Nice weekend to chop a 34 5 window coupe.

oh hell yeah! thats a decent chop. looking forward to seeing how it turns out. hope yourve left yourself time to work on your own toys. theres more than one lurking in the background of those pics.

 

It's about time he chopped that thing!
I miss checking out all the crazy **** goin thru your place.
that front strip does look like a pain!
TP

 

Here is the side view of the p***enger corner....Yucky!
That old brazed repair will be cut out later. Just try to ignore it for now. Notice the misalignment of the post.



A couple of vertical slices with the cutoff wheel and a couple of taps with a hammer and the post was realigned and tacked. Next I melted the lead out.



Then I sliced along the edge so it could be re shaped.



Then a small piece of sheetmetal was shaped to fill the gap in the door jam area and welded in place. The inner structure was also connected with a small piece of flat stock welded in place.



Then a section was cut out where the curvature would line up with a new patch.



Then the inner structure was connected with flatstock and a piece of round stock was welded in to fill another gap. Then I wire brushed in there and spayed it with Rustoleum rusty metal primer.



A piece of sheetmetal was cut and fit. No compound curves needed.



Tacked in place and move on to the door top. I am no metal finishing guy. Minimal filler is OK with me if done correctly so I try to get things fit as close as I can with no high spots. Final welding will be done after everything is tacked together.

 

Looking dammmmm good Kev........you are the Chop King.

 

Been following this whole build. The wedge fill on the A pillar is a great and simple idea. The whole chop has been great! I appreciate including all the pictures!

 

You're the man....

 

Looks like the perfect chop for a 34 5W. Excellent work. (Imagine all the fun your going to have with the garnish moldings... ). Keep the pics coming.
Thanks.
ps Last 33 I chopped. Not quite as radical.

 

This is what makes the hamb still worth looking at.

Can't wait to chop my 33 5 window.


I will be watching for the rest.

great job so far.

thank you.

 

God I wish I could get that body its so ***y with that chop and how you pieced it together keep the updates coming and great work.

 

For the door tops I first made a pattern of the shape I needed. I figured that way I could reshape the thing on the table to match the pattern instead of 20 trips back and forth to the car.



Some relief cuts, some bending, some tacking, some cutting etc









One thing I have learned in the past is to not bother making door gaps nice while fitting door tops on. Everything shrinks during the welding process ( well not everything) and your perfect gap will soon be something that needs several hours more work. Also it is important to make sure all the hinge pins line up. I just held a staight edge against the pin area of the hinges in 2 directions to check them.

 

I cut this piece from the leftover door parts but I'm not happy wth it so I will somehow re shape it or make some new parts to get a tighter radius. I won't be working on it again until next weekend.

 

Man a whole week before the next thrilling installment!! Looking forward to it.

 

Looks real good. Ton of talent.

 

It's probably a humanitarian move on Kev's behalf to give us all a decent break. Cabin fever can set in if we're not careful.

There's a certain relief knowing there will be no more updates for a few days. We can now relax, go outside for some fresh air, maybe some sun, gather ourselves, pat the childrens, wash up, get some sleep, run any errands that have piled up over the last 3 days...etc.

Then (refreshed) we can sit back down around Friday night and just wait for the next update. It should come through sometime on Saturday but there's no knowing when. It's really difficult to say. I suggest making sure there's enough food and drink in the house...just to make sure.

Thanks for the break Kev.

 

Great job, well thought out, and well executed. and it looks ****in BAD ***ED!

 

I don't think a tighter radius is gonna work there Kev. It won't blend with the horizontal section (door top) and if it does it will come up short of the vertical (window frame) section.

I reckon you need a relief cut on the pillar section to start bringing it back to meet the radius of the filler panel.

But you've got it this far. I know you don't need me to tell you how to do it! Clever..........

Looking very cool

Pete

 

Great stuff Kev.I,m going to chop mine 4.5" or 5", everyone who comes into my workshop says it,s too much,you know what? they,re wrong.

 

Striper.....You are right but that picture is a little deceiving, the paint on there kinda fools the eye. The line is almost diagonal and I want it to be about the size in the picture but with more curve. Worried more about the curve than the flow at the top right now. I will probably cut it into 2 or 3 pieces and put it back in. It's only steel and where there's a will there's a way!

 

I hope it's not going to be keeping that T56. Totally the wrong transmission choice for a drag-styled car (that isn't a 2002 Camaro).

 

Awesome work, Kev!! I'm always inspired by the clean, thoughtful work that you do.



Malcolm

..but seems like a good choice for a car that's meant for drag racing, street driving, and an eventual run at El Mirage.
I think it's cool as hell that it has Three Pedals, regardless of what transmission is hidden under the floor.

 

So much nicer than the blind men that hacked mine decades ago.

 

Bad***. Makes me not so scared to chop mine.

 

Would you consider losing the door hing between the windows?

 

need 33 3 window door garnish?

 

The **** you can learn on this site is mind blowing........*****IN' work Kev! And thank's for this site Ryan.

 

About damn time greg got serious with that thing. looks like you almost got the hammered 34 chop down. Ruler.

 

Love the pattern ideal you used on the doors, that really saved a lot of shoe leather I bet!!!

 

This is exactly the reason why we support the H.A.M.B. Watching others do what we think is impossible opens up what is really possible. I am brand new on here and have learned more from threads such as this than I expected I would.

I would love to do my own chop and this thread has edged me a little further. I even ordered a new MIG welder and gas welding and cutting set. It's been a few years (I used to be a welder/boilermaker - never finished my trade) but I can't wait to start eating sparks again. Especially if something like this will be the result.

Kev, you have also moved more closer to a more severe chop as well. Life is for living and if old people who's main regret is that they didn't take more risks in their life then I can certainly give cutting and sticking some sheet metal a go.

I hope one day to show a procedure that will help as much as you have helped many out here Kev.