Art & Inspiration Chopped verses Non chopped Hot Rods

I'm 6'3" and i have plenty of room in dis 1

 

I like chopped vehicles, but IMO it should improve the looks of the original. It seems like some people want to chop a car just to say that it's chopped.

A phone booth T is cool unchopped to me. A radical Bonneville chop on a 32 or 33-34 is wicked. A model a looks weird with any more than 3 or 4 inches taken out.

I'm putting a chopped windshield on my A RPU, does that count?

Just my take.

 

I like em both…but with a wife that’s claustrophobic there ain’t gonna be any chops in my future.lol . Snowman ⛄️

 

Back when all I had for guidance were magazine articles, I shortened the coupster's windshield frame 3". After installing it and sitting in the car, I was back on the work bench with .030 Mig wire and a 000 tip putting 3/4 of an inch back on it.

 

I’m under 6’ and have never worn a top hat so I’ve always been a fan of adjusting altitude and attitude. Had an unchopped 32 5W for a while and never could get comfortable with all the extra room over my head. Much prefer a snug fit.
My Tudor lived 60+ years tall, then 25 yrs with a 2” haircut. That worked really well as a fendered car, but once I yanked the fenders, it had to lose a little more. Paint needed redo and while she was naked, it was the perfect time for another haircut. Now she is lean and mean.

 

My nephew makes glass cars; a TBucket, 32 Roadster, and a 34 chopped 3 window. I had them do me a one off 34 with the ugly cut off and a stock height top added.

 

IMO ( not that anyone is asking) is that it depends on who is DOING the Chop .I'm sure we all have seen beautiful chopped cars & awful chopped cars . I believe there are some guys that really have the craft mastered to make any car look great chopped ( even if by using an entirely different roof) .But just being off inches front/ back or not laid back right would make or break the look ,again IMO . HAVE A SAFE & MERRY CHRISTMAS MY BROTHER HAMBERs!!!

 

^^^^^^^^
My exact feelings!
In my eyes a deuce looks good either way, but when they're done with a heavy taper chop they've lost me.
The other car is the tri-five Chevrolets, you WILL NOT improve the looks with a chop!!!

 

I chopped the top on my '32 Roadster 3". Looks right to me.

 

I agree .I know next to nothing about how to chop a car , but when I come across a project that soneone is selling that is chopped is DID they know what they were doing ( structurally) and getting the glass done .Nearly ever chopped car I see for sale doesn't have the glass or anything started on the glass .My mind says what is going to be INVOLVED HERE. May not be hard to do ,idk ,but I don't want to find out on my dime .Rather it already be worked out .Like another post says " Buy something already done & instead of giving yourself more trouble than you need " or "Pick your battles". Guess it's all in the opinion of who's owning it ,building it & viewing it . Apples ,Oranges & Pears .Some like em ,some don't.

 

Cartoon from back in my Street Rodder Magazine days.

 

Our club spent the last two Saturdays chopping the youngest members 31 he's 17 the coup was chopped three and a half. Chopped my 35 olds 3 inches. It depends on the car 39 or 40 ford coup no way 33 or 34 coup he'll yes.

 

I love chop tops and I love chopping them. But in most cases I do not go more than 2.5 to 3 inches. My 51 merc is 3 in the front and 4 in the rear but I actually leaned the windshield back, so the glass is only an inch and a half shorter than stock. I drive my cars a lot and visibility is a big must. There just seems to have been an epidemic of the if 3 is good 6 is better mind set the last 20 plus years. When you have to cut holes in the floor for seats it might be a tad too low. Larry

 

Depends on the car, how much was removed, and who did the removing.

Its much harder to put them back up then it is to cut them. The 1st rod I built I had to remove the chop from it. The guy took 3" out of a 35 Dodge sedan. I couldn't even get in the car. Since it wasn't finished, I put it back to is original configuration.

 

Built 4 chopped deuce sedans, 3 chopped deuce 5 windows, slightly chopped B400 (never finished it), 1 deuce chopped 3 window, countless chopped deuce roadsters, 4 chopped deuce pickups. My current daily driver is a stock height deuce pickup which is a hot rod that is the most fun to drive of any I've had.

 

I like both chopped & stock. However, I hate hate hate chopped pickup trucks. It looks terrible to me.

 

I couldn't decide.

ironandsteele.com​

 

IMHO T coupes/sedans absolutely need to be chopped. A's/32/34 depends on the build. But if you put a saw to a 40/41 pick up or a 40 coupe you deserve to die a horrible slow rotten death! Henry nailed it in 1940

 

Hard to improve upon this 3-window!

Some deuces look good with a chop, some should be left as the big guy made them. I agree, a heavy taper usually doesn't do justice on most. There's a 39-40 GMC pickup locally that someone did a heavy wedge chop on. I cringe every time I see it and can't believe that someone thought that they improved the design.

I agree on tri-five's. Any chopped one I've seen (mostly wagons, to be honest) just look cartoonish, and not in a good way. They have that fat-bottom tiny top unbalanced look.

 

Chopped or unchopped is fine, my only thing is if you are going to chop it , then chop it! No one or one and a half or two inches. Three inches minimum, preferably four and four and a half, five if it’s a Model A.
It’s one of those things- when in doubt, take another half inch.

 

I'm firmly on the chopped top side here. However, there have been lots of cars ruined by poorly done chops; it is a steep learning curve.

 

How many old cars have been chopped, then for whatever reason (many reasons), left sitting outside w/o any glass being reinstalled? If left there long enough, some end up needing floor repair too. Probably sometimes best to leave the chop towards the end of the build…instead of it being the first step of MANY!

 

I like chopped and un-chopped. My coupe is chopped, was done in the 60's. The chop on this Rolling Bones car looks great to me, and I have seen the car in person.

 

I’m in both camps. It depends on the chopper and the chopee. I owned a 3-1/2 inch chopped 33 sedan for 26 years and loved it. But they also look great unchopped. Same with the coupes. But I have yet to see a 39 or 40 coupe or sedan chopped that I thought looks right. Same with a 53-56 F100. But a 49-51 Merc HAS to be chopped to look right. 33-34 Mopars look chopped from the factory. But an inexperienced chopper can fuck anything up. (That would be me.) I had a 28 Model A sedan chopped 6 inches in the mid 50’s, well I might add, that I sold before completing. The new owner finished it, and is still driving it. Looks awesome still. And at a mere 5’7”, I can fit in just about anything.

 

My friend Dennis Saum's chopped Bones style deuce 3 window is perfect. Butchered chop in the 50's then neglected for years passing thru many owners, rescued by Dennis and brought to life by Andy's Restoration. Currently one of the 12 cars on the Bob Drake 2024 calendar. Great hot rod story.

 

It's relatively mid in most of the Midwest this winter, & probably no need to tell hotrodnorskie it can change in a heartbeat in North Dakota, best get the lid on that 'A' coupe pronto!

 

Chopped or Unchopped
YEP
Some have both Lucky devils!!!!

 

as a guy with some height, I like both, dependent on which body style, from a Ford point of view in coupes, 32 3 windows, 33 - 40 the proportions of a stock Ford were pretty good. plenty of room as well

 

Mine is chopped and channeled. I'm getting older so it's a bit more challenging getting in and out, and being one of the first cars at the traffic light can be fun when you can't see the light, but all in all I like it this way. I have no idea how much it's chopped as I bought it this way.

I'm having 354 Hemi built for it now, that should spiff it up a bit.