Its almost perfect as it is now.. all it needs in my opinion are some ripple disk single bar flipper hubcaps, or some similar styles typical 1940's hubcaps to get it perfect the way it is... Then I would leave it like that for some years and enjoy it. In the meantime I would find as many photos of chopped 36 Ford Coupes as you can, study, study, and study some more what has to be done to get them right.. and then chop is. They dont get much better than John Fisher's Coupe...
if you are good enough at the metalwork required, you could build a chopped 3w body from a 2dr sedan. they are cheap. and you could have the one you have to drive untill you are ready to switch bodies. and with your original there you can copy all the features. save the original as an investment. if you realize afterward you don't like the chopped one, you can always go back. that's my preservationist point of view.
Sell it problem is solved. NEXT? They are not an easy chop and with the proper stance look fine as they came. That said chopped properly they are also the bomb I might be inclined to try and ruin it if it were mine. The first cut is the hardest after that its all up hill. Up being the operative word here, did I mention they are not an easy chop? Do you need to be challenged? of so make the cut. You'll probably be mad as hell at me before you finish but its alright I'll probably never meet you anyway.
To not decide is to decide. Or, It's lived through over 7 decades of not getting wacked, a few more years won't hurt it. I was at the Belmont Shore street car show a few years ago and overheard a "civilian" looking woman say to the "civilian" guy she was with, "Hey! They raised the roof up on that one!" about the only Model A coupe at the several hundred car show that WASN'T CHOPPED! Be different, leave it as is. Avoid the current chop-everything-you-get-your-hands-on FAD until you're more sure about it than you are about who you want to marry. So, If you haven't reached the "I absolutely MUST do this!" point, don't.
I think they look a little better chopped (mildly). I'd still say no chop, unless it was going to be a super well done chop job and paint. Car looks excellent as is.
Drive one that is chopped to see if you still want to do it. I could go either way, but to be honest, I be to busy driving it to chop it!
chop the sum-a-bitch & shave yours & your ole lady's head so you can get in & out of it. "and the bowtie rolls on"
i would have have a real hard time cutin her, butbthey do look perfect missing a lil head room. If you dont chop it you should build a real real hot flat head for it and hot rod her.
A good chop always looks cool but for me the key word is "unmolested" I would leave it that way. That is one sweet ride just the way it is. I would try to find one that wasn't already done and chop away. Just my ever so humble opinion.
A mild chop will improve the car's looks. A major chop will destroy the cars looks and value. I'd chop it but do what you want, but do your homework first. It's to nice a car to F up.
When the chop is perfect it's hard to tell without an unchopped car near by. All of the most visually stimulating 3Ws of the past were done well, restrained, perfectly proportioned. If you wish to take on the task, go for it. The job should be your concern, not how it looks done. Overdone loks like shit. Poorly done will cost you forever. Done like the one Rikster posted, well, I can't add words to what that pic says. One of my all time home run cars, 36 3W, chopped n dropped, nice dark color.
An inch and a half at most, maybe a slight forward slope with the original rear glass. Photochop first?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'm completely with Rik and Jeff on this one, your car is great right now as is but with it chopped perfectly it would be a show stopper IMO. Sam
As you can see rodding is a personal opinion. As a 36 3 window owner I ran mine stock high for three years and could stand that bubble no longer. But as finkster said you can go to far, and get the squinty look. I took 2 1/4" and only 1" out of the back window and 1" out of the metal below the back window. Another thing to think about is to slant the A pillar or cut the roof and move it forward. Personally I don't like the lay back so I moved the roof up. Hope this helps, if no already down.