Projects Help me save/fix this ‘54 Chevy chop

Nice ideas on the rubber. On the sail panel I would create a line where the drip rail is and curve it to the upper part of the corner of the glass fill in the existing line the flow would look better, To do that fudge over the entire area looks like a 1/4 inch build up, make a metal template with a small angle grinder and 3 in wheel score the line and then block over the top

 

You read my mind about using the sail panels and wrap around area from a 49-51! Now I just need to find one! The floors, rockers, and mounts are solid ...so I’m not ready to give up on this car because of a poor chop.


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Yep, you need to find a 49-51 shell that's rusted up to the beltline and nab the roof.
Or, if you like the 54 wraparound rear glass, grab an entire 53/54 roof.
Just as I suspected: that entire window surround is bondo sculpted like modeling clay. I never understood that bodywork mentality as a shortcut. Seems it would take much more in labor hours to sand an sculpt bondo to shape than to spend a few more hours doing the metal work correctly.
I think Squablow is correct in that, someone got in way over their heads on the chop and covered it up with all that icing in order to unload it.
I'd take a magnet to the rest of the panels too and confirm they didn't do any welding, etc. on the chassis. Pay close attention to brake and fuel line engineering, use of standard (non grade 8) hardware and other "workmanshit".

 

Just my opinion but I don't like the flow of the roofline in the back (between the green arrows). I think it looks like it almost looks like goes up behind the b pillar.



Personally I'd think it would look better with that section of the roof sloped down in the rear and replace the rear window with a non-wraparound style.

 

This might be a little better but it kind of is the idea anyway.

 

Cole Foster used a 50 plymouth rear roof section

I have seen the 49-50 rear window used as well

you have a ton of work ahead of you, good luck and keep us posted

 

http://www.sauersgarage.com/54-chevy-bel-air-chopped/

check out this link

 

Crashfarmers illustration is exactly what i was referring to.

I just stripped a junk 52 that would have been a perfect donor if you were closer by. You'll find what you need. Might have to ignore the roof and focus on other areas for a while when you're searching but the right roof piece is out there. A 4 door donor will work fine, they all share the same roof skin stamping.

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Just scrolling through the images real quick gave me a better game plan! I love the bent rod to make sure the flow is correct


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4-door roof skins are indeed excellent donors.

 

That one looks great, I like the cut down rear window,
That's what I was referring to @punkabilly1306 in my PM about my rear window. From the perspective of rear fender corner, The stock 50 rear window looks a little "big" cause it doesn't taper down with the rear 1/4 windows.

I'm on a PC now, so here is a link to a bunch of pics on mine
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?action=view&journalid=50999&page=1&reverse=1

 

Extend the lip for the rubber as needed and look at all the rubber options one of them will work.

 

I have to be totally honest, I think the rear window is the least of your concerns. That angled door frame and horrific quarter window are reason enough to cut the whole roof off and start again. I hope this car came cheap because you're in for more work than it you bought one unchopped.

 

I think crashfarmer is on the right track. The top looks too thick above the door and quarter window, if you could get it down to the thickness directly above the steering wheel and carry it all the way back above the quarter window it would look better. Now I have no idea how to do that, lots of pie cuts and welding I guess.....

 

Just wondering where you are at on how to fix this chop? I also have one to fix and I keep looking at the body lines on yours. With all the input there are more ways to look at this than I thought.

 

Here's a picture of the backglass in my 150. It came from a Belair four door.

 

I'm currently trying to get a '50 Ford rear window and a bit of the surrounding metal to fix my chop. I'm going to brace the body, cut out the old window, relief cut the upper skin on the roof to lay it down so that it flows properly and looks good going into the shoebox rear window, then I'll make new panels to fill in the gaps.

 

I don't know if you looked at twisted sister's 54 radical chopped Chevy coupe but he used a 46 Ford coupe rear window it is always good to have more than one option.

 

I think it’d be cool if you gave up on trying to fix that garbage chop—and build it into a ‘54 El Camino!


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Let's be real here, this is a parts car. I applaud the OP's zeal in trying to fix this, but 53/54 Chevys are not rare nor particularly expensive, even as 2 doors, and especially as sedans as opposed to a hardtop. Finding another car, even one that doesn't run, would be the first thing I do here. You can basically make one good car out of the two.

 

The folks that say to abort the mission are 99.9% correct

I like .01% odds

 

This is a similar chop that I did on mine. 4" front, 6" rear. Back glass is slid forward 4". Corners of backglass are sunk approximately 1". The backglass' on these cars are real tricky. The comment about spending a couple hours of metal work to avoid using filler as modeling clay is a little misguided. That should be stated as "days" of metal work. There are so many angles/shapes happening around the back window, quarter panel, roof, drip rails, quarter window opening....the list goes on and on. All of this has to be done while retaining a roofline that "flows" well and looks good to the eye. It's very, very difficult. I would guess this is why most do change to a different make, model and year rear window. Less work and also allows for more chop. The factory backglass on a '53-54 really limits your options on the chop.

 

Go to planned parenthood and abort this asap.Car looks very sad. Like an abandoned Craigslist project. No drip rails, tons of mud .decent project for $500.

 

I just spotted this in a group I am in on FB. The second photo pretty well shows you what he is doing with the rear window.

 

That's some really outstanding work there. It's so rare to see a good chop with the factory glass in these, it's really refreshing. Major respect.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I'll be honest, I was really close to putting a '52 backglass in mine last summer.

This was the first chop I've ever done on a 50's car. They just take time. With a lot of patience and continually stepping back 20-40 feet to make sure it looked right, it eventually started to pay off. I think this car could be saved but unfortunately I think it's going to require another roof or at the very least require a backglass section. You don't need all the fancy tools you see on TV either. English wheels and planishing hammers are luxuries, not necessities. Get down to the bare metal and make it happen. Good luck.

 

Really cool car you could put it in my garage anytime!

 

I was looking at some Buick tail lights for my car that in the opinion of the 99% 'rs is junk also.
I know back when I was in my teens the 49 through 54 Chevie's were $ 25 to $100 but I am pretty sure if I came across one for $500 I would step right up. I must be living in the wrong side of reality

 

The Buick taillights look like they belong there, so much better than the originals


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Thanks. The inside of the taillight sections only needed a couple relief cuts to get the fit pretty close. The bottom of the taillight that's hidden below the bumper was a different story. The factory Chevrolet quarter panel is too short at the bottom to meet bottom of the bumper. To fix this issue I had to remove the lower rear quarter panels and make new ones that were 3" longer so that the bottom of the quarter panel and bumper lined up. The pleasant surprise from doing this was how much of a straight line that was created across the rocker panel of the car. A stock '54 car swoops up towards the rear bumper.