I did some searching but didn't really find any specific information (some good pictures though)... Since I don't think my body has ever been off the frame, I figure chopping the top (after I get my garage cleaned up, which is turning into a big pain in the ass) would be a good place to start working on the car, but want the roof bracing in before I cut the top off (in addition to tacking the doors shut and internal bracing). I don't plan on filling the top of my Tudor, I want to leave the roof open. What sort of bracing did you fellas that left your tops open use? Did you leave all the wood? I need to get one of the middle braces, the one from my car is gone, it had a hay bail fall on it back in the day (I'm gonna have to bend and bang on the tops of the panels to get them all decently shaped). Some of my wood is in decent enough shape, I could probably make patterns off it, but only a couple pieces are what I'd call useable (I probably have 1 good front and back side piece, the back piece is broke in the middle, and the header is kinda rotten on one side). Thanks!
I didnt brace my open top roof when I cut it off. It didnt noticably tweak when it was cut but then again I got it for $100 and the bottom 2" of the body are pretty much gone so Ive got other issues at the moment If your worried about it i would make an x-brace accross it.
I found that the rear section of the Tudor body and the top of the window frame are very strong, so to keep the top from getting too floppy during the chop, I just temporarily welded in two side "rails" of 1x1 inch steel tubing from the rear to the front on each side. That made a pretty sturdy box and kept the top intact during the chop. Of course, I had already removed the wood. You can check out some pics here: http://tinyurl.com/mb7yg I plan on doing a vinyl top which is essentially "open" - a buddy of mine did it and he basically just replaced the wooden top framing with 1/2'' square tubing - keeps the vinyl top up and looks good. Marc
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