I see alot of guys getting together in cali and texas and other places chopping tops,just wondering if any guys around the leesburg/albany Ga area with the know how and experiance to do so.I havent seen not one custom car to that effect in this area,i think ever and ive been here for 32 years,I would like to be the head turner here in my 54 belair.
We do custom work over in Douglas,GA.We have not gotten to chop any tops so far,nobody has came in wanting one done and don't have much time to work on any of our own projects.You can take a look at some of our work at www.micklerscustomsolutions.com
im in macon and havnt found a shop that will chop the top on a 4 door 53plymouth would you? could you? should you? sorry couldnt help the dr. suess. what is the ball park figure for a chop?
Hey new54belair, "if" it came down to it, you could chop it yourself, with the help of the HAMB. Can ya weld? do ya have any metalworking experance? The toughist part of a '53-'54 chop is to figger what you'll do about gettin the gl*** cut. The rear light is now available in laminate so it can be cut down jus' like the windshield. Either that or sink the back light frame and gl*** below the quarter. Dredge the back pages of the Hamb, there's a **** load of info on chops and '53-'54s' S****ey Devils C.C.
Best advice I ever head about choppin a curved windshield car is. cut the gl*** first and chop the car to fit the gl***. it's easier the move metal than gl***.
i have welding experience,my freind has all the metal shaping tools and experiance,he builds custom motorcycles,we customized my daughters honda civic,so he could help,but the gl*** issue is a big problem,i cant even find someone down here to cut me some door gl***,and thats as simple as it gets,people in so ga dont want to get involed if its not factory new.All they want to do is build and ride bikes,Ive been searching the boards here and im seriously contimplating me and my friend earl to do this on our own,with the help of you guys of course,my only fear is having a wopsided roof line.
..the lope side roof is not a issue..just make a template to use on your pillars...this is what you have to keep in mind..you can cut your a pillars the same as your b pillars...like say you want to do a 4'' chop you will need to make a template out of hard copy paper..4'' wrap it around the b pillar and mark around the paper with a pencil..you have straight lines around the pillars at this point..then for the a pillars the template will be like 4 1/2 '' instead of 4''...(thats not accurrant measurements) but do you understand that right?..what gets tricky is the c pillars..depending on how you want to chop it..you could get a differant back gl*** ,or lay down the factory back gl*** or you could cut down your c pillars and use plexi gl*** ...you would have to determine what you want.....its fun to do though..its a challenge to your self..im no pro but i have chopped 3 chevys 1 hardtop and 2 sedans...i layed down the back gl*** on mine..i had some help with th hardtop and the 1st sedan ..the sedan i have now me and my wife did it...heres a pic of my roof
Give Rat Braun in Valdosta a call..............listed as Roland...if anyone in the south Ga area knows ........he will. Mark
Yeah I live in Leesburg Ga myself, I have a black 50 Ford sedan you may have seen around town, I thought I was the only guy around here that drove a car that old!
The gl*** is always the major issue in doing any type of chop.This should be one of the first things to be considered as mentioned above.You can build anything around your gl*** once you have that part figured out.Did you want to keep the same look of windows or change them for more of a custom look?
hey,i am building a home in an old warehouse in bainbridge Ga. i'm in and out of there until i get moved, i chopped a 4 door 40 pontiac one time,by myself.and i had never seen a top chopped or helped do one before. i did alot of thinking and looking before i started. Randy
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