I have heard horror stories about chopping a 4-door car, but when i saw Markanthony's 4 door chop and it was bad *** it got me to thinking so is it trickier to do or whats the deal. I was not planning on doing it myself because i have never done one, so what should i look for in taking someplace? Thanks in advance
ive got a 4 door caddy im gonna chop & make hardtop ive never done one b4 either... if i **** it up ill just make it a vert .... **** it its only metal ... right?
what about a 4to 2dr conversion? get some 2dr doors and front of the rear quarter. somewhere on here there is a tech on doing this to a late 50s chrysler....then hardtop it and chop the hell out of it.
First of all, do you have a car and if so what make and year? Having been involved with a couple projects both at a shop and on my own, I will say there is nothing different cutting a 4 door car or a 2 door car, a coupe, a roadster or a convert. Each one creates different problems, different angles, contours that you have to be willing to see, mock up and then cut apart if everything doesn't work. I'd encourage you to do it yourself... if you have the determination, there's nothing more rewarding than stepping down the drive, taking a look back and seeing that things are close but need a 1/2" there or a 1/4" there. Why not do it yourself? If you don't know how to do something, you certainly will by the time you're done. Spend some time in a local bookstore, study the "how to chop books", the articles, find a car that matches the same contours as what you're starting with and do a scale sketch, then go for it. Or send me a good jpeg of the car you're thinking of doing and I'll throw a couple sketches together for you. I've heard the horror stories, often from people that haven't done it or weren't willing to do the fabrication necessary to make it work. ANYTHING is possible, it just depends on how committed you are to doing it. You have to ignore your desire for instant gratification, the desire to have something that other people will appreciate and you have figure/design