Whats SO bad about cutting the top off??

So as I'm looking at banged up roof and lack of ANY gl*** in my 54 Belair, I'm thinking "well hell...maybe I should just cut the top off and run it as a California Roadster!".

Now I've seen the reaction to this on the hamb before, and it's rarely positive. Keep in mind I'm not saying I'm going to do this quite yet, but with the thought creeping up on me I couldn't help but wonder, why do so many people have an issue with this? Is it because you're so heavily cutting up the original steel? And if this is the case, why is a chop ok, because it's harder? Is it because a cut top suggests a botched chop attempt? Or because it's not an "original" convertible?

Over the years I've driven chopped cars, and I've driven roadsters and convertibles, and for me a born and raised biker I just love the wind in my hair and prefer them *******, but also respect the style that speaks best for the vehicle. But that's just me. So I'm just curious to your thoughts, why are folks always trying to talk others out of doing this? Any photos of cars with the top cut off either done well or done unsuccessfully are welcomed.

 

It might be that people just think they can whack the top off and be done. I would think the first thing you probably need to do to build a convertible right would be to pull the body off the frame and really beef the frame up, since you're removing a large, structural part of the body. A little more work than most folks want to do.
Larry T

 

Here is my 2¢.. When you just hack off the roof of a car or truck it looks like you just hacked off the roof of a car or truck. If you do it well and make it look finished like a factory or a coach builder would do, then I see no problem with it. Too many times I see hoopties with the roof cut off and a big hunk of the top still hanging on the windshield, looks too ghetto to me. If its well done, it will look like a convertible with the door tops and the windshield top finished nicely.

 

54 Bel Air hardtops are nice looking cars with the roof on them. Maybe find another 54 Bel Air roof and do a roof swap if yours is that beat up. We swapped roofs on my 57 Pontiac due to extensive rust issues.....

 

Restoring the structural integrity of the car to make it fit to drive is the problem.
It's actually MORE work to get right than it is to just exchange the roof with one from a donor car!

 

It's just a '54 Chevy, hack that *****.

 

As mentioned above.....2 words....ready.....?

Structural integrity....after time, your frame will probably want to fold upwards at the front and back and the doors won't want to open and close....there's a reason why convertible frames are different.

 

A buddy did it to a 55 it sagged so bad that he couldn't open the doors unless he jacked up the middle of the frame

 

Search for Space Herpie! There's tons of comments on it... and it was just a hardtopped coupe!

 

Most cars that have had that done to them end up sitting and rotting ,the guy that did it might have thought it was cool looking but the majority don"t look twice at it.

 

If you do it do it right. Look at bobk's chev it looks like it was born that way

 

And if you end up swapping the roof, you might as well chop it while you're in *** deep. My 2 cents.

 

hardtop or post car?

the reason so many dislike chopped up sedans is that most look like ****. it is a rare one that has all the little details fixed. just some idiot with a hack saw and no idea how to finish it off to look good.

if it is a hardtop rather than post car you are in a much better position to pull it off successfully. just be sure you never open both doors at the same time, and be sure your p***engers alll have seat belts for when the doors pop open by themselves

 

just started on mine, last week. mine was a clapped out 4 door that nobody wanted though.

ill be the first to agree that you have to brace the hell out of it.
took me 2 days to do all the floor bracing, frame bracing, and door post bracing. ( key word bracing) and only took me 2 hours to cut the top off and chop the windshield, so that shows how important it is.

after all the bracing on my 4 door , you can open all the doors and jump on the seat with no sagging. also none of my door gaps changed so it was worth it in the long run.


heres the build link. like i said its just started.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=592002

 

It's your car. With some work it will turn out looking good. I do agree with those who mention the structural integrity being an issue but that could be dealt with by adding some bracing to your frame. Do what makes you happy. Come on it's not that rare.

 

I like that. Piss on everyone that don't !

 

Seen an o/t '70's T/A once with a removable top.... The damn thing looked like **** with the top off.. GAG!

 

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Gag!

 

lol. i knew youd like it.

youve always been a fan.

 

Sparky- I have a roof from a 2 door sedan you can have if you want it, but I'm in Milwaukee, quite a ways from you.

 

I wonder if chopped51 will chime in on this, he didn't brace anything on his 4 door, and chopped the roof off, the doors still open and the gaps are good, and I think hes been driving it that way for 20 years, so it really depends on the car, if its got a boxed frame for one those are stronger, also what I am planning on doing is welding up all the seams on my frame and body, just for added insurance once the roof is gone. and thats all.

 

why not just weld the doors shut? Seams will stay the same, and you've created a box again.

 

I've seen a few nicely done, and more than a few total hack jobs. Depends on your skills, workmanship, and how much labor or cash you intend expend.

I used to own a hardtop that had been converted into a convertible, a literally perfect job, they had even grafted in the convertible cowl, and everything looked and worked absolutely factory.
Only one problem, they did not keep or attach the convertible vin tag or ***le, and thus the resulting vehicle still ***led as a Hardtop, had less than half the resale value of a 'real' convertible, and less than an equal condition unmodified hardtop.
That was one hell of a lot of labor to go through only to make a car that was worth less than when they started. (I bought it cheap, and had to sell it cheap -had my fun, so nothing lost)
Now if a guy has got an old 'clunker' and just wants to have some open-air fun, 'taint no reason not to weld in some bracing and whack the top off for a fair-weather cruiser if that's what he really wants.
(If you don't have a top, or at least a weather-tight tonneau plan on getting wet regularly, and the upholstery and floors to be rotting right out from under you)
Hardtops are easier than coupes or sedans, and with most 4 drs, no one even gives a damn.
Really its all about what the owner wants, and what level of fit-n-finish will provide him with pride and satisfaction in his finished project.
We're hot rodders, and after all it is only metal. We can cut it off, cut it down, or weld it back on, and if we can't, we can p*** it on, part it out, use it up, or start on another project.
Its called Hot Rodding. Hot Rodders have chopped and whacked up tens of thousands of old cars, and the in and outs are best learned by those doing the doing.
Its about having fun with, and making memories of friends and good times doing whatever it is that yanks yer crank.

 

I think it looks one a hell of a lot better than about 95% of the top-chop jobs I have seen on these Chevy bodies. Finished off, I'd prefer it over any chop job.
(Don't care at all for the weird cut front wheel-wells though.)

 

I have mixed feelings about this one I dont think it would be for me although I do like carson tops. Here is a car I love that they did this so who knows But I do know it can be done right and look good

 

umm yea no weird wheel-wells the drivers fender has been caved in when somebody down the line ran into a tree stump. havent put my replacement fender on yet.

by the way i think its great everybody hates a car ive worked a total of 9 hours on....

 

Listen to Abomb---

 

I've whacked a couple roofs off in my day. It' can be done right, but seldom is.
I have to tell this, funny story about a whacked off roof. I had a pretty nice 62 Buick 4 door hardtop that I was given, no ***le. So I whacked off the roof to use in in a parade, painted my shop name real big down the sides, filled it with kids and let them throw candy. Fast forward and some "natives" came in and bought it because they said they needed the engine for another car. forward a bit more and my first wife comes home pissed. "Next time you sell a car to a bunch of drunk Indians you might want to take the name of your shop off the side, I just saw 9 of them in it going down the wrong side of the interstate".