Donald Mitchell
1990 C1500 5.7L
There would be a lot of things I would do before attempting a chop. The one sewlow posted looks good, but there are many that I couldn't live with. I`m happy that my old truck still looks like an old truck.
Chopped Cab
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
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sewlow
Bitchin' Stitchin'
It's a style that was done to '49-'52 Chevy Fleetlines back in the ...50's! Lol!
That swoopy leanin'-into-the-wind look.
Originated with the salt flat racers.
Looks just 'right' on the body style.
Especially with the angled B-pillars and pie-cut 1/4's & trunk lid to carry the tapering roof line right down to the bumper.
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Even better hardtop'd. No B-pillar.
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HotWheelsBurban
Gotta have 4 doors..... Rawhide, TOTY 2023!
More common than you'd think in the custom car world. Usually done to try to correct/adjust proportions on a vehicle. Chopping a top and sectioning a vehicle are difficult to do well, and VERY easy to mess up the whole vehicle. I used to know a guy who was really good at subtle customization; his name was Gary Howard and he built cars for many here in Texas, including Jimmie Vaughan. JV's Riviera is an excellent example of a minimal chop, only 2" IIRC.
454cid
Sooper Pooper
Oh, ok. I'm just not famialier enough with the 50s cars to know what they looked like originally. I actually had flat roof cars in mind from even earlier..... or later like my Electra.
Hipster
I'm Awesome
There is a high strength steel bar inside the upper door frame/roof line/windshield post on these trucks. Cutting and welding it destroys the properties of the high strength steel. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
454cid
Sooper Pooper
I've thought about taking the roof all the way off my electra because of the awful chop. I'm not sure it would do much for the lines and I'm no body guy, or fabricator.
I am inexperienced at chopping a top. I have a friend that chopped a 1953 Chevy Coupe and I like his end result. He is willing to help me. One can learn from your own experience and one can learn from others experience. Right now I'm trying to get a feeling for myself of all the obstacles to overcome and any methods that are used to overcome them before I make a cut.
Thanks!
That's good information. And good advice. Is there a way to weld it and then heat treat it in a way that restores the strength?
thegawd
I'm Done!
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Jesse James seems to have been the only person to have done this.
Hipsters post right there is probably the reason why. Hipster is a professional body man and has to fix things according to the books and must meet the OEM specifications.
so if someone got in an accident with a chopped cab that, say, flipped over and killed a passenger, this alteration and chop would be accredited with the death, you will get manslaughter charges and spend some time behind bars.
you might want to think about that.
Hipsters post right there is probably the reason why. Hipster is a professional body man and has to fix things according to the books and must meet the OEM specifications.
so if someone got in an accident with a chopped cab that, say, flipped over and killed a passenger, this alteration and chop would be accredited with the death, you will get manslaughter charges and spend some time behind bars.
you might want to think about that.
Hipster
I'm Awesome
I forget the technical end exactly but HSS steel should not be heated above 600 or 800 degrees which is about what a heat gun can achieve. More heat only destroys the properties along a greater length. It's not only the weld site. It includes the HAZ as well. Hss steel is everwhere in new cars and changed the industry. What used to be a frame pull is now drop the engine and cut the rail off at the firewall and replace it.
What Gawd said is absolutely correct. If somebody gets killed, the authorities, the insurance companies, the lawyers, and the other powers that be, will investigate and pursue whomever is responsible for faulty repairs right down to the person that did the job.
I worked at a shop where 90% of what I did were vehicles that had just been repaired by other shops. When customers have complaints they get sent to another shop for a re-inspection and determination of the quality repairs. Things like bad frame work and cars put together crooked, bonded-on panels coming loose etc. I've had cars total out after the customer has had it back for a week because the repairs neccessitated a complete re-do along with another set of parts to be welded on. The original shop that fixed the car is pusued for costs. I was not popular guy at I-Car training where I would see these guys.
Doing it for a living you learn shyt happens, more cars end up on their side or roof and sliding into other stuff then one would think, and something like a dropped drive shaft can pole vault one onto it's roof in a hurry.
Chopped tops, I've a been into few where guys have done it. There's 3,4,5 layers of metal in windshield posts and sailpanels. It all needs to welded and not just the skins on the inside and outside. Leaving the inside panels unwelded is pure unadultered hackery and there are self proclaimed "Mad Fabricators" that don't even have the basics of welding down doing stuff like this.
As long as cars are around there will be people customizing them in the name of looking cool. Whether it's safe or not is another story.
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