Hello everyone first time to post here but been following and reading for years. First time doing anything like this but not scared as its only metal ...I have started a marathon endeavor , I am taking a 49 and a 50 F1 and cutting them apart and merging the 49 front half to the 50 back half to gain a 6" stretch and that has been fun !!! now i am wanting to chop the top for a few reasons , 1 for the chopped looked and 2nd to help in setting the gaps better and aligning the body lines better as we all know they were not very good from the factory. Now to where i am needing help , I am in Burleson Tx. if anyone is close to me. I have never chopped a top and looking for advise on how to do this and it come out looking right. would you split the top front to rear keep in mind it is already split left to right. so would you split front to rear or would you relief cut the pillars ? I have already stretched the cab and have gotten 50% of that back together but have not touched the roof area yet as i was thinking i need to get the chop done first. feel free to contact me with any advise
I personally am not a fan of leaning the pillars back so I would split the front from the rear. Usually you would have a couple inches of gap to deal with but since you have 2 cabs you could avoid that gap.
Need to quarter the roof. Keep all the pillar angles stock, it looks better. You can avoid the band going across side to side since you are blending two roofs. But you need to split lengthwise and fill a band front to back. Use the sections of window areas out of the 2 cabs so that complex area is easier. Then you just need flat stock for the band between the window areas. Once roof is done you should modify and make the vent windows operational. Again it looks so much better.
I would find a third roof skin and use it to cover the whole middle of the roof. Leave the four inner skin corners a little long after you chop the posts, then lay the whole skin on and trim the corners. It's a lot easier to maintain good crown when you keep the basic shape intact, than if you have a narrow strip going frontways, then sideways. And the amount of weld will be the same.
If you use filler strips, after tacking them, weld one side and metal finish it. Hammer and dolly one side at a time. Waiting until all the welding is done adds to the difficulty.
Like Alchemy said, the “crown”part of the roof when separated in the middle can be a ***** to get back right. I had a sedan food skin to use when I did my 40 cab and that was a life saver. Otherwise I’d suggest making the split just behind the head to the front of the roof rather than right across the center.
Now on my computer with access to all of my pics. Here is my old 49 COE chop showing the quartering. I did have an old cab that I used for some of the pieces around the windows and drip rails. I took 4 inches out front and rear, keeping pillar angles stock. Left the back window original size, with 2 inches above and 2 inches below removed. After it was all done the side windows and back window were approx same height. I also modified the vent windows so they still were functional. The crown in the roof does make it harder to fill in and make smooth, consider the advice to get a more complete roof section to fill in the majority of the roof, and welding along the edges; especially with your extended cab length in addition to the chop.
I’ve seen one roof that the center section was removed. Then the posts chopped. The center section of the roof had strips welded. Then metal finished. That larger original top was fit the the chopped roof.
I'll give you the best suggestion. DO NOT GO TOO LOW. Now that the cab is bigger the proportions will be mullered up pretty bad. You could call it the Pancake Pickup if you drop too much. Your truck, your way, just a thought. But 3" on a normal truck might look like 4 or 5 on this one. More visual m***. Worth considering, better to sneak up on it, stop when you hit "...but maybe just a little more..."
This is something to very seriously consider. My truck is chopped 4 inches now and I am thinking about going 3 with the stretched cab. One thing that you have already figure out is that when you cut a late 40's early 50's truck apart and stretch it or chop it it is like cutting an egg apart and trying to get the pieces lined up. They get wider as they go back because you need more **** room than you need knee room. 38Chevy454's photos would have been a big help before you started cutting, With the extra cab you could have cut the middle out of the back of the cab that gave up the cowl at the exact width you needed to widen the back of the extended cab and had one weld seam down each side. Which reminds me that the cowl donor for my cab is real nice in the back outside of one dent and I can mix and match pieces with the other cab to cut down on weld seams. I like his way of leaving the back window full size and dropping it down rather than making it gun slit narrow. Cole Foster did that on the truck he chopped very mildly and drove for years. My truck below his with the 4 inch chopped rear window.
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