Technical 1957 Ford Meteor Chop Information

Howdy.

I inhereted my great uncle's 1957 Canadian Ford/Meteor Niagra recently. Kind of a unicorn of a car, basically an american Custom with a unique grille. Despite this I can't find another picture of a base model Niagra, only the ritzy Ridau 500.







Despite this however, I've always wanted to build a mild Kustom, and that includes chopping the top. I haven't chopped anything before, but I have done plenty of fab, including restoring my 1966 Polara wagon to such an extent that at one point it was just a roof, rockers and rear quarter panels hanging in the air.



I did a rude and crude mockup of the paint/stance i want. It'd be a very warm metallic flake gold over gloss black. As for power, I have a carbed Jaguar V12 i want to stab in, because why not.

I mocked it up in photoshop, (on an american Fairlane 500, ignore that) and the chop looks almost straight forward.



The rear glass and C pillar has a straight section at the top, so the maximum chop is dictated by how much of that tangent you can trim off. Then cut it at the straight section behind the B pillar and move the roof section back to meet the trimmed C pillar. The rearmost door post/jam is just part of the door so that is much simpler than it would be otherwise. So far, so good.

However the front glass concerns me. To lower the roof you'd shrink it along the A pillar's tangent, which would move the top of the windshield frame backwards, meaning the glass would have to rotate to fit, so it's not as simple as just trimming the top off like the rear glass.

My hope was that the depth of the glass had to be trimmed down so much, the bottom corners could just be sunk 'inwards' and the new shape of the opening could still be found in the original glass.



I have seen some chopped 57 fords out there, but can't find any information on how it was done. If anyone here has done it or knows, I'd be delighted for the experience.

 

Seems you understand that the limitations of a chop on this era of car has mostly to do with the glass. If you study up on chopping curved glass you will learn it’s very difficult. And, the rear window may be tempered instead of laminated, which means you can’t trim it at all. I recommend looking up every thread you can find on cutting curved glass.

 

If I was to do anything at all. Just section the vehicle, maybe 3 or 4 inches. Leave the top and all that glass alone. You have a 4 door, nothing to loose, you can always go the 2 door route.

 

Several years back, my best friend and I set out to build a chopped 57 Fairlane. We started with a decent 57 fairlane 2dr post and a rotten 58 fairlane 2dr hardtop. On the Fairlane body styles, they used hardtop door shells on the sedans, 2 and 4dr, the upper window frame unbolts from the doors. We removed the sedan roof and B pillar from the 57 and replaced it with the 58 hardtop roof, which has the ribs in it. We cut it down 2in. Chopping it was simple, the glass was not. We opted to sink the front and rear glass. This did create a bit of work to the upper cowl. While we were at it, we replaced the dash and steering wheel with one from a 59 Edsel. I remember that we made the rear quarter windows slide in and out, but in hindsight it would not have been too difficult to make them roll down as original. The car was never completely finished, and was eventually sold.

 

I thought about sectioning it over the frame, but hood clearance is already a concern.



Jaguar 12's are a 60 degree bank, with a very tall manifold on top and a pretty deep pan on bottom. I'll be using squarebore single plane manifolds on top, which with carbs will be a little taller still. If i have any hope of keeping it all under the hood, sectoning it is probably out of the question.

 

Find some other body style to chop. The glass will probably doom the project.

 

I would say put some time and effort into making run and drive. Drive it and enjoy it.
Then consider the chop.

all too often I see these poor cars chopped. Left for dead and dumped to the next sap for parts.
Please prove me wrong. Good luck with project.

 

As a Jaguar owner, my only comment is if you're serious about the V12, best of luck. You'll need it...

