35 Standard Chevrolets resemble 33-34 Chevrolets. 35 Master Chevrolets have suicide doors, the only year GM used them, a 34 looking front end and a 36 looking body.
Damn....nice looking car. I wish mine was in that kind of shape when I found it. I dug my coupe out of the dirt....literally. On the chop subject, my first step was to gather as many pics as I could of chop examples, to help me decide how much I should chop it. Another option is to photoshop it. There was a really good article, I think in R&C, a while back that showed the chop process step by step, they had some good pointers. I think it was Jimmy Shine doing the chop.
Since you dug it out of the dirt your wood structure is probably bad.My advise is take the time and replace with steel tubing.I chopped a 35 chev sedan years ago ,the owner didn't want to replace the wood.It came out fine but I really should of insisted on steel.Oh well he was happy and 15 years later it still looks good. When you chop the posts take a piece of the section you cut out and make a sleeve to slide down inside the post where you chop.drill 5/16 inch holes above the cut and below so you can weld the two together for 3 times the weld strength.Your A and B pillers are the main structure of the body .Take extra care for strength when welding. Accidents do happen so now is the time to think structure safety. Now get out there and chop that ****er!
I did a 36 chevy sedan and a 34 chevy sedan a while back wasn't too tough. Just take it slow. And study all of your marks or lines before you cut. The a pillers will always be cut a little more than the rest because of the a piller slope. Have you done a chop before if so this is like preaching to the choir...ghost
This would be my first chop and im still on the fence if I should do it or not. I was hoping some one would have pics of their chop being done, if it were a Ford this would be easy to find. Gary
I've chopped a 34 chevy and 34 olds coupe. Nothing is different then chopping anything else except the wood. Your car looks to be in great shape are you keeping the wood? When I did the 34 chevy the wood wasn't to bad and we left it. We didn't even add any extra bracing and it worked fine. When I did the olds there wasn't any wood left. So I chopped it first then did my new bracing in steel. I think the sleeve idea Low Lid Dude had would work great. Mat
Pist-n-Broke Thats exactly what Im looking for. How much did you chop it? After you made the cuts did everything line up? Any pic's of where you made the cuts? Thanks Gary
I agree with 6inarow: Don't. You have a real nice looking car. My wife's father had a 34 Chevy Master that was chopped 3.5 inches. It looked real nice, driving comfort after the chop suffered. He ended up selling it. My 34 Plymouth is chopped 4 inches, and while it looks great, again riding and driving pleasure is lacking, but then I'm tall (6'1") and maybe you're shorter and won't care. But if you are going to cruise it long distance (and not haul it) then my feeling is a taller car would be more comfortable. I guess you could wack it only a inch of two instead of 3 to 4.
Gary; I have no idea how much I took out. My #1 rule is never use a number when doing a top job. Just cut it till it looks right. That means Body sitting at ride height even if just on blocks. If your going to run fenders, mount them up. Body lines look different with and without Fenders. Hang the hood, grill and lights, Now you can cut. An actual inch number will look totally different on two different profiles. I didn't take the same out of the back window. In fact I remounted it where I liked it best in relation to the new side windows. Same with windshield, I actually removed a section below the front gl*** line. It's all in what looks right to you. The only use I have for a tape measure is to make sure things are the same side to side. If you like the side profile measure your door at the B post. Tell me what that is. I'll measure mine and you'll have something to work off of. The Wizzard
IN my opinion your car is really nice and would look cool really lowered with the fenders, and everything intact. Chopped vehicles are becoming common place or cooky cutter style cars. And maybe a few tall roofs wouldn't be so bad especially in the condition of yours. Beings this is your first chop. I would find another car to be your first then experiment. Even on my sedan that I am building the chop is only 2 inches cause I didn't want it stand out as a chopped vehicle. This is weird coming from a guy that made a fair amount of money chopping cars for people. But again your car would look cool either way. But find someone that has done one locally to guide you along and you will be a whole bunch happier. I will see if I can get some pictures coppied in the next couple of days...ghost
Chopping one of those Chevies now always to me make it look like a gl*** car. Like others have said you have a nice car there. If you want it to wind up looking like a fibergl*** car cut it. If you had a 4 door, or a 5 window coupe people would know it is steel and chopping them I can understand. Yes it would look good chopped but..
i have it not to bad you to cut thru the top at the center of the front doors and add a strip in it or lay the front windsheild back or the back of cab corners and fill in their if you do chop it give me a call or pm me i will help you thanks 1-507-438-6635 john
ONCE YOU CHOP IT YOU CAN'T GO BACK !That's a clean car, sort of a gift like the ghost said lower it.just my 2 cents
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