hey alex, looking good , at first when i saw that one pic with the roof all wobly i was like the hell!!! lol... but its looking good. my new shop is getting a visit from the city inspector tomorrow andafter that i'd like tostop by and look at my shoebox, let me know if thats o.k. can anyone recomend a good flathead builder in tucson or surounding are?
looking good, don't mean to be a pain,...but a little light ....would make better pictures. ......Think of me as the pain in the **** student that keeps asking questions just before the bell rings.....
Alex, your treatment of teh area above the driprail is much like what we did to teh Merc in my nicests Merc post. Shoebox is looking good!
That looks like it's gonna be a killer chop! Real nice touch there not taking so much out of the windshield. Looking forward to see more...
Look at how slim that roof is above the gutters, excellent. I've only seen pics of chop done that way once before. It was on Andy Rodrigues' 4 door 51 Merc. It came out great, one of the best 4 door chops I'd seen. I didn't understand why the roof was cut away from the door frames at first. Now I can see how that refines/slims down the shape of the roof (side to side and front to back).
Yeah, I can make it look nice in a mockup... But I'm not out of the woods yet, now I have to connect the Metal. Thanks for lightening up my Pics, and Bill too...
Thank you, Kool...New ways to do stuff.... Thank you again! Did you put the roof center back in that inch(?) difference in the windshield height further back than it was originally? Looks like the back window stays atached to the roof the whole time, right? Do you use the door window run channels to determine if the side frames are lined up and even with each other?
That sure makes for a sano way to handle the area above the back window - just never cut it loose - wish I'da thought-o-that. Frikin brilliant! Innovative - good eye - great craftsmanship ... I give ya an A+
I agree with graverobber you should write a book ,I'd buy it too. That car is Looking so good, I"m on my way to cut up some s***!!....Ok...reality check...mexicano...you...are...not......metalshapes.....
Thanks for all the nice words guys. DrJ, I slit thr A Pillar lengthwise so I could take a Inch less out of the Windshield. Another bonus was that I was able to weld the piece of sheetmetal that is in the middle as well ( normally I have to cut a Window to do that...) The curve from the top of the Windshield to the Roof is now a Inch higher than the curve from the driprail to the Roof. So I cut the Outside of the Header panel in the middle ( where the V-But is ), to it will lay flat and match the sides. The Rear Window stays attached to the Roofskin. I was hoping I would be able to change the contour enough with my Planishing Hammer, so the sides would come out and the Backgl*** would lay flat, but it took forever and it wasn'd doing what I wanted it to. So I cut part of the sides off to relieve it ( Like I did on the Chevy ). Yes, the Angle of the Door Gl*** stays the same ( So the Roof gets wider...) Here are some more Pics. The 1st one shows how much lower the Roofskin is from stock, and the gap that I will have to fill. the 2 other pics show the filler panel I had to make because I slid the Roofskin forward...
sure would be nice to lump all these together and make a tech page. clever chop man! really looked like a nightmare at first, but came together very well at the end. do you suppose the same approach would work for a car with a wrap-around back gl***?
holy **** alex, my shoebox is looking awesome! im coming down today to look at it before i go to the tattoo shop. i will call you first. im glad, so many people are so interested in my car, i will have to make sure to keep everyone updated on the rest of the build on this car
you sure nailed what alot of chops miss with tha a pilars and the front window!!! looks really awesome!!, awesome work there... so many shoeboxes look wierd with their front windows like its to short compared to side windows when chopped... if more people did like you did on their shoeboxes they could look alot better. ahwell just like barris did to the matranga merc proves to be usefull with the shoebox aswell... keep up the good work dude!
Tacked in the Filler panel between the Roof and the Decklid area. Made a new panel to fill the gap in the C pillar ( Shot Bag & English Wheel ). Tacked it in...
i guess i better get off my *** and decide on a color, alex is moving way too quick..lol....looking good alex. (i was only kidding about going too fast!)
Thanks guys. This is the C Pillar on the other side. I shaped the Filler panel with the Shotbag and English Wheel like the first one. Its oversize so I clamped it in place, and cut the excess off with my Airsaw ( a couple of Inches at a time, so I can control the gap.) And I tack weld it in place, so I can Hammerweld it later with my O/A set. Pic 2 shows how I check the curve of the metal with a Stainless Ruler...
The Jalopy Journal
