ok... so after years of going back and forth on whether or not i should chop my hardtop.... i decided to.......... chop my hardtop! I wanted to keep the 3 piece rear wrap around glass since that was one of the reasons i wanted a hardtop. Not only that, but also because i see so many with the rear window swapped to the single piece of glass. After looking over several hardtop chops, printing pictures, and doing lots of research, i gave all my likes and dislikes to Bob Larson from our club. Bob then did a rendering of the 3 1/2 inch chop with a picture of my car.. from there we got together and made a few adjustments. I decided to move the rear glass forward instead of stretching the roof.. We then measured the catwalk area on a 51 Chevy coupe Bob had in his yard, and duplicated that on my hardtop.. We took 3 3/8 out the front, and just a hair more in the rear. We then cut out the rear window section and would move it forward a little at a time, then step back to take a look. We moved it until we got a nice flow from the roof to the trunk area. At the same time, we tried to keep the distance between the trunk and rear glass area similar to the coupe.. I wanted a little different look and like how it looks like a hardtop coupe. Keep in mind, I will be running skirts as well, which i think will add to the longer rear section. We also didn't want the "V" section between the rear quarter window and rear window to get too wide. The lower the roof goes down, the wider it gets. Bob tacked everything in place and clamped the rear section together so we could pull it out the shop and stand back to take a look. Next we will make a filler piece between the rear window and trunk area. I guess i have passed the point of no return! Stay tuned.... *Update** heres a link to my paint thread** http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=706075
Looks great thank you I to want to do a chop on my 51. I feel the same way I dont want to loss my back it's what I think make's the car more sleek I will be following this one for sure keep us posted ....slick39
I think you nailed it, thats the way they should looked chopped! Can't wait to see the finished product.
Hell yeah Chris!! I'm stoked you decided to cut it and I think keeping the stock back glass was a good choice. Gonna be a stunner..... Bryan
Fuck yeah CJ!!!! Killer! cant wait to see it finished!!!!! perfect proportions IMO!!!! Just a little taste ya know???!!!???
Hardtops are already "chopped" about 2" compared to post cars so it doesn't take much. what is the plan for the rear corner glass??
X4...or however many... Kudos to you for keeping the stock back glass! Sent from my iPhone using TJJ!!!
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