Tech:46 Ford [Bussiness coupe] chop top.

SURE its not Tech week and I anit gettin no prize but shouldnt we have tech instead of the OT bullshit we sometimes do......?
This is a 46 Ford Bus Coupe-you know the one with the shorter roof and harder roof to make look good....
We are chopping it three inches at the windshield and two at the rear.....
I know why dont ya chop it? The Hambs taste for excess amounts removed from tops is well known,But I do what the guy paying us wants first and foremost. Also if you go a whole lot more the resulting consequences are your baby!

These can be chopped several ways sure- [this is the way I do it], it may or may not contain some helpful info to some of you...
Chris my friend has been helping on this top[ his first],and we have took some pics to share with you......
I am not gonna wast space with every stitch weld and detail -=this is a synopsis of the main/basic differences that this specific top involves-Hell if I give it all out Ill be out of work!
here is the look after cutting 3"and then moving the roof forwrds about 1-1/2"....we cut the roof loose about1-1/2' in front of the trunk opening.
remember we only lower the troof 2"at rear-and the goal is to not cut the living hell out of this roof and bury it it in a foot of plastic!

enjoy!

 

Ill post more pics after supper - any questions can be answered then too-Ha! most work is at the back of roof.....

 

Thanks for the picks. I'm very interested in this chop as I have a 41 business coupe. The chop looks very intimidating to me, looking forward to more.

 

Any chop can seem intimidating if you rush into it -You need to think it thru and do it the best/simplest way.....Notice anything missing in the picture above?

 

As I said above the top is cut loose [clear across] the rear at about 1-1/2" ahead of the trunk opening....

this allows the WHOLE roof to be moved forwrds fairly untouched....
after attaching the windshield posts-Then we lowered the rear roof down the two inches....
Problem is it is about two inches ~too narrow~ for the body after chopping it 2".


also the drip rail no longer is aligning on the same plane as it once did before the chop.......
Here is a shot of how we remedied that.

 

You'll notice in the pic above that we sliced the rear roof panel both vertically [on the corner] and also horizontally in the center of the low point of its curvature.....
This allows the roof post to be pulled outwards to reattach to the quarter panel....
Also it allows the horizontal panel to be raised back up to the trunk openings level......
I also cut another vertical slice- along one from about 1"from window corner on each side rearwards the entire length....allowing the rear panel to expand some in both directions......filler metal has to be cut and welded in these slices.

I also opted to shorten the drip rail...you could form a straight section and install it in the gap left when the "curve" part is moved forwards if you liked the stock look......

 

answer to the question earlier: whats missing?
If you look you see that the door top is re attached and that it fits without a FILLER PEICE.......
That is accomplished by using the Right door tops [front half] on the left door top instead of adding a hand built peice there and having TWO welds-not to mention fab time!
if you carefully measure and mark the roof and doortops at their appropriate match points- you will observe that there is enough door top on the other side to actuall be TOO LONG for the opposite side... Ha! that is a good trick and can be used on some but not all chop tops.
In some cases you'll find varying doortop widths and shapes that render this un udo-able....

 

I just noticed the dust spots on the camera lens!-Ha....



here we are a little further along....welds ground down and you can now see that this chop is fairly UNinvasive as chops go.
also here is a pic of B post....they'll have some metal cut out [above the qtr] glass so they can be "moved back" to the new location and then a filler is made to place in the top of door jamb accordingly.....
I like to think that the change it makes in these cars appearance sorta resembles a '40 Ford coupe's top- more this way than it did a stock '46's......

Can anyone post a stock 41-46 bus coupe roofline for me here??

 

Notice that the quarter glass is now 2" shorter in both height.... and LENGTH.......
I also formed a new corner so it would not end up "pointed" at the rear of quarter glass.
Well that is all I have for now-
I will post a shot of the finished chop in a few days......

 

Man, you must have read my mind................

If you had chopped the car more in the rear, what would you have had to do differently?

I know it's vague but I was thinking of chopping mine more in the rear than the front.............Not a lot more but more...........Maybe 4-5" so that the rear quarter window got significantly smaller.................

Thanks and this post is GREAT!

Tim

 

Thanks Hex-

You'd prob' have to slice as we did towards the rear glass a LOT farther up towards front into the roof and all the other cuts would also amount to a LOT more cutting -more involved pulling and MORE WORK...not out of the realm of possibilty-just be prepared!Ha.

 

Wow nice chop! I have a stock 46 biz coupe that I put on the road this summer. It's pretty rough around the rear fender area though. I think a chop on it would improve an already cool looking car. Have you ever chopped a 48' Suburban?

 

UUUUHHHH EEEERRRRR- GULP-NOT YET.....but you're next Shaun.

 

Awesome work as always Kenny. How much different is it to do a chop on a regular 46 coupe? Would it be easier or harder?....or just different


Bill

 

Little of both Willy- the distance between the rear glass and trunk is less on a club sedan/coupe,so the dropping it lower is gonna be hard if ya go over 2" at rear as well......sure it can be accomplished if you wanna slice a lot more and longer slices-Ha!

 

I was just messing with ya Kenny I was just about to PM you for a progress report when I saw your post, it gave me a chuckle

 

Good work. May be a dumb question, but did you braze over your welds? I have thought of this before, since brazing is real close to leading, just never have done it to float out panels. Maybe it's just the light in the pics. How long did it take you to do your chop?

 

That rocks Kenny!! How'd that Merc turn out? 41 still in one piece???

 

No-ntxcustoms,It is just mig wire ground down.I havent used any brass rod for 20 years,I re do work where they did regularly though!

It is gonna need filler for sure.....I usually spend a couple weeks actual time on average chop.....

 

Hmm I guess it's just the light. It's a mofo geeting braze out of old joints!

 

Gleeser- I traded the 41 for paint on my el camino.......the Mecr is on some of the recent posts is still there....looked great.

ntxcustoms-If I had decent lighting and more decent vision I could probably do some half assed good work!
I recently changed to the new SPIRAL Flourescent bulbs that are to replacement bulb for a standard 100 watt bulb.
they are kinda different hue or color....they are as bright tho and take about 1/3 the power to light them.

 

you wanted some pics of a stock roof line. Here are some pics of mine before and after the chop. It's chopped 3 1/2 at the B pillar and a little more front and rear, I don't remember exactly on them as it's been 13 years since it was chopped

 

Man, that coupe looks SHWEET! Are you interested in doing my '49 Dodge? PM'd you details.

 

oops sorry about that i hit the wrong button things are not going right on the scanned pics and I don't know why. I'll try later

 

please post the pics phat rat, by the looks of the avitar pic It looks stretched in the roof skin?

 

here

 

yes it's got a band across the middle if I rememeber right it's about 6"

 

That top looks good phat rat,

I mostly do them without ever cutting the roofskin on top....usually build a new panel for the rear to fit betwen the trunk and lowered rear glass.....it ends up with the bottom of rear glass lowered where you can see straight out when backing up- [you know ]what Im sayin....its tough ta see out of the back in that year coupe!

 

Thanks for the compliment. Here's a nice profile shot.

 

Choprods here's a bare metal pic of the cpe as you can see there wasn't much filler needed