Customs 51 Merc 4 door price for chopping top?

Very curious about pricing to chop my top on my 51 thats in my Avatar its a daily driver and a damn nice kustom.i want to leave my beltline trim in tact, im interested in a ballpark price inclusive of garnish moldings and cutting any flat gl***, thanks

 

Up in our area SE Pennsylvania,it seems the going price for a chop is $800.00 to $1,000.00 an INCH, in primer ready to paint, but no gl*** or trim work

 

If you have to ask you probably can't afford it. My guess for it done right is north of $8K.

 

ya, another hamber with good advice, John..........the guy is just asking approx. how much ?? YOU must know everything about everything, and never have to ask.. must be nice to be that smart.!

 

go to the alliance and check with chopper rod shop. I think kenny has a price of about 2500. under first prime and all garnish mldgs cut. he has cut one for me and I'm real pleased.

 

5k with all the garnish moldings at least and the window tracks adjusted in the doors. Most people forget or don't know about this important step

 

My buddy paid 10K gl*** garnish and all. Super nice job.

 

You ever been around when one of those cars was chopped?? Well I watched ElPolaco's shop do one and I can tell you lots of hours to make it look right. And hours cost!!!! Quarter window frames are a bit of a job by themselves to fit and look right. Years ago a friend of mine with a rod shop did a 34 Ford pickup of mine in about 5 hours with me providing grunt help with first filler done. Them things are easy,4 door Mercs ain't.

 

I've never paid to have one chopped; but having done it myself, I can tell you that there are almost as many hours ($$$) in doing the garnish mouldings as there is in doing the roof itself.

If you wanted to do it on a budget, I would suggest having the roof done first, and the mouldings at a later date.

Of course, I would be more worried about WHO I would choose to do the work. You certainly want to hire a body guy who has done good chops before, and maybe go see their work first.

I've seen some messes made on good cars by licensed bodymen.

It's not like replacing a quarter panel.

 

Sorry to hear your thinking of this modification. The stock top Merc is now the rare exception. This is just my lazy *** opinion, I have helped with a tu-door 51 Ford chop years ago and it was just seemed like an endless list of tasks to get it completely done. That car never was, and before it was such a nice driving and working mild custom. Really like the looks of your car and wish you best-o-luck on the operation. ~sololobo~

 

I suggest that you do a HAMB search for a thread by H Rod 50: Re: 1950 4 Door Merc Build ... Sort of ... Follow along as a shop re-cuts a Merc chop that went south and you will (hopefully) appreciate the number of hours & $$$ spent doing one right.

The '49-'51 4-door Mercs have a cool, unique look with the suicide rear doors and all ... if it were mine, I'd probably leave it alone. Just my 2 bits....

 

That sure seems like an odd calculation to bid a chop. This makes a 4" chop double the price of a 2" chop? Essentially the same amount of labor involved in a 2" chop as a 4".

 

I would say north of 7500.00 and thats without the body work, stainless and vent windows, A lot of work to do one right, my first chop was a 4dr Merc It kicked my ***. some during and after pics
Good luck Andy

 

$12000 and up if you want it com0pletely finished.

 

Who the hell prices a chop by the inch? that's ridiculous...

***uming everything is present and straight to start with, I'd start at 6500 to chop that 4dr.

 

That's an ***ine statement, I can afford alot of things but I still like to get an idea of what it will cost rather than blindly throw money at something

 

If you are able, and have the equipment; We can coach you through it. If not, watch and learn from who does it. I did mine in high-school. It's not difficult, but time consuming. I've coached several other fellows (no names mentioned) through it. To answer your original ?? You could save yourself about seven grand.

 

I've heard $8-10K with gl*** and vent windows.

I love chopped cars, checking out another '51 made me appreciate more the work that went into my roof:

 

I'm one of the guys that Blakmerk coached...even with his experience, it still took me about 3 months to do mine from the first cut to the first round of primer.

This is mine the first day....



About a billion hours later...



The roof isn't that hard to chop, but the rear window placement is CRITICAL, more so on a 4 door. Also, the rear 1/4 window shape can make or break a chop...again, even more critical on a 4 door. The garnish mouldings and vent windows also aren't alot of fun..

But, if you are comfortable expanding your skill level, you can buy some new hack saw blades and give it a shot, or if not, you can write Choprods (Kenny Baker, Elmer Mo) a check and he can handle it. If I ever need another Merc chopped, I will send it to Kenny, cause I sure as hell ain't doing another one....

Good luck, -Abone.

 

That's about what I thought when I read it too. That or the joke about the guy that had "done run my bill up to 95 bucks!"

 

John Evans , thank you for your opinion and representing a VERY small percentage of Hamb members that we all call ***HOLES! I ***ure you I can afford it.So unless your Psychic or my accountant. Feel free to hijack somebody elses thread with your loose lips.

 

Could probably convert to two doors at the same time without a huge cost difference. I know a lot of folks are into four doors, just sayin'.

 

Richard, the rear suicides are the reason I bought the car to begin with, also if you look at my car you will see it is a finished car already painted and flamed nicely. Im not interested in changing anything but the top.definitely do not want to go backwards.

 

you have to study the look of chopped Moredoors also. The really nice looking ones to me, the rear door windows get reshaped along with the gutters if you decide to keep them and the car then resembles a coupe's profile.. If i were to do it, it would be over $10k to do one start to finish minus paint..

 

i'am with you i like the 4 door !!! looked for quit awhile for my forty merc 4 door. suicide rear doors....kool. chopping one would be worth the work as they say if it were easy everyone would be doing it,do your home work first then go for it

 

The more the chop, the steeper the angle changes are to the posts. I hear you go more than 5" on a Merc and there are lots of extra cuts required.

In a way you are right, a complete chop was 5K twenty years ago, practically speaking, it's not going to be any cheaper no matter how little you take out.

 

^^Makes me remember a conversation with **** Dean at Paso in the late 90's. He quoted me $5K, complete in primer, all gl*** done with moldings, etc...Still kicking myself in the *** for not finding the money at the time to get it done by the master.

 

My buddy chopped my car an I said I would do the garnish mouldings gl*** and vent windows. I have yet to finish all these tasks after 2 years...


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Sorry I forgot the point of the story! Chops are it of work. If you can find someone who will handle all the details for an affordable price that's a plus. I would say between 8 and 10k complete ready for color.


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I love 4 door mercs and lincolns when they are chopped i like them more then the 2 doors the roofs seem to look longer flow nicer at least the way i do mine.and now i see why i always chop my own had no idea thats how much it would cost.Here are just 2 of the 3 51 merc 4 doors i did the flame one was chopped 6 1/2" in front the primer one was chopped 7" in front and also did one 7 1/2" front nexy will be 8" front just for the fun of it..but if i was you id give it a shot its only metal you can always ad it back in just study your roof line fig out your cuts and have at it..that way you can say you did it.