Projects 49 Plymouth Chop/Sedan to Hardtop-

I am posting this for the Plymouth Dodge guys to show a way to improve the look of an otherwise -shall we say -HOMELY car ....sorry- but thats the rep they got.
I 'll post one before pic to show the profile.
This car is our buddy Matt's[TankWilson] here on the HAMB.
I was given a free reign to do what I felt was in order to give the old car a facelift of sorts.
I decided to follow his hint and do a more severe chop rather than the ordinary 2-3"er Ive saw on these cars.
The roof line on these about ruins an otherwise cool old car.they are also relatively easy to find and seem to run well with the original drivetrain .
But yet they are not well accepted over say a shoebox Ford or 49-50 Chevy car......
If they can be improved Id say stance and a chop are in order.
The plan is to lower the back some more like a taildragger look after I am done with the Top surgery.
These shots are all of it at its current height -although it has 4" blocks it can stand some more lowering........
I decided on 7" at the windshield and then went with 8" at the rear of the quarter glass......
I removed the stock rear glass and opening and re installed them about 5" further forwards in an effort to visually lengthen the trunk some.....

the Hardtopping consists of cutting out the B pillars and removing the frt door tops THEN welding them to the drip rails .
I then installed a chunk of the old door top from its vertical part in place of the area that used to be the corners of the door anmd quarter glasses.....

 

some pics

 

front of door top and hardtop reconstruction.....at the B POST TOO

 

Is there any more pictures? I love 50's mopars they are not the "in thing" but that makes them cool the lines are sexy once you smoth them up a bit!!

 

side

 

Wow, that does make a difference. Nice looking chop and car.



morebel

 

Definitely an improvement. Good call on taking that much out, and moving the back glass forward.

What's the plans for glass and all? Are ya keepin' the vent windows? What about the "trailing edge" of the door glass (where the B-pillars used to be)? Izzit gonna be angled or curved or straight vertical? IMO, it's beggin' for a slanted curve a-la Hirohata Merc (or Matranga Merc).

With no glass at all right now, the window opening looks too long, but that top profile is soooooo right. Keep us posted on this... it's gonna be a kool one!

My dad and I chopped the top only about 2.25" on his 51 Plymouth Business Coupe, and man, what an improvement!

 

Kool chop, makes the back end look a whole lot nicer, more 46-48 Ford/Merc rear look from the side rather then the too squat rearend it had stock, I'm liking it

 

nice chop. It does look much better, the lines are perfect.

As said in a previous post, it gives it a Ford/Merc Coupe look in the rear....almost like a taildragger.

 

What can you do about that ugly ass-end....it's so........so....Big...hehe


Nice lines on that chop, that's why you are the pro!

 

cool... post more pics, too. I'm working on a '50 dodge, I'd like to chop it someday, a little different, though.

Before:


Now:



Someday:



Another option for a chop would be grafting a 50's chevy top on it like this:


50's mopars do have potential, you just have to find it....


Thanks for posting!

 

The chop is looking great. I've had my eye on one of these for awhile. It needs to be rescued.

I figured out what looks wrong with these old Mopars. The wheelbase is too long. The space between the rear fenders and the back of the door is too big. I did this simple fix on a Paint program. Moved the rear wheels forward maybe five or six inches. I think it looks a bunch better already.

Dan

 

Forget fucking with the wheelbase... just slam it... everything looks better slammed...

oh, and here's another chopped plymouth:

 

Oh, I will definately follow this thread!





See what I mean?
Thanks for the info and pics. They are greatly appreciated!

BloodyKnuckles

 

Great top, Kenny does awesome work, he can turn a sows ear into a silk purse. I cant wait to see it around town......RP

 

Im back-Tonite is my wifes birthday and we went out for supper and shopping.....

The above cars are cool but in my opinion the top HAS to be shortened in length and somehow the trunk needs to LOOK longer....Thats what we achieved easily on Matts car by moving that rear window forwards and adding a filler panel between the trunk lid and the slanted glass....The dodge [white] already HAS about a 6" shorter roof than a Plymouth does,as well as slant post in the B position..

