53 Chevy Chop

I have asked this before and I still cant decide, what do i do about the back window on a 53 210. I do not totally understand tilting it into the body or should. I saw the episode of Monster Garage when they built the 54 which has pretty much the same window. can some one please explain to me how to go about a 6'' chop on it?Thanks

 

Well I can tell you from doing my own chop on my 54, that 6 inch is going to make it very hard to get the wrap around to look right. I have tried over and over again, then just went with a different rear window (two different windows over a year) I settled for the 49 rear out of a shoe box.

You will have to make a pocket that the rear glass will slip into in the rear deck of sorts, I could never get this to look right to me. its all in the final trimming, you have to get it close to the window edge and work it till you like it. also you will have to reshape the roof line in the rear to that it has a slight different curve then before or you will get a weird looking hump in it.

There are some guys on here that have done a great deal of them and made them look great, its all in what you know about that exact car...I am trying to think of some of the guys...but I cant recall.

well back to the top...at least I can help ya with that.

 

Cole Foster

 

Search the Tech. articles. There's an excellent post on this.

 

at 6" [REAR] CHOP- YOU ARE TOO LOW TO USE THE WRAPAROUND GLASS......UNLESS YOU SINK IT-
yOU COULD REMOVE SOME OF THE ROOF METAL ABOVE THE REAR GLASS AND MOVE IT FORWRDS- THAT GIVES YOU MORE ROOF TO FIT AROUND IT.....HERE IS A BUICK I DID THAT WAY,WITH A SIMILAR ROOF SHAPE AND BACK GLASS[ONLY3" CHOP THO].

 

How big of a sail panel would I have if I did use another window perhaps a '49? I was told that Larry Gobe used a '49 window on the voodoo kreeper and that is pretty much the look I am going for. Does any one know how he did his?

 

here ya go

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83312

 

check out www.50chevy.com. might be some help

 

6" is a lot for the stock backlite..I'm sure it can be done, but myself personally i don't like the sunken rear window's..don't know why but i just don't..
you could probably use lexan for the rear window and keep the wrap around look to it...An example of this would be Jesse James' black 54..

Substituting another rear window and surround is another option, whether it be a shoebox ford, or earlier model chevy or just about anything you like that will 'fit' the shape and flow of the roof....

I used a 49 ford in my 53, and that has just about 6" out of the rear..
Lot's of work to remove the crown in the roof above the quarter window's so that the roof would flow into the curved shape of the ford window..
After mine was done i really gave a lot of thought to how the 49-52 chevy window would work..i *think* the chevy shape is closer to the 53-54 roof than the ford..The ford is pretty narrow..

I'm NO expert, just rambling my thought's out..

good luck.
Tony

 

I dont really like the look of the curved glass on cars that have been chopped big like the one on www.tinyschop.com . But I am unsure on how much sheet metal would be used to fill in the gaps if I used a different window. Does any one have any pcs of 53 that used other windows?

 

not chopped, but this is my rear glass, for comparo

 

I'm going to do it the jesse james way.... and just chop the back window slide it forward and use Lexan....

 

I considered that but what about discoloration on it? I am not sure what would happen

 

Get .125 UV resistant Lexan, should be cheap for a 4x8 sheet from Regalplastic, etc. find a local sign shop, find out where they buy plex, etc. and go there direct. don't peel the wrapper off till its shaped, use a blow dryer on a hot day, go slow, no discoloration.

 

yeah what he said, and if you got the extra cash to spend you can get yourself some real hardcore scratch resistent lexan, its about double if not three times the price...thats why I stayed away from it..

 

I've done two 54's and I sank the stock rear glass on both of them.I didn't chop them as much though I chopped them 3in the front and about 3 and a half in the back. I think the most important thing to consider when chopping a top is flow and proportion.When you get that right your more than half way there.Something else you might also think about when chopping one that much your going to have more trouble fitting a windshield.Here are a couple of pics that might help.

 

those back windows can be a bitch, exspecially wrap around. i am going witht eh back window out of a 53 nash super wagon. got a nice oval shape. loks killer with the rest of the body. jusst remeber, if the window thing dont work out, there are always cooler windows out there.

JR