I can't explain my affection for sectioned/unchopped customs. Perhaps I just march to a different drummer. I do own a Studebaker, after all!
OK.......I like the look of a sectioned/not chopped car (especially the FoMoCo shoe box) but HOW do you section one?! I tried this 'lame' search feature and didn't find much. (Maybe cause I-ain't-got-much)anyhow......... Somebody wanna tell us 'unwashed/unlearned' the mechanics of sectioning a car? Gotta be more to it than take a cutting wheel to the middle of it and weld the 2 parts back together! 6sally6
Yep, that's pretty much it, Sal... you find as many near-to-vertical areas as possible and connect your slices the best way you can. On a shoebox, you can get almost 6 inches if you try real hard, but that's a LOT of drop when you see it in steel. Getting the steering box aligned and being able to retain a working trunk lid can be real hassles on some models. I think the realistic max is about 3 inches on most cars. That's enough to make a difference and still not create problems like those I mentioned. I used to think the '49-'54 Chevies and similar models would be near to impossible to section but it still follows the "find your common vertical surfaces" and take advantage of them concept.
Peanut1959....the sectioned 1959 4dr Dodge sedan was built in Victoria in the 1960's, but AFAIK disappeared in the 1970's......the 1940 Ford in the background is Leo Spesotts and the pic was taken at the Victorian State Hot Rod Show.....sectioned cars in Oz are very uncommon........in the Oz Sydney NSW suburb of Rockdale in the late 1960's coming home from school I used to pass by a 1949-51 Ford 4dr Sedan that had been sectioned about 4 inches, it was in primer, road registered and obviously a daily driver...........I found out a few yrs later that it ended up in the local scrap metal dealer & crushed.......no pic as back then, no camera......lol.........andyd
I think that I would section or take out metal from the quarters and firewall and remove metal from the bottom of the doors and front fenders and the same with the trunk lid. I think that this process of cutting a car in half horizontally and welding it back together is probably the most radical process that you can perform on a vehicle. The advantage of a performing this operation is that there is no glass to cut. there has been a few people on this site that have posted the entire process.
It might seem easier to take metal from the bottom but often you run into contour problems. Doors can get by with moving the inside structure around without slicing the outside skin, though
It's a shit ton of work, way more involved than a chop, as the firewall and all the interior panels also need to be sectioned. Then there's things to fit such as inner fender wells, radiator/core support, steering column drop, dropping seat, hanging pedals will be 4" closer to the floor (on a 4" section), front and rear wheelwells may need to be raised, etc, etc. Here's a tutorial; https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-54-210-section-and-chop.1016681/
I'm a fan of restraint when it comes to channeling (and chops, for that matter). The way the front end of that '54 was handled looks unresolved, to me. But I like chrome on customs.
Yes sir. Holden FJ, aussies call them Humpies cause of the rear trunk hump. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
just bought this last week off the HAMB,I first saw a sectioned 51 ford in Charlotte n.c around 1966 on Park Road,oops forgot about the one in Hickory n.c. across the from hickory high in 1962 ,often what happened to them.I had another one bout 12 or 15 years ago,but sold it..The one I have is pretty cool and seems to have been done well.I do have a few plans,but will keep it period correct,sorry upload problems..I will post later
I had one of the wizards over on the photoshop thread to do this up. Not my car either, just a borrowed image from the web. But I always wanted a sectioned car, and a family-friendly version of My Blue Heaven. Someone needs to build this!
I got the paperwork for the old ford yesterday and was really happy with what I found.The car was in the mecum Iowa auction in 2002 and was sold for $5500 plus commission as a 30 year old custom,which means it must have been done in the early seventies...anyone out there remember the ford around Iowa or Minnasota bout that time...I really do like the old ford,Thanks Garth
I remember a rough, unfinished sectioned shoebox for sale at the Cedar Rapids Iowa swap meet at least a decade ago. Might have been twenty years ago. Maybe your car is that one all finished?
I would really like to give it a driver quailty paint job and update the interior,just keep it as a driver,unless something else came along that I like better...Its just ana ddition thing.I had a similar ford about 12 years ago and sold it.Been regretting it ever since..
OK.........so you REALLY do take a cutting wheel to it! Then cut the same amount from the bottom of the front clip!?! With the body sitting sooo low over the front (and rear tires) how in the world do you make a left (or right) turn? Reminds me of the old C & W song.....'gimme 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around' Jus wonder'in!! 6sally6
What I read in R&C about the Dream Truck is they separated the bottom half of the door skin from the doors, cut and welded the inner door, then trimmed off the door skin to the needed length.
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