Looking at a totally non hamb friendly 50 Merc build on some off topic site. Is this right on a finished chop?
There are probably just as many different ways Merc's were chopped as there are chopped Merc's. So if it's finished and looks good, It's right.
Hell no that is not right, there are many ways to do it but one thing you dont do is add a strip of metal down the center of the roof... Run away! I would bet that is one of those cars that you would blast and then cry when you see what is actually under the paint... Jim
As long as its welded solid you shouldn't have any problems, when it's just tacked underneath like that is when you run into a ****load of problems later on. Paint cracks, rust issues, bubbling bondo ect. ect.
It looks like the builder decided it needed some heavy duty reinforcement in that area. I wouldn't think that was normal for most chopped cars Merc or no though.
to support the 5 gallons of bondo he added.... it looks like he pie cut the roof...but cant tell for sure in the pic as the upper header doesnt look cut...
Well how about some more pics of the car for us to look at so we can help you out more. Another thing I am seeing which by no means is a sure thing but if you look at the headliner bow my does it not fit up to the roof like it once did? I know in my car they all fit up to the roof skin just like they did before it was chopped other than the ones at the rear of the top but that is because I turned my rear window upside down so it changed the shape of the rear of my roof. Now they are different lengths all the way from front to back so you cant get them in the wrong spots really so it should not be so far away from the top unless they have 1. widened the top by putting a strip of steel down the center instead of leaning the posts inward, or 2. they have made the roof have too much curve, or dome from them putting the square rod bracing under there which I have no idea why they would have done. But lets see some more pics, like the profile of the car or something. Jim
I ***ume the square tube is to fix an oil can problem. No one ever shows the underside of a chop. I was just wondering if they all need square tube or something as support. The shop is very happy with this car. Black, candy apple red door jambs, all the Autozone chrome bolt ons under the hood, tv monitors in the doors and 22" rims. I am not looking at buying this car. Just saw the pics the builder was showing off and was curious about the roof supports.
Well I will gladly show you pics of the underside of my roof, there are no braces like that under mine, it is just the skin welded back together. I dont know if mine is "right" as it is the first one I have ever chopped but I have looked at many mercs over the years and have owned many, and I have never seen anything like that on one, in my opinion it just would be a read flag, just after seing several threads lately on cars that have been bought and then blasted only to find pop riveted panels, gallons of bondo, screen wire and other hidious work, I am very sceptical of cars with fresh paint that are now for sale...Jim
I have seen a 48 Chev chopped like that one time turned out pretty nice when finished. Once the head liner is in who will know ( or care) how it was chopped.
NEVER NEVER NEVER overlap!!! The only time I do that is in frame work and that ios for strength! That **** pictured above... is well... ****. Waste of time. I hope the guy he sells it to knows what to look for. Poor car...
Link to build thread of the car??? http://www.luxury4play.com/vintage-cl***ics/96977-1950-mercury-coupe-future.html
a crowned panel has all the strength it could ever need. I think it was compromised when someone hacked the roof. Not necessarily chopped it...
yeah i wouldnt do it, unless i was planning on jumping up and down up there. i was just explaining that it was for structure, not a strip down the middle of the skin.
That pic scares me right there, look at the strip welded in the roof across the middle from b pillar to b pillar! What the hell is that there for??? I mean you can take a rough *** car and grind the metal with 36 and stick it in the sun, take a pic and it looks pretty good, I know that from experience, that dosent mean a damn thing, but I can see there are some problems with that roof, also look at those rear side windows, what the hell happened to them? They got badly mis-shapen, and shortened, then there is the skirts! What the hell!!! And if this is a freash car to be proud of......why can I see red paint in the bottom of the door jamb? And last thing for this post for me, PLEASE tell me that is not the stick on door edge guard from wal-mart that is running down the roof where the drip rail once was..... Jim
I say no,, its not right !!!!!!!!As said before there are many ways,,, but thats not it !!!!! I have done a few myself and have seen many and thats not a good one !!! Look at my albums and see the one I am currently doing !!!!!!!!
like i said before , i belive the did a "pie cut" or whatever its called.,..where they cut the roof in four pieces(down the center and from side to side) and move each piece outwards and and a strip down the middle and side to side... ,,,i would NEVER chop any car with that method not only is it more work, but in my opinion usually looks like ***....and when you do that it opens up a can of worms and end up with a bondo bucket...
The "braces" appear to be welded to the roof skin. If that is in fact the case its probably a last ditch effort to save a butchered top. I'd like to see it in the sun on a nice hot day.
Looks like they quartered the roof, and lapped pieces under the cuts. Not good, that will show. Don't be fooled by that bare metal photo, you can see seams in the roof and it looks like they put those grinding marks all over to hide wavy panels. You might be surprised what those grind marks can hide, especially in a photo. You'll notice whenever you see bare metal photos from a talented builder, the metal is uniform, no grind marks going in every which way. Besides, if you didn't weld there why else would you grind there? Edit. Looking at that thread the car was apparently already chopped and those grind marks are I guess from paint removal.
I believe you have a 4 door conversion on your hands. They used 2dr doors and thats why the quarter window is so short. there is like 16" difference in length of the front door of a 4door and a 2 dr door. it looks out of balance when its done this way. The best look for a conversion to lengthen the original front door by 10-12 inches. that leaves plenty of quarter window and both are proportioned to each other. The rear window is pitched down a bit much @ the top. thats why they have split it front to back tryin to pull it up @ the rear.
Difference between a stock 4dr sedan front door and coupe door is exactly 10.5"...I've done two 4dr to 2dr conversions.
Those pieces of square tubing tacked to the roof scare me. If there is not a ton of filler on top of it, there will be problems. Not a good way to do metalwork!
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