chopping 54 hard top and keeping front glass

I've been thinking lately about chopping my 54 belair hard top. I really don't have the money or time to get the front glass cut so I've been thinking about cutting the back, pie cuts in the front and laying the whole roof back. Any other ideas or is what I'm thinking not going to give the car a smooth look? Has anyone ever attempted this or know of a thread where someone else has done this? Any help is good help!!

 

A belair hard top is a very desirable car. It sounds like you're trying to find a cheap easy way to "get around" doing it right. My suggestion, wait till you have "the money or time to get the front glass cut".
I have a '54 hard top sitting in my shed that someone tried to chop years ago, and literally ruined the top, I've been searching for another top for it for 12 years.

 

Define RIGHT!
does that mean doing it the same as all others trying to be different?
not flipping you shit. I just like it when someone comes up with a thought and gets shot down instantly by all of "Us free thinking rodders"

 

I agree with ron. Thatas a car a lot of people would kill to have unchopped. I love a chopped car as much as the next guy, but theres some cars you just cant half ass. I think your plan would of course work, but I think the angle would be tragic. It would look like a sperm whale and theres already enough chopped cars that look like the have fore heads, haha.

 

Flattrap took a Bel Aire hard top and chopped it with a sedan roof and rear window. I really couldn't understand that logic but the car came out great!
I think the reason for customizing is to build something in a different and sometimes shocking way. a vision transformed into reality is always going to be judged by the skill of the builder. there are thousands of failed attempts but the ones that get finished and are truely different will go dowm in history

 

Dont do it man...Cutting a front glass is not that much money to ruin the look of a great car. As the other above have said its a car you should def not half ass! If you can afford the chop you can afford the glass cut, If not run that thing at full roof height! Good luck

 

The best reason not to, is..... that it would just look like shit!

 

a 54 chevy hardtop cab forward. Yeah that'll look good.....

Chip foose took the crown out of a 54 hardtop, looks killer, keeps the windshield. Win Win.
http://www.customrodder.com/

 

In what way will this method be cheaper and/or less time consuming? If you have this planned out with a photoshop or a particularly clear vision of how it'll look good and you want to do it, that'd be one thing, but I don't see it saving you any money and certainly not any time.

I can't imagine re-configuring those die cast vent windows to match the new angle of the windshield, and eliminating them would be even more difficult, because you'd have to make the window frame surround the whole glass and go down in one piece, plus the door is angled there.

 

I like the way you think... where would we be if no body colored outside the lines... I get tired of people telling me shit when I chop on my bikes or tell them my plans for my car etc... help is always appreciated and opinions too but where would we be if no one colored outside the lines.

 

rpierce asked for other ideas... didn't he? and he got answers none of them wrong.

 

It'll end up as a carson top abortion. If you can't "afford" to do it, and are thinking of ways of cheaping out.

If you PLAN to do it and take your TIME, as the op said he doesn't have, you can pull it off. Look at what Bass did with a merc front on a pancaked chevy. he took his time, and it is gorgeous.

Time. Patience. Read the OP. No time, no money, but I want to cut on a nice hardtop just cuz... It's always a bad idea to rush in with no vision of the finished product.

Example, what is he going to do with the big wraparound glass? hasn't thought that far ahead yet. Everyone whose done these says that is always a pain to use the back glass and make it look right.

 

Coloring outside the lines usually results in a pretty fucked up picture. Thinking outside the box is a whole other thing, as long as we're open minded enough to draw correct conclusions. He has a nice car, he's thinking of chopping it "the easy cheap way" though it won't be either, especially if he tries to sell it one day and no one wants it.
If you'd see the car I'm building, you would never accuse me of following the crowd, believe me, but any modification should be done with a thought to how the finished car will look, not how to get around doing it right.
Oh, and noname, by "right" I mean so that the final result is an improvement, not just different, if I appeared to be shooting him down, I wasn't, I was just trying to keep another hard top Chevy from ending up like the one I rescued.

 

I totally agree! just would like to understand his thoughts , rather than holler "don't you dare to be different"
I used to have a tag line that someone else is using now
"I want to be different, just like everyone else"

 

NOT everything needs to be chopped...!!!

