Anyone ever chopped a late model Impala, '92?

A dude wants me to chop his '92 Caprice. I know the side gl*** can't be cut. It looks like it's gonna be a major job, the roof's gonna have to be quartered but this is one determined fellow.
Has anyone seen one done? I haven't.

I hate modern cars, and modern women.

Bring back Turan Satana shaped cars AND women.

 

I heard about one that got done a few years back. I think Hopperstead (not sure on the spelling) did one. I think he had showed me pics of one he did. He is out of Belvedere Il area.

 

I'm pretty deep into the 91-6 B-Bodies- Caprice/Impala etc and I haven't seen any chopped. From my experience with these the roof sheetmetal is really thin and warps easily.
You might try http://www.impal***forum.com for some help

Sorry I can't help more

 

I saw one that a lowrider guy in LA chopped 4 inches & then put hartz canvas over it. I was thinking it was probably due to the ****ty job on the chop. I think one of my buddy's may have pics of it, but dont count on it cause it was a while ago.. I'll ask anyway.

 

I've seen a few, never seen one in person though. It's a challenge, but it can be done sucessfully.

 

It wasn't too hard in Photoshop.

 

ALL of my friends have these things, they think those cars are the greatest, and of course, the idea of chopping one came up.

My idea on one would basically be to sink the whole roof into the car about four inches. Keep the side gl*** stock height, and just section it into the car, so the side gl*** is 4 inches lower, and build the trunklid and hood over the bottoms of the windshield and rear gl***. Kinda like sectioning the car, but only in the middle where the roof is.

The gl*** is gonna be the biggest ***** to do, so keeping all the gl*** intact seems to be the way to go. I could photochop it if you want to see what i'm talking about. Won't be easy to do any way you slice it.

 

PM me Nads-buddy I dont know ****, but Im willing to share what little I do......Kenny

 

Be careful doing a chop on one of these, There is a lot of hss and hsla steel in the roof structure of this car.Be sure you know what can and cannot be done with the cutting and rewelding of these metals Go to www.gmgoodwrench.com select the body shop repair link and look up the car . It will list what pieces are what alloy. Some of these pillars may have no cut zones or specific cut zones . There are also specific splicing proceedures ( no **** welds)that must be followed. Read all the service bulletins pertaining to the pillars. Windshields are stressed members and are used to support the p***enger air bag during deployment. This may be a car that has more issues than many of us know how to properly deal with. Chopping an old coupe that didnt have any safety systems is much different than chopping an auto that was built to meet federal safety guidelines. Most repair shops won't tackle a job like this (me included), because of the liability issues that arise from altering an engineered safety system such as the one in this auto.

Larry

 

Stick Shift is right, Kerry Hopperstad did one quite a while ago. Sunk the windshield into the cowl and widened the roof, I think to make the gl*** work. Check his website Hopperstadcustoms.com and give him a call. Cool guy and I think he's even a hamber. Good Luck

 

I have a '96 Imp SS (for sale too, BTW), and that photoshop chop makes it look even MORE like a bloated whale. Now, a 2-door conversion...THAT is some fab work I'd like to see in person.

 

not sure about the side gl*** but the front and back can be laid down and not cut.hard to see in the pics but thats how my lincoln was done.back and front was uncut and side had to be made .Not pie cut just both front and back leaned in. kind of like pulling the roof forward and dropping the rear window on a 50 Merc' but drop the windshield too.may work look into it.once you was in my Lincoln with the full size gl*** in it ,you forgot you was in a chop.

 

I used to be into the B body thing pretty heavy myself. Seems there was a picture of a chop floating around on the impala ss website years ago . That curved side gl*** would be scary though. I tell ya the coolest B body I ever seen was the El Camino SS. It started as a 94 caprice wagon and was cut down to a Camino and all the SS stuff was added. It was killer!!!

 

Thanks for your responses fellas. I'm thinking I'm gonna p*** on this job, I'll let they, er, client know about the different alloys and stuff.

I knew it was probably beyond my abilities but this is one gung ho dude. I'll send him to what's his name.

 

A guy in Ironton ,Oh did one.He owns a place called I-town customs.Ha Ha...He chopped it and the side windows didnt roll up.Lexan front and rear gl*** and padded vinyl top.It was a sight to see.

 

Thought about it. More custom side gl***, would be a ton of effort.

 

These were made in a 2 door, don't see many of them.

 

At the 50th anniversary car show in Cobo Hall, Detroit, there was a yellow wagon that was chopped.
I think it belonged to Colorado Customs?
The owner was flogging 'gl*** bodies for Willys, I think.......

 

ummm not since like the 70's

 

never seen one. not a one.

 

I actually just sold a 91 Caprice FBI car. It was my work car for a job I had for a few months in the lovely Delray area of Detroit. The roof on that thing was about as thick as those throw away aluminum baking pans you can get from the grocery store. Hail and everything dented it. I couldn't imagine chopping that and trying to get it to keep its shape. Even without the knowledge now that its full of all kinds of alloys, I still wouldn't have tried it. Instead of a chop though, since my car was purchased for 500 bucks, my buddies and I kicked around the idea of making it into a convertible with suicide doors on the back. I've got enough **** in my driveway and garage already so thats why I sold it but I still regret not doing that to it before I got rid of it. Hell, it might have even increased the value of it!

 

your lincoln ****in rocks.

 

Nads you could do the back gl*** in lexan, just heat it and form it over the original gl*** then cut it with a saw to fit your new opening.

You're probably going to need two roofs and patience.

 

I've seen photos of a couple sedans chopped and the DecoRides wagon. They all look "wrong". I think these cars would be ones that only a very select few could chop and get the end product to look "right". A similar thing goes for the 2-door conversions I've seen - doesn't work well on the sedans, works "ok" on the wagons.

...but that's just the opinion of a guy who's family has 5 of these boats.

 

I have seen pictures of the chopped wagon it doesn't look too bad. But i would love to see a chopped 4 door

 

I remember when those were a BRAND NEW body style, some guy made a pro-street 2 door one, it was purple and featured in HOT ROD in the nineties (heh, i just said purple and hot rod in the same sentence...)
anyway the thing i remember the most was it had a credit card ignition, like a hotel door. crazy...
also, as far as chopping late model chevys, a few years back, **** Dean did a late model Monte Carlo, pretty similar car, probably.. may want to see if you can find anything about that... turned out nice...

 

Nads check out www.impal***forum.com, I did a quick search that turned up a few posts but not much info. I've seen a few at shows over the past 10 years.


s.

 

No 91+ B-body was ever a 2 door from teh factory. I've seen a few conversions, IMO the roof always looks to tall because there aren't enough verticle lines to break up the windows.

 

Yep, he did it for a buddy of mine here on Long Island who has since p***ed away, but the car is still here....Another buddy owns it.....

 

Saw this on the Powertour this year.