Customs Cheap chop tops

i parted out an old 50 chevy, in the late 80s, and before we had the scrap guy come get the remains, we chopped it. @MalloMike and i took out the saw zall and mig and cut 3" out of it and tacked it back together, it took us 3 hrs. learned a lot. had some fun. scrapper said it was too good to junk.

 

1 800 hit-fill extension sand

 

yep, before cutting best to get help from as many sources as possible. those that don't are the ones on craigslist, and elsewhere, that have "chopped" rides For Sale without a roof and/or "just needs glass".

 

Dick Dean was the top chopping wizard, at least in Southern CA.
Barris sent all of his chop jobs to Dick after 1976, I believe it was...
Dick and his son could do a Merc in record time, at very low cost.
Anyone know if "Kid Dean" carried on with the chop jobs?

 

Years ago, Kenny used to post a lot of helpful info on the HAMB. I don't know the guy, but he seemed to know his stuff, and had a lot of fans.
Back in the 80s or maybe early 90s, I bought a cassette tape from Elden Titus at a KKOA event on chopping tops. A cassette tape.............. Pissed off my family by listening to it on the way home, never listened to it again..
A cassette tape......
Not many pictures on a cassette tape....

 

20 years ago a chopped a 1969 VW Beetle 5 inch and man it took months to complete and looked right with no straight line to find.
If a pro will do it for 2500 dollar i would say yes immidiately.

 

First top I ever chopped was an A coupe in '68. We did it right in the street in front of the l fellas house ( his mom and dad wouldn't let him work on it in the driveway for some reason). Payment one case of Olympia, which was mostly gone before we finished it and somehow it came out alright. Not perfect but alright.

Times ( and the cost of living) have certainly changed.

 

Okay, I've taken some heat for my opinion of Kenny Baker's work, so I'm gonna clarify a couple things here, and show my credentials.

I'm not some teenaged wannabe-customizer living in Mom and Dad's basement. The customer I mentioned that bought Kenny's plans owns the powder blue '49 Ford shown on my profile page. There's before and after pics there (2 1/2" chop, straight down), and a link to my photobucket page with lots of progress shots, and some of the other projects I've done. In the album on the '35 three window chop, the gray haired fool on the input end of the tools is me. This ain't my first rodeo, judge my work for yourself.

Judging by his communication and his website, I'm sure Kenny Baker is a nice guy, and I'm sure he has indeed chopped over a thousand cars and has many satisfied customers. It was not my intent to slag him. He's been doing this a long time and has developed methods that work (quickly) for him. Personally, I prefer to tig weld anywhere I have dolly access behind the weld. I considered posting some scans of his plans, but decided it would be uncool for me to share something for free that he sells. I guess it all comes down to what we each consider "nice work", and value for money spent.

By all means, collect all the info you can before attempting your first chop. Kudos to anyone willing to share their experience for the benefit of others. Expect that you will encounter many little details and problems to be solved that are not covered in Kenny's or Tex Smith's instructions. Have at it, and good luck.

Edit: photobucket link_ http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/erjack/library/?sort=9&page=1

 

Did I see a picture of Gene Winfield at the PRI show chopping a Merc blindfolded??

-Abone.

 

Call Tommy Steadman at 931`-427-6475 located in southern middle Tn. He has sold videos for several years on the cars (lots of Mercs) he has chopped . He is a true craftsman and his videos are 1st rate. He may have a video on the car that you are looking to chop. Sorry I don't know what he sells them for .

 

I think this is the best way to chop a shoebox. Hands down.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/another-shoebox-goes-under-the-knife.379161/

 

LOL my sight has been failing the last few years and gene has got to have 20+ on me. I'll bet at his age blindfolded isn't much different then not.

 

There's a thread here somewhere where a HAMB'r took a coupe (I think)('33/'34 Ford(??)) to his shop from several states away ... and your buddy chopped it on the weekend, and sent the car, and HAMB'r on his way home in 3-4 days time. Pretty damned cool. Pricing was substantially cheaper with Kenny's work then the HAMB'rs home neighborhood.

So if we drop your name ... we're in ??? !!!

 

I'm not giving "Halfdozen" any HEAT whatsoever. Look at his link and you can see right away that his workmanship is top notch. Very impressive!!!

I just question if every chop has to be absolute perfection.

Kenny has found a void to fill with doing good quality and reasonably fast top chops for a common man price.
Nothing wrong with it at all in my book...especially when you consider how many horror stories we have all read, where customers have to sit on their dreams for years while a less than honest "shop" drags its heels on a project.
I certainly wouldn't mind an extra bit of filler or some lap welds if it saved me thousands and I still got a good looking car in a sensible time.
I would definately draw the line at sloppy, misshapen work...but I'm extremely doubtful thats the case with Kenny anyway.
My feeling is he's a hard working passionate soul who, like many others, has found a way to keep Hot Rodding and Customizing alive in small town NORTH America!
More power to ya Kenny!

 

Perhaps you may want to scope out this website which was posted here on the H.A.M.B. quite some time ago.
www.themetalsurgeon.com.
It shows cutting the top on a 1932 Ford Sedan referred to as the "Lakester".
Appears to be exceptional chop top work and exceptional metal finishing.

 

There are hundreds of articles and stories on top chops, I am sure there are Youtube vids although I never looked for one.

IF you are an experienced body man and know how to work metal, remove and replace quarter panels etc. then you can do a good job of chopping a top with minimal instructions, just a few pictures to get the idea and go from there.

If you do not have advanced metal working and body shop skills a top chop is a bad place to learn, something like learning to box by stepping into the ring with Mike Tyson. Don't over match yourself, start on a smaller job and work your way up.