Chopping an A roadster top, who's done it?

I think I'm ready to whack the roof on my roadster a few inches and I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to accomplish it. But, I'd like to see what others have done with an early Ford top ***y before I commit to my method. I believe it's an older '31 dlx LB top ***y. I don't really want to change the angle or proportions too much, just bring it straight down about 3". Any one got any pics or info on how they did theirs? Thanks!

 

Check out page 141 in "How to build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod". They do not go into to much depth about it, but it does explain what was done. Mike & Vern chop up the exact same irons you have. Good luck and take pics!

 

Do you plan on chopping the windshield 3" also? If so , that would be the 1st thing to do. Or slant it back untill you get 3" lower? Then you'll have to shorten the irons up a bunch.You'll probably need to shorten them anyway to keep the proportions looking right. You can do it, just plan it all out and take your time. 3" may be a bit much(IMHO)

 

Like this???

 

remember to scale it down everywhere as much as possible.....if you just cut the legs when you fold it **** will be out of whack.....

 

MEASURE ,MEASURE,20 times and then do it again then cut damm it...you will be fine

 

i also took a forstner bit and hogged out the top bows, to increase the flat spot ,where they screw on the frame so they would sit lower .....i custom bent/laminated my bows but yours seem to have a nice radius.... when i made the cover i used 6mil poly as pattern material .the hard part was learning to sew...lol...to cover the staples i used "wire on" but a lot of people use "hide em" ....feel free to PM me if you have a question you think i can help with....good luck!

 

Two inches from the windshield and top irons to match. They are from a 30-31.

 

Thanks guys, some good info here. Doh! I completely forgot about the top chop info in BT book... Just reviewed it, thanks Mcfly! I don't think I want to lay the posts back much more than where they're at now which is about 15* from vertical. Maybe just a hair to compensate for the slight front-to-rear position change that will occur with removing 3" from them. I'd really like to keep the top cloth that's on there for the time being, it's a little tattered, but works perfectly and looks just right. I'm guessing I'll probably have to remove it from the bows when welding them. I'm gonna jump into this REAL soon, I'll update this thread with pics and info on how I did it when I'm done.

 

done it and love it ...measure test remeasure cut test test test ....

 

I really like the profile on yours, I want to do something very similar but with the sides streched all the way to the back of the door and off white/bone color. Like this:

 

thanks mcfly....that could easily be done if you ran the wood bows right down to the mounting point , you need to have something to staple to or maybe some french s***ching to make it look nice after the wire on

thunderbirdesq....don't be scared to remove your old top cloth as there is no other way if you want it tight.and when you lay your stanchions back don't forget to tip the "peckers" , that the irons mount to, back to vertical.

 

I figured I might update this in case anyone else is pondering tackling the job. Finally got around to whacking this thing. I ended up taking 3" out of it. I used stainless steel wire in my MIG to weld up the stanchions, worked great. Took the main bow mounting point right up to the edge of the wood and about 1" out ot the length of the main iron. I didn't want the rear of the top to sag or be too low, also wanted the lower edge of the window to be parallel with the door top... I wanted to keep the overall look of the top the same, just lower. Anyhow, I'm thrilled with the results!

Before...

After!

 

Looking good!!!

 

Looks like you nailed it...looks good...................

 

Perfect!!!!

 

Looks Great!

 

That is how that car should look. Kudos!!!

 

I was skeptical, but it does look better. I will contact you when I finally get around to doing it myself. So write down exactly what you did --because you know this subject will come up again on the HAMB.

 

haha, I was a little skeptical myself at first, but I'm REALLY glad I did it now. It was really pretty simple as far as the irons go, I made it more complicated than I had to at first. The most time consuming/hardest part was reattaching the canvas nice and smoothly. No beig deal though. I did crack the windshield a bit on the p***enger side, my gl*** cutter ****s... But, it was starting to get foggy and delaminate a bit around the edges anyhow so a new windshield is in order soon.

 

That looks perfect!

 

Nicely done... looks kinda mean now!

 

**** yes

 

Looks great

 

Looks great...!!! Nicely done.




JOE

 

I love it. Cl***ic.

 

Thunderbirdesq, Love the proportion/choice of color for your chopped top. Now there is one mighty fine early style traditional Hot Rod !

 

dude, that is one bad*** job...