Another trick ya'all missed is the fact that I left the rear corner of the quarter glass pointed.....ALSO I trimmed the rounded corner of the FRONT end of the door top to match.....makes the C post look slimmer........
When hardtopping it like I did this one you have to do this or if not you end up with the sharp point of that same corner sticking in your face when you open the door from under it- might tear your tutu on that bad boy!
ALSO a lot of lowerin needs to be done on these cars
In answer to the glass question -I will put a bottom support BELOW the quarter glass and install it by sliding it in and out.
I t will have a seal strip [angled] between it and the door glass.
The door glass is a whole different can of worms...it will need to be in a position that allows it to be all the way up and yet allow the door to open and shut without moving the glass up and down.

This will be accomplished by sealing off the groove in the door top where the channell run USED to set. then a 1/2" 90 degree lip is installed at the INNER edge to mount an L shaped gasket much like a real hardtop has to seal and support the glass and still allow door to open and close with glass rolled UP....
Also it will be necessary to increase the HEIGHT of each door glass......say if the side window opening is 7" tall I will cut the glass 12" tall.
This will allow the vertical channels in each end of the doors to steady/support the glass even when partially up or down-If you did not do this the door glass would suck outwards at speed and leak or break....

the angle of the door glasses travel is also going to be steeper than it was stock to compensate for the change in the roofs new shape/angle.

 

Me too.

 

SAY IT ISNT SO.. I have one of those in my driveway right now! its here for a motor and trans swap.. almost done with it till the owner gets the real motor to me..


apparently these Mopar's are the upcoming thing. I know someone else whos going to look at one on sunday..

 

Looks great kenny. Not trying to take this thread in a different direction, but I have been thinking about putting in a different grill once i lower it and do some other mods. Anybody got some cool pics of grills. Don't really want to put in a stock grill from another car... not trying to make it look like a chevy, ford or merc, but do want more of custom look for the front. Anyone got any pics.

Thanks
matt

 

The chevy roof grafted on would be killer. I think the stock roof line is too flat across the tops of the doors and rear windows, and the rear glass is too steep. When chopped, the roof looks even flatter to me.

Here's my '50 Plymouth, stock body and all.

Pete

 

Heres a few more shots for perspective-OUTSIDE......I pushed it out and sanded it bare then the 100 degree sun and 95 %humidity forced me to take a break!

its so hot ya can't touch it now.... .

The tires are taller than I think they need be and it needs some chassis SLAMMIN!

 

front and side-
Sawzall-your car there is a bus coupe and has a 6"shorter roof than a sedan [like this one].....
These kinda remind me of cars from the old 40's cartoons with the stock appearance and ride height..... CHOP EM...

 

WOW. Looks even better outside. Take a break ... Don't have a heat stroke because of me.. i wouldn't be able to sleep at night..... probably won't now that i see it again.


Thanks
matt

 

I tend to agree now. I really like the looks of the wide whitewall and bias ply. Do they make a shorter and squatier (is that a word) tire that is like the ones it has now. What tire would you put on it now??

Thanks
matt

 

huge improvement on that car, looks good

one thought though, the licence plate need to get moved down to the bumper, would clean up the decklid alot, the licence plate kinda takes to much attention and irretate the lineflow...

 

i like those early mopar coupes/2door sedans, they look like they still got plenty roots in the late 40ies and still early fifties, like take an 46 coupe and an 1952 car and morph them...

 

Great looking chop. I was looking at one of these not to long ago after I sold the coupe, I just couldn't get past the "bubble butt" on those old dodges. Mabe a wedge section from front to rear would help out the look a bit, maybe just section the trunk lid, I'm not sure. I never could come up with a good way to get it looking right, maybe if I was a little better a photo chopping I'd own one of those now instead of the Vicky. Good Job though man it did wonders for that car.

Drew

 

haha aint it funny we no sooner get home from your house and this thread is up, coincidence...i think not

 

Nice work .... if you ever consider going into the plastic surgery field ...damn....I lost it there for a minute...I agree on the license plate thing and maybe sectioning the trunk to lower its profile would make it look better....but I don't know shit.....now about the other thing ,you know you don't have to be licensed to practice right..