Hi Guys, I need inspiration..... post some nice pics of chopped 53 buicks, a special would be fab..... I want to go to work on my 53 special but need to get some images in my mind. cheers, Spence
here is a pic of my buddys 53. we started the chop in the middle of april, he was able to drive it down to minniapolis for btt50's at the end of june (painted). we used a donor roof off a 52 buick which helped lots. the chop is about 5 inches. we ended up cutting the roof into 4 sections, lining up the pillars all the way around, then we placed roughly 3" strips overtop the gaps. welded them in, cut out the whole back window frame, cut some material out of the top of rear fender and bent parcel shelf down, moved the window about 0.5" towards the trunk. laid the window frame down, and was able to use the original window. shaved the handles, hood, trunk, drip rails. that was about it. then we used a gallon of fibregl*** over all the welds. then about 2 1/2 gallons of bondo. like i said we started mid april, and just working weekends we were able to have it painted by mid june. there was about 3-4 of us usually working on it. and for all of us it was our first chop. sorry i don't have a better pic of it. this is all i have. if you really want i could take some more detailed photos.
Hi Len_M, cheers for that, a few more pics would be great cheers, look forward to it. shame there arent many other old cars over here to donate roof's etc but we can improvise.... cheers, Spence
there must have been articles done on "breathless", Rick Dores creation, does anyone know which magazines these were in so I can try and get a scan from them? cheers, Spence
Hey Spence,sounds like a UKK chop party is on the cards.I think the 49 Merc rear screen is the way to go.Is it staying a mordoor or you gonna 2door it?
nice...... the problem I seem to have is, Mine is not pillarless which isnt a problem for a chop but it is if I want to go "carson removable" which would be the ideal situation... but, one step at a time eh!
Here is a chop I did a few years ago....labeled as a 51 -it is actually a 53.... 3" chop level with rear gl*** moved [up into roof 3" and tilted forwards].
Joe-King, That is so sweet, just what I was hoping to find!!! Pillared and radiused "c" pillar too. if you have any more pictures, that would be great! Choprods, same question for you, any more pictures? Len-M, more pics would be great. roaddevil13, where did you get the wheel trims, fantastic.... you guys have some nice chopped 53's, lets hope in the not to distant future, I can add mine to the collection!
Here's a 51 special I helped chop a dozen years ago. We put 55 cad tailights on it for a dramatic change.
Hey Spence I'll try and get a friend to scan some pics so I can email them to you. pm an email and when he sends 'em to me I'll forward them. Joe
heres mine....... 53 buick kustom bagged, caprice tailights, packard bumber,350/350 running gear. all lead chop!
Wonhunglo -- hey, NICE work. Great proportions. Not an easy top to chop with that big rear window. I sent you a PM.
Heres some semi ****py pics of a 53 I did some work on a few years ago. I grafted the dip from a 56 Buick to the side of it to make sort of like a Skylark hardtop. The interesting thing was it made the car look like it was sectioned, and really took a lot of bulk out of the side of it. Sorry I don't have any better pics of it.
Thanks Ken, it actually made it look not as chopped because of the larger window opening. It was a unique effect.
Damn, you guys are good! This is inspiring me to have a UK roof chop party next year on mine..... Our UK Kustoms club have 5 people already with cutting tools waiting to get there mits on my roof! lol the more pictures the better. I think I want to keep the chrome/stainless trim along the door tops and around the back which may/may not help but nothiung must upset this line (the wife says so).... email address for pictures buick related......spencer (at) v8ford.co.uk cheers, Spence
The rear window frame was cut out, leaned forwardto meet thecut roof. this left a about a 3 inch gap between window frame and the panel above the trunk. That panel had to bee hand made. Using the stocr original rear gl***