 

Many years back I had intentions of doing one of my 57's. At that time in my life seemed everything I put my hands on got Cut one way or another. I was fortunate enough to have a Glass Magician on hand. His name was Rick Ellis and ran his own glass company. He just knew his stuff and dang good at it. We went into total detail and came up with what according to him was the best way to pull it off. Rotating the Glass back at the top was a must do. Trimming off the bottom as it went around the corner to the door post had to be. Also, a cut across the top with the drop. This was going to make the wing of the glass get narrower as it tilted back. Even Rick couldn't stretch glass, so the decision was to rework the pinch weld of the body and modify the A post to fit the new line of the Glass. Rick warned me we might use up a couple windshields before we got lucky but that was a risk worth taking. I actually bought 2 new windshields in preparation, and we talked about it off and on for too many years. Being it was a personal job I never got to it. My 51 avatar I've been driving for 20 years now was the last car he worked on. I picked it up on a Saturday morning and he had his boat behind his truck heading out for a day of Fishing. A boating accident took my friend and all that talent down the River away for all of us Hot Rod guys. He has been missed by many ever since. All I can say is find a glass guy that can and will do the cut before you ever cut the car.

 

I've got jags. I really like the v12. After you strip the bosche junk off it, of course.

Yeah, nobody like that around here that I know of though. Been chasing a few mailing lists in the local clubs and nobody knows anyone to talk to.

 

If the Metor is like a Ford there are 3 windshields for 57 year . Ranchero , Fairlane 500 and the Custom . The Jeff Myers chopped a 57 Fairlane 500 . It was called Kotton Kandy . I think he sunk the rear glass down into the body . He found a glass man who cut the windshield. It took two tries if I remember correctly.

 

Here some pics of Jeff Myers Kotton Kandy.

 

I knew the sheet metal differed, but I didn't know the glass differed between the custom and Fairlane.

Do you know exactly what differs? I looked up the glass because what's on there is already cracked. What's available was listed to fit all three models.

Yeah that's exactly the look i want. He even extended the fins the same way i want to do.

Looks like he sunk the front glass deep into the top of the windshield sill. Looks doable?

I do have a '55 thunderbird. I'll check to see if that glass is tempered or laminated. That'd be the immediate deal breaker.

 

If it was me, I'd leave the cowl and bottom of the windshield alone. I would figure out where the top edge of the cut down windshield was going to be, and slant the A-pillar further forward (the opposite of what is often done on chops) to meet the windshield. You will already be lengthening the roof. Cutting the top and upper sides (pie cut) on the windshield will be pretty straightforward compared to cutting all the edges for a completely new shape which would be required if you change the angle of the windshield and don't modify the cowl.

 

I did consider that as well. But the door, A pillar, glass trim/bezel and vent window would then have to be radically modified, and that's a very complicated area. At least on my thunderbird which shares the same design.

Though that said, that's potentially the path of least resistance. And giving a nice smooth arc to the usually straight post would be an interesting touch and pretty unique. Worth considering for sure.

 

Studabaker fins is what Jeff used . There are different heights of the windshields . Ranchero is the tallest. Ford thought it would be used by hard hat wearing workers. I don’t know the exact dimensions.

 

Ah, i had no idea.



I was toying with the idea of replicating the '60 DeSoto's fins on the car, but the competing tail lights might be a bit boorish. And the original circular light is an intractable part of the Ford's design.

Larger fins with '48 cadillac markers on top, perhaps?

 

If you could take a clean picture of the car from the side that doesn't have clutter all around it, some photoshop experiments would be much easier to do in pixels rather than in steel. I see you've done a couple already but I think it pays to try them with the actual car and not semi-similar examples from the internet.

I know if that were my car, I'd be looking for some 2 door sedan doors and B posts to convert it, whether or not I decided to chop it in the end. Converting one of these things into a 2 door sedan is fairly simple if you have the right pieces, chopping one is very difficult, and probably 2x the work on a 4 door sedan than a 2 door sedan starting point.

 

How to cut curved glass windshield.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...b374b7ec365b0434f54b7b9b7614b7c2&action=click

 

It's out in Edmonton still, those are the only photos i have of it. I got a cousin who drives out west frequently and he was going to trailer it down next time he did. I can only speculate until then.

I know a 2 door would be easier but frankly i like 4 doors and if i wanted a 2 door hardtop, at that point i might as well just seek out another car to build. I got a thing for black sheep i guess.