R-

 

I agree that not every car needs chopped. The 53/54 Bel Aire Chevies are great looking cars.
However, it is yours and yoou should do with it what you want.
My only thought is that you are worrying about money before you start.
My experience is that any project usually costs at least twice as much as originaly planned.
I can see the only reason not to chop is whether you have the skills and patience to see it through. I have seen windshields cut with a cutting wheel, using water to cool the glass as you cut. It is a risky venture, at best.
Think it over carefully so you will have a car you can drive, and not just another back of the garage fixture.

Trends are set by guys willing to risk it.

 

I appreciate all the feed back from everyone. I'm not thinking of a way to do it "cheaper" but different. I like how it's the wrong way if I don't cut the front glass, when did someone make a rule book on chopping cars? I agree that I don't want to do it that way if it will fuck up the roof line. I don't think it will with some of the drawings I've came up with. I guess I could always wait and try to be like everyone else! Ha!

 

I had someone check out the progress on my 54 about a month ago, then told me something interesting. Someone got him to do all the metalwork on a 54 hardtop, when he told the guy $1500 and come get it- the guy said he didnt want it anymore and the signed title was in the glove box and to sell it to get his money... I havent been able to catch up with him to look at the car yet, but after seeing some of his previous work it sounds appealing.

 

If it looks good to you- its your car, your opinion is what matters in the end. When I get to chopping mine, if it turns out bad then I guess I will have just made a convertible!

 

had a '54 Chevy coupe that was chopped before I purchased it. he used the stock front and rear glass. used thin wall rectangular u channel lined with rubber as bottom support and lowered glass down into body. the windshield looked like stock angle, but rear was leaned forward. used stock outter rubber channel for top/sides of glass. then modified lower section of rubber strip and glued along lower edge to help seal glass and give a stock install kind of look. sorry, do not have any pics to post. it is now in Japan and was featured in "Hard Core ROD&KUSTOM by BURNOUT Magazine-issue #003 page 45, if that helps any.

 

Look Holmes, you want to do it "different"? Think some yokel hasn't already tried this at some point? In the arena were all playing in, there are proven formulas and ways to do things.

It would be different because it's a bad idea.

Don't kid yourself, you're trying to cut corners. Do it the way it should be done, don't end up with a mongoloid kustom.

Having a chopped car is fun, but not THAT fun. Patience will build you a really nice car. And FYI, my best friend is building a hardtop right now, it might end up chopped some day, till then it will still RULE with the roof where god put it.

 

Dont mean to sound harsh, but you cant re-invent the wheel here, the best ones are already round. Oval wheels would be different than everyone elses, but they would suck.


Or, fuck it, leave the front alone, chop the rear like 8" or so, fill in the back window. Done.

 

Since the front glass is curved as well, tipping it back any amount for it to be a noticible chop, will create a gap in the center of the windshield. Just like tipping a back glass.
You would have to sink the corners to avoid this, a whole lot more work than cutting a piece of glass.

 

Rpierce, Go to orchard supply hardware and go buy a couple boxes of those cheap green glass cutting tools. and go practice cutting on an old f*cked up windshield. cutting glass isn't difficult it just takes time.

 

I cut a windshield every week or two. the 54 GMC in my avatar took less than 20 minutes to cut 4 inches off. but every windshield is different. I've been practicing for 45 years and still have alot to learn.

 

Thanks for all the input guys.
old gold- that's a very good point, would be making more work than less.

 

Interesting idea, but sounds like a fastback...good or bad. I've been chopping tops a long time and there are a couple cars that get chopped and rarely turn out well. One is the 39/40 Ford coupe and the other is the 53/54 Chevy hardtops. The biggest problem on the hardtops is getting the rear glass to flow with the top. A few 53/54's have turned out well but even the iconic Moonbeam has a hickup back there.

We can argue/discuss thinking outside the lines but good taste is good taste...and saying it's so doesn't make it so.

Let the floggings continue.

Just my two cents worth.

Charlie

 

I considered doing this myself, but didn't want to give up the wipers, and couldn't see any way to keep them. Did yours work?

 

Good Thread.. But I'd like to see some pics of some different chops on 53/54 HDTP's..I used to think they didnt need to be but lately I'm beginning to hmm'

 

Quick question.being that ive chopped a few hardtop 54's.both 2 1/2 inches which in my opinion is all they need.both were done with reproduction back glass that my buddie had made for me years ago.so here is my question.the back glass is tempered.don't you think you'll be spending more money in the end since its so much harder and costly to fit the back glass in after the chop. I suggest you save the money buy a repo back glass and pay your local glass guy to cut the front.