wow.. you dont find deals floating around like that i wish i was that lucky... ill give you $700 for it ...you make money!
big question that no one has asked... got a good welder and know how to use it? know someone who can cut glass? there's not a damn thing wrong with cruisin an old 54 chevy 4 door in stock condition. you'll still be 100 times cooler than your buddies who drive whatever ther pop bought them.
Idea: If you really, REALLY want this car chopped maybe find someone with the skills and tools to do it and ask if they'll let you help. Not that I've ever chopped a top, but this is how I learned to torch weld and do a bunch of other stuff. I paid craftsman to fabricate things for me the right way and they were happy to let me participate and learn. I bet it would work for you too and you'd end up with a nice finished product- maybe even a discount on the work if you're helping a lot. A nice bonus is that you'll likely make a few new friends this way too. EDIT: I just realized it's a 4 door. No choppy. Great canidate for lowering, wide whites and caps or Astros and skinnys, a visor, and a clean paintjob. Early Bombs get lots of 17 year old... Maybe roll it for a few years and then sell it to fund the purchase of a 2 door to chop if that's your ultimate goal.
I can remember when I couldn't even afford a carb kit and a master cylinder kit for my '39 Ford in 1963. I can't imagine taking on a chop job at that age and ever expecting to actually drive the car. Your dad will be much more willing to help you get the car running and safe than diving headlong into very difficult modifications to a car that still will need the basics when the chop is completed, if ever. I say go as low cost as you can to get it on the road so you can have fun with it. Brakes, cooling, tune up if it runs, ect. Forget the air bags and other $$ stuff right now. Go with cut coils on the front, lowering blocks on the rear, wide whites, twin carbs and split exhaust. It will be so cool that your friends will hate their ricers. You can do body work while you drive it but I suggest never doing anything that will take it off the road for more than a few days until you have another car to use. Tom
Almost 10 years ago when I was 17. I has a 60 impala. My insurance was 100 bucks a month. Now it's 35 bucks and I'm 26 driving a 53 chevy every day.
In June 1979 I bought a 67 GTO convert. 18 and still living at home. Added to my parents policy, car in my parents name, liability only cost me $100 a year. Just to add a 17 year old boy costs us $800 a year now. (no additional cars than what we had). At 17, I side with fixing it and driving it. At 17, the chicks don't care if it's chopped or not and they will love it. I was getting gas (I have the same car 54 4 door as a driver). Some young thing came running out of the Arby's drive thru nest door. Still had her head set on. Wanted to know if she could sit in my car. Man, if I had only still been 17. LOL Cars are cool but you are only 17 once. Take advantage of it.
Which one was that? Chopped50's shoebox is probably as close as any I've seen...I don't know if anyone has ever heard from PoorBoy after the 03 Chop. I offered the picture more as an example of a well-proportioned chop on this vintage car. Like others have said, the chop is only the beginning of the process, it's all the trim/glass that takes the time.
".....my father is completely against it....." One of the best reasons for NOT doing it. You're living (I presume) in his house, using his garage and his tools. He knows you best, maybe better than you know yourself at this point in your life. I'd honor his wishes - it'll show him more than anything else that you've become a man.
Do what you want to it... here is how my 4 door ended up looking... alot of people dont know that it was a 4 door until i tell them...
The Jalopy Journal
