like shit. Definately get it either running or somewhere you can push it outside and stand waaaay back and get a look at it. Lots of chops look good in teh shop, but like ass on the road. Here is my finished product. A bit too hard a chop for some, but just about what I was looking for. Mine is 3" in the front and I don't know in the back. I just kept moving the window around and cutting untill I liked it. Hit the search button and study up..there is lots of good info around here. Actually, if I wanted one done, I would take it to slddnmatt, he's the man. Good luck, -Abone.
Abone...dagnabbit - that's exactly how I thought FoMoCo should have built them in the first place - stodgy old bastards. Beautiful job - thanks for sharing your craftsmanship. dj
Mercuryland use to sell some pretty good "how to" videos on chopping 2 or 4 door '49-'51 Mercs. They are super long, but show just about every detail of the chop. I saw the one for 4 doors. He eliminates the dog leg on the rear door and slopes the rear window down. It flows nice and looks real clean.
to me the chop on the sam barris merc is what dreams are made of. love the straight B posts instead of slanting or doing away with them. just my .02
hay call me iam in Riverside lets chop it this weekend I can give you a hand, and have a few tops under me, worked at Dick Deans and have a shop I was in Berdo for a few years Kilgers kustom metal thanks 909-888-9045
I am not a huge fan of the slanted pillars or just moving the whole roof forward and ultimately shortening the quarter windows, so these two are identical chops. 4 3/4 at a pillar and 4 1/2 at C. The extra 1/4 inch ends up with the doortop parallel to the beltline more or less, I don't like that big wing window tiny quarter window look of the sloped chops. The b pillar was not moved back, rather the entire roof section above b pillar and quarter window was cut, slid the b pillar back and that made the quarter windows nice and long like stock length. Takes the thickness out of the C pillar kinda, and makes up some real estate with window instead of roof panel. IMO never move the back window forward (or up) on a Merc, they look twice as long, sleek and low with the long sultry roofline. Also, try and follow the contour of the drip rail as best you can with the roofline, a lot of Mercs I see have a big hump before the back window, usually when the rear window is moved up a lot, I think its done to avoid having to do all the extra paneling. Best of luck with the chop!
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