Just curious if anyone out there has any guidance on the recommended # of inches to chop a top on a 50 merc. Are there any pictures that I can compare. I think if you are north of 5 inches the back glass begins to cave in a bit....
At the last Gene Winfield workshop there at Mercury Charlie's he cut a 4-3/4 inch section from the A-pillar which would equate to about 4 inches when measured vertically. Gene does not cut the rear glass section out, he makes a couple of relief cuts and pulls the roof forward till the A-pillar sections line up. B-pillars are then welded in at the proper height.
Don't go more than 5"! It won't look balanced. Looks over-chopped. Mine is 4 1/2". If you look on the HAMB Merc Thread,you'll see about 200+ Mercs,for comparison.
YES!!!! Too much chop throws it way out of proportion, regardless of the vehicle. Sometimes, less is more.... There are enough clown cars out there as it is.
look at what they did in the 50's. most of them where cut something like 3" in front and 4" in the rear. the best looking mercury chopped are those with the proper proportions. look at the car in 1/3. 2/3 body to 1/3 top.
You don't want the car to look like somebody sat on it... In my opinion do what you like...unless you are just one of those guys that builds cars just to resell them....then I say...don't be stupid and cut out to much then nobody will want it.
I'm one of the 'they's' that did it back in '57. It's a '49 4dr. This one had 4-1/4" removed from the A-pillar to give a 3" vertical drop. The B-pillar had 3" removed.
Look at the Hirohata Mercury ! I measured the windshield , it is cut 3 1/2 inches ! Jack Walker's clone is cut 4 inches ! More is not always better ! Good Luck, Sonny
It all dependes on your taste. On a 49/50 i personally like 3.5" to 4" out of the A-pillar with 3/4" to 1" more out of the back and move the back glass forward about 3". This 50 is cut 3 3/4" front and 4 1/2" rear with rear window moves forward 3"
i whacked mine @ 4.25" in front a-pillar... im dropping a 49 rear window in it... i didnt care for anything less and anything more is just too much... so im pretty biased on what i chose... the rear however is unknown, i did cut too much and thats why i threw the 1x under the c-pillar to space it up... i think im around 5" in back
Ace Great chop. And that is the funniest answer I have seen on the HAMB in a long time. Great reply! I may have to get the kids-size soda at the drive thru! So tired of the serious "traditional-police" answers on here by people of late. Gotta get back to making this site light-hearted and fun again. By the way mine is 4" front 4 1/2" back by slddnmatt; the Mercologist.
I found one article on the hamb where it looks like he cut the front but didn't really take any out the back. looks like he just cut above rear glass and pulled roof forward and let it land where it lands. looked simple to me . Am I missing something?
IMHO the best advice on this thread is the 1/3-2/3 rule. If you look at the car that way it doesn't get out of porportion. If you do it strictly by how many inches you may end up with what many refer to as looking cartoonish. But as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
A half an inch vertically makes a hell of a lot of difference on these cars between having a great chop and looking like a team of hefty heffers decided to pose on the roof. Some guys don't seem to get it that it isn't about how low you can get the roof but how the lines flow when you are done. The great chops all have one thing in common and that is that the lines flow and the chopped roof and windows don't look squashed.
I'm going to use my cpe as an example for proportion. I think one of the best compliments I ever got was from Dick Dean. When he saw my car he said, "That's just the way I would have done it. That's a great chop. Could I have a picture of it?" So I took this picture with him in it. I've heard that it's on the wall in his old shop now run by his son. The chop is 3 1/2 at the B pillar.
Here's another thread full of chopped Mercs to look at...... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213641&highlight=merc+profile
In addition to what has been posted...you can also play with the overall look of the chop by either retaining or removing the belt line stainless and the drip rails. Keeping them on the car makes the roof appear lower.
3" front (vertical), 4 1/4" back (vertical) I studied the Tommy Steadman video before I started cutting.
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