Holy Crap! I cut the roof off my damn car!

Hey HAMBers,
Just wanted to share photos of the early stages of my very first chop. I did tons of reading and asked even more questions on here, so the wife and i decided to take the plunge today.....i know the hardest is yet to come, but getting over the psychological side of cutting up a perfectly good cl***ic car was a challenge within itself! I'll add more pics as work progresses.

 

Congrats,now get to work,and keep us posted Lookin good.

 

Right on!! Looks like a fun time, you and the wife spending quality time in the garage!! RAD!! Im no pro, but the only suggestion i can give you is " TAKE YOUR TIME" , it'll pay off in the end!!

Ian

 

Doooh....Looks a littel scarry...but then I'm still a newbie myself...is that a 3-4" cut??

 

Ahh gr***hopper,

you are now a man !!

 

So were you just a little nervous on that last cut? When I did mine I expected the worst but it didn't move even a little bit. Keep posting pics so we can track your progress!

 

cool ride i reacon the only way to learn anything is to jump in and do it

 

Thanks guys! Yeah the wife and I bought this for a project to do together. This is her first car that she hasn't just got into and drove to work. 6 mos. into it she's welding, grinding, etc. Great quality time for sure.
The chop is a 3 1/2". I heeded the warning of Barry Mazza who says anything more makes the job twice as hard. Not to mention, we needed enough room to get our dogs out the back windows
I intend on taking my time on this one. I've heard it taking upwards of 80-100 hours to do it right. I got nothing but time, baby.

 

My alltime favorite, Merc like that. Just never got a chance to buy one with my meager allowance. Good to hear you're involvin' your family and will be taking the dogs along.
Keep on keepin' on!

 

I lucked out on this one. I scored it for $1000 from guy who had it sitting under a quansit hut in his backyard. We try and do everything as a family, puppies included. Thanks for the support!

 

make sure you measure everything and then measure it 10X more. stand back and look at everything when you have stuff tacked to make sure things "flow" and look correct from left to right, remember all your gl*** is flat so if the openings arent its not gonna fit!!! BRACE THE BACK WINDOW TOO before you cut the surrounding sheet metal and mark center line. there is usually a seem in the middle of the window frame on the back to help ya out..

matt

 

yep the first cut is the toughest!!!!! good luck!!!

 

ah now your ****ed....

 

Thanks Matt. I already braced the rear window before i cut anything. As for everyone else.....you tryin' to scare me or what? LOL

 

Sweet!!!!

 

Where can I get me a woman like that? Congrats on embarking on a great adventure with a real keeper.

 

Looking good so far...they get freaky looking when you go to put em back together too....

-Abone.

 

I've dated a 100 women in my life, but settled down with her. It all came down to one day a couple years ago when she said she was sick of watching, now show me what to do. The rest is history. No word of a lie, she welding in all the bracing in the car today. I pretty much sat back, and well, became her a few years ago. Watched.
Not to sound like Dr. Phil, but when you are serious about a woman, you gotta lay it down to her and tell her you are a car guy. Don't suger-coat it. Tell her you spend all hours of the day and night in the shop and if she can't live with that, then there's no reason going a step further. She said "ok then, hand me some tools. I'll join ya."
The rest is history........

Muchos Gracias!

 

I wish you hadn't told me that.......................

She cuts. She welds. Now's the time to get her reading up on painting.

 

Here is my 1st chop, do i go to low???

 

Yeah, you have an HONEST woman, whereas my wife is CRAFTY. I didn't sugarcoat anything and laid it right out ... and now, after the tungsten carbide has grafted itself to a digit on my left hand, she suddenly "tolerates" my "obsession". I should show her this thread, and say, "SEE THIS?! I want me one of those!"

 

cute kid!

Yeah thats one thing that i can't do at home. A) garage is attached to the house B) Neighbor's will give me **** if i do it outside
Going to do all the body work and maybe shoot it in high build, then give it to the body shop to spray it.

 

You're not too far from me. Come down for a saturday and bring the wife. I'll have mine brainwash yours

 

HAHAHA... I just might.

 

Anytime, my man. I just wired up the 220V in the garage so if the brainwash doesn't work, there's always shock treatment

 

Not exactly the same but I can relate, it took me three months to grow the marbles to do this!

 

Good luck with it! If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. I dont know all but can sure get you in trouble. Check out my thread if it helps you.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229300
Not a fourdoor chop but may help. One thing I really like on a fourdoor chop is when you close up the gap between the doors and get rid of the upper sliver gap filler.
Keep us posted!!
ETHER

 

I love the way yours looks chopped! Nice work!

I know your car quite well from the HAMB and envy the stance and the flow of it. I will definately turn to you for any questions. I don't know if this is anti-HAMB, but i am going to eliminate the rear vent windows, what do you think of that?

 

No question your car, your work, your questions are pro-HAMB.
("to spread the gospel of traditional Hot Rods and Kustoms to hoodlums worldwide")

 

Go man go! It does get real scary lookin' when you set it back on and walk back and look at the sail panels! lol! Good luck man!