 

If it was mine I would get coupe doors, chop it by sinking the glass in, not lengthen the roof but lengthen the cat walk and lay forward just a tad the back window.
Other than the '49/'51 Merc 4 door, I have never seen a chopped more door that looks good.
If you chop a roof straight down and lengthen it to match the pillars usually the car looks crushed, this is the reason I like to lay a little bit forward the rear window and move it forward by lengthening the cat walk.
I would say the rear window in the worst case scenario could be made out of Lexan.
If you absolutely want to keep the 4 doors, still move the back window and get rid completely of those quarter windows by moving the rear window so the pillar is at the rear door and fabricate a new rear door glass frame matching that elegant curve. You might even end up shortening the roof.
Also try to avoid cutting the roof straight across in the middle, move that cut toward the windshield as close as possible but still accessible from under, it's much easier to work the metal and there is less distortion.
About the Jag, either get rid of the injection entirely and put cabs or get a stand alone, Jag electronics have a reputation for a reason and it's not a good one.

 

As I said, I like 4 doors, and I think it looks pretty good in the photoshop. I agree about nixing the quarter glass, it'd be pretty busy with it on, and removing it would help with the low mean cage look.

The roof would have to be cut both ahead and behind the B pillar, as the whole roof (or at minimum, the rear half) needs to move rearwards, but the pillar needs to remain in place. It'd also need to be cut and widened in the centre, as the pillars taper inwards.

I wanted to avoid laying the rear glass over, as i'd need to re-radius and re-shape every single shape and curve on the back of the roof to do so properly. Which is why i said if the glass is tempered and can't be cut, that's a deal breaker.



And yes, the Bosch junk will be going. I got a set of race cams and some squarebores in store. The 12 is a magnificent motor, once you free it from it's continental shackles.

 

You don't have to split the roof in the center front to back to deal with the pillar taper, virtually everyone who chops a 50's car pie cuts the base of the door pillars and tips them in. Much easier to weld the base of the door window surrounds than to make a massive slice down the center of the roof.

The rear window is definitely tempered.

 

Still a 4 door, stock height windshield and rear window, rear window brought forward with extended catwalk to eliminate the quarter window, roof tapered back some to match. I think it'd be better with a longer front door but just a thought, wouldn't have to cut any curved glass this way.

 

There are only 2 windshields for 57-58 Fords the tall glass, Wagon, sedan, Ranchero then the hardtop, club coupe and retractable.
one is about 1.5 shorter.

the short one most times is seen with the thick stainless trim around the whole thing.
the tall ones have the windshield stainless in the rubber.

I've got copies of both cars in my driveway.

 

did you make that intake??

 

I hadn't considered moving the roof forward and lengthening the sail panel. Solid idea, but I was trying to avoid any radical modifications to the interior so it would still be stock/nice inside.

Though if the glass is tempered and i can't cut either pieces down, I think that's the chop dead in the water. I just wanted a nice mild kustom with a mild chop, sort of an exadurated of the original design's intent, nothing so radical that the basic bones of the design has to be changed just to lower the roof a little.

No they're made by a small outfit called Affinity Imports. 850 for the pair. Not bad for such a niche part just for weird maniacs like me.

I have done foundry work in the past, and I did draw up CAD for some manifolds more alike to the stock ones, not unlike the mopar crossram manifolds. But these make life a lot easier.

Theoretically you could saw off the throttle body from the stock v12 manifolds and TIG a squarebore plenum/airbox onto it without much trouble. And it'd work quite well, since the stock manifolds are actually pretty good. But i don't know how to TIG weld so whatever.

 

Squablow idea is pretty much what I said minus the chop.
On a chop if you cut the roof skin along the rain gutter and above the windshield you can place all the pillars wherever you want then position the roof skin back on without having to cut in the middle and the difficult work of stitching the 2 halves together.
If you lay the back window, you can sink in only the corners of the glass.

 

thanks!--that IS niche! ,,,and nice!

 

F.Y.I. We have learned over the years that some replacement rear glass is in fact made in Laminate not Hurculite (aka tempered) and it can be cut. Do some homework. One advantage of the 500 windshield trim is it will let you do things to the windshield post to the inside and cover it so as not be noticeable. You just need to be able to weld S.S. trim and finish it out. Makes a good hidem cover.