Has Anybody ever chopped a 55 or 57 chevy 4 door post?

Today after work, me and a buddy were driving around and we came across a fenced off area with some old rusty cars in it. So we stopped and looked thru the fence, and saw 3 55 chevys and 1 57 chevy. all 4 door posts. But we were thinking about what all we could do with them if we even just could get our hands on one of them. I know they are 4 doors but they would still be fun to chop and bag we were thinking. Has anybody chopped and bagged one or the other? just curious to see what we could do if we have any chance of somehow getting out hands on them.

 

I am doing one, but am converting it to a 2dr also....

 

There have been a couple of 2 door sedans done, generally they are chopped just enough so that a hardtop windshield can be used, keeps you from having to cut a windshield down.

Personally, I'm with Lucky on this, if you get one of these cars and are up for some cutting and welding, a 2 door conversion is in order. There are a couple of really well written tech threads on the HAMB about how to do it, and new 2 door sedan doors are available now. If you're really on a budget you can do it by stretching the 4 door front doors with an extra pair of 4 door fronts.

Just chopping a 4 door seems like a nightmare to me, what with 8 posts and wraparound gl*** front and rear.

 

it IS a nightmare...hahah...mine is cut down 3.5" up front and at least 5 in the back...had to remove 2.5 inches of length(cut c-pillars out and moved foward) and move the backlite up and foward(along the roof) and sink it also into the package tray..this leaves a gap between the trunk and window that is just a tad longer than the one found in the hardtop....all just for a nice, proportionate roofline...not hammered by any means

 

she is still in-progress and unfortunately has to be outside the shop so try and look past the surface rust

 

a cleaned-up version to get a clearer idea

 

yeah doing the 4 to 2 door conversion seems like a streesful one, im not going to lie, when i see it in the end, it kinda looks...funky, like not enough inside area for a 50s car. Thats at least the ones iv seen, but i think it is cool to see people take the "unwanted too many doors" car and do cool stuff to, i dont feel as bad playing around with a 4 door as much as i would a 2 door. Like whe it comes to chopping and bagging and what not, but i saw a 57 two door post last year at midnight m*** that was chopped and bagged. It looked sweet, i was just curious what a 4 door would be like and if others have done it, im sure someone has done it?

 

The roof and floorpan on a 2 door sedan and 4 door sedan are identical. If it's done properly the conversion is seamless and stock appearing.

I'm not talking about those "shorty" abortions people have built, those make me wretch. Check out these threads for some good ones and see what I mean.

http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350312

http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228873

I'd do this before I'd chop the top on one. Although a top chop would be easy to photoshop if you've got a picture of these cars, post it up.

 

OOOOhh! i see now, i was thinking of the real short ones, i thought thats what you guys were going for. yeah im def not a fan of the small ones, but that actually doesnt look bad.

i just think stuff that is not chopped tooo low but like maybe 2" or so looks sweet when done right.

 

For a chop that mild, you'd do well to fit the top to the windshield of
a hardtop/conv, which is shorter.

 

This one (from Rikster's site) is chopped 3 1/2 ", and has been around a looong time.
I remember reading how it was bought in the fifies and taken to a shop for "the works" by the parents of a wealthy teen, who was subsequently disappointed at its being a four door. Plenty more pics here:http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...ars/55_chevy_custom_cars/1955-chevy-four-doo/



I believe the looks of this car might have been improved by the use of a curved rear door top, such as found on the 1950 four door. It's still good to see it's still around.

(Edit: Russian's photoshop photo from subsequent post. Thanks, Russian.)

 

..OR, you could look at the pics I posted...hahah

 

here it is photoshoped by me

 

thanks guys, thats a pretty crazy custom, it looks cool tho, i like the look!

 

we have one with the roof cut off someone was tring to make a roadster but chopping is a better idea...jones

 

yeah i just think it looks soo sweet.
I stopped by the yard where they were and called the number on the fence but didnt get any answers.

 

here are a couple of photoshops i have done....first one is a very mild chop with all pillars in tact...doesn't look too bad...they more radical as they go...heh

 

wow your good at the photoshop stuff! the first one looks pretty much exactly what i would go for. Just like 2.5" or so. Looks good lucky!
would that be tough to do with all the pillars? i have never chopped anything and thought a 4 door would be the way to go. I still cant get ahold of the guy that has the cars in his yard, but man i just think it would look cool. I have this vision in my mind that i think would look cool on on of the 55s and i really want to go for it.
but like i said, i have never chopped anything so it could be an interesting experience.

 

Just in case you haven't realized, the real trick to chopping is in the gl***.
Note the many "Needs Gl***" chopped project cars you see "For Sale".

Flat gl*** is no problem.

Rear windows are tempered gl***, and will shatter if cut. This is why you always see them either "laid down", swapped out, or "dropped" into the package tray area (often the case with wrap-around gl***, as the Chevy).

Curved windshields can be cut, but it can be tricky. There are a number of methods (do a search). Many have been broken in the process, and some even develop stress cracks later on. Also note that cutting can result in a contour change at its base (since the gl*** gets smaller as it goes up), and that discrepancies often are a matter of fitting the metal to the gl***, rather than gl*** to metal.

As posted earlier, Chevy's hardtop/conv. windshields were a good deal shorter (1 3/4" or so?) than the post cars. With what you have in mind, this might be a good starting point.
I hope this helps.

 

Yes, the chop would be hard to do. To make this roof look good, it isn't just dropped straight down. the back is lower than the front, which causes all kinds of alignment issues at the pillars and the c-pillar has to be cut out and moved a bit.If it is cut only a couple or so inches up front, plan on more than that out back...if it is still mild, the backlite can be moved upwards into the roof(need to trim off a few inches of roof skin)and leaned forward a tad..with my roof, I have moved it up into the roof, leaned it, and sunken it. let me tell you, it is a real jigsaw puzzle to get the roof to look good and flow.First chop? mayyybe a bit to bite off

 

ohh ok, yeah i was wondering about the gl***, there is a glaqss shop right here in town, do you think they could professionally make cuts and whatnot?
and yeah first chop, maybe not the best one to try..

 

Don't remember where I found this, but, it's a '57 4-door hardtop, chopped & bagged...pretty tuff lookin'...

 

there is a reason that there is no gl*** in it...

 

could gl*** be made for it at gl*** place??

 

only side gl***.

 

because it is flat right??

 

why not your vicky?

 

Looks even better with the bumper and the teeth

 

Lucky that looks cool!
but here is the story with my 53.
It was originally my grandma's first car, it was bought for her 17th bday and given to me for mine. So i got it running and whatnot and she likes seeing it on the road again just like she had it back in the day. So im afraid to do anything to radical with it just because of the history with it with her. Doing something custom like that to her old car might break her heart. So thats why im looking for something else to chop.
but the photoshop pick looks awesome!!

 

think id cut the fire wall and sink the window in the cowl to do a chop on it then you dont have to do anything to the windshield and id remove the 1/4 gl*** behind the back doors always thought that looked like **** on those 4 door post cars .

my dad found a place here in mi for gl*** if you make a fibergl*** template they can copy it out of the same stuff they make airplane windows out of they said his 58 window would be around 350 bucks.