Projects Needs some ideas!!! 41 olds with issues!

Hey guys, I need some ideas on what you think I should do to my 41 olds that my coworker pulled out of a barn. It's been sitting since 1980 . Looks like something fell on the roof at one point and time so they decided to cut the roof off. It's a fast ba ck/torpedo. Good news is, it's really solid and has very minimal rust and body damage. I've located a roof in Kansas that I'm going to pick up this weekend if possible. But I still need the upper door frames . I'm thinking about chopping it but I've never done a fast back. I've only chopped a 42 Ford cab. I also thought about making a Carson top for it and welding a bar around the inside u of the rear to keep the quarters from flopping out. Anyway, any thoughts and suggestions or leads on parts are greatly appreciated!!!

 

Since the roof is already off, I think I would chop it. What ever you do, the trunk lid and the area around it needs to be brought down, even if you build a Carson Top.

 

go to long/big photo shop thread here and ask for help with putting your ideas into a visual picture - if you have any pics of other '41 , or like basic body style, with chopped roof/carson top that would help them - also, give them a possible color finished project might be

 

Ok thanks!

 

Yeah I've been looking for ideas and links but not a lot of pre 49 fast back chops out there.

 

The photo shop is a good idea. I kinda like those big old boats, cool lines. Chopping it is for sure a possibility, I think that is where the photo shop deal would come in handy. If you chop, it "MAY" look out of proportion as there is a lot of sheet metal under or below the beltline.

Just grafting a new roof on may be a good idea as well, and it doesn't look like too big of a deal.

 

I might be tempted to find a folding convertible top mechanism from a newer car & make it work. Then, rebuild the trunk portion of the car to match. Probably cutting it near the two-tone paint line. Damn shame that it was cut off & discarded. If you already have found a top, chopping it is the only way to go. Why go through all that work, just to make it look stock again?

 

Yeah I am worried that a Carson top would look to squatty. It's a big ass car for sure lol. I'm going to bag it and run white walls too. I do like this look as well.

 

The reason you don't see many chopped Fastbacks from that era is, I think, that they have fairly low profile tops to begin with. Replacing the top at stock height, at minimum tacked into place, would be a good place to start even if you are going to chop it.

You are probably aware that body is a GM B body and is shared with Buick, Pontiac and Series 61 Cadillac as well. So upper doors frame could be sourced from any of those through '48 on some Buick and Olds models.

Ray

 

Yeah, this is my first one like this. I'm learning what will interchange and what won't. Hopefully when I go to get the roof he might have some doors too. He has 2 parts cars. Both fastbacks.

 

Ray is right but here's a news flash. The lower numbered Pontiacs [series 25] and all chevs 1941-1948 actually had a lower top with smaller windows. Yeah, a factory chopped top! It's about 2 inches lower than the middle and big series GM cars. I can't tell what series your Olds is from the photo but it's stamped on the data plate. Here's a photo of my 48 Pontiac with the tall top. I think my Pontiac was a 27 series but Olds series were different numerically than Pontiacs.
For the life of me I can't remember if any Olds used the shorter Chevy tops in those years.
My tall-top Pontiac:

 

I think the roof cuts where they were made will actually make a top chop job more difficult, because you'll pretty much have to completely restore the stock roofline before any chop cuts can be made. Not a single cut is made where it would need to be made for a chop. I'm not saying a chop wouldn't look good, only that the current roofless cut doesn't make it any easier.

Also, factor in having to re-profile the slope of the trunklid into your chop, or at least moving it forward the corresponding amount between the rear fenders to get the alignment of the slope of the roof to match the trunklid. A chop on this car with the trunk in the stock spot is going to result in a notch/hump right above the trunklid.

Neat car though, well worth saving, looks like it's in great shape other than the roof removal, damn shame someone did that.

 

Premature cutting of the roof has left you with a 'half-fast back'.
Seriously, as @Jalopy Joker suggested earlier, the photoshop idea will suggest the whats-and-wheres of fits/cuts...
although, the possibility of 'restoring' the top in a tacked-on stock position may be necessary.
Interesting project. Worth doing!

 

Don't do door tops hard top it. You may end up stiffening the quarter tops anyway, you won't know until you get the top on it.

Looks like a nice enough car to start with.

 

There is no harder type car to chop than a fastback like that. And looking at somebody's Photoshop is going to be very deceiving. Get yourself some straight on photos on paper and cut them up to determine exactly how difficult it will be to make all those joints line up again. Not only does the top get shorter front-to-back (like most all chops do), but that car also leans the top in on the sides. And your top doesn't just stop at the front of the trunk, the whole trunk shape is part of the roof's flow. Twice as much sheetmetal to slice and dice than a regular sedan.

 

Not a metal smith/body shop guy, It looks like a solid car to start with, maybe consider finding a folding top assembly from something close, guessing original will be tough to find, take measurements and check around, maybe you'll get lucky. A convertible is always worth more IMO, just a thought. Good Luck ! Have Fun !

 

Why not make a carson top for it?

 

I've heard this from a local hot rod shop. I don't know how credible he is any more. I never see any finished products. He said 6500 for him to chop it and he had a top for 850. He also said 2500 he will Mark it and draw it out exactly how to chop and I do the work. But I figured I could do that too. I've been in the body shop for 18 years .

 

That's my other option/thought.

 

Good news is Saturday I'm driving to Kansas to look at a top. It's cheap so it will most likely come home with me anyway. I starting to get excited. What are your thoughts on the acme chop shops chop?

 

I have a pair of very nice 41 buick sedanette doors for sale.

 

When I did my 49 Buick I pie cut the trunk lid and took the 2 1/2" out of the firewall. This allowed me to keep the stock windshield without cutting curved glass and I got hidden wipers like the new cars.

 

Do you have any pics of the metal work?

 

That looks to me like a 'wedge chop'...more out of the front and little, if any, at the rear. Doesn't do anything for me.

The '41 Buick Sedanet doors Mr Chevrolet has should be the same as your Pontiac doors. For whole doors, '41 is the ones you need because no fender extensions. If you just use the door tops, any 'B' body 2 door will work thru '48 on several models.

Ray

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/who-wants-to-see-the-fleetline-markx-chopped.39235/

 

I like BJR's chop better than the Acme car. The Acme car ends up looking very high in the center, with a slope down toward the windshield and the rear bumper now, where as BJR's chop looks a lot more proportional to me, and well thought out in the trunklid area, which is the trickiest part of a fastback chop.

 

I like this one too!

 

Picked up my roof yesterday! 15 degrees and light snow flurries haha. Also got a back glass trim ring and extra set of trunk hinges.

Sent from my SM-N950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Nice Olds. Does it have a Hydro? Or a stick shift?

I bought it's cousin a couple of years ago.....A '41 Pontiac. The plans for my 41 are a 302 GMC six, T5 5 speed, and replace the 9" Ford rear axel with a "57 Pontiac.

 

Great lines. Love all the fastback cars of that era. Doesn't need a chop. But the late 30s early 40s Olds front ends look like a blind man designed them. I would look for a 48 type of grill, lots of work to fit it looks like, or anything custom. Good luck with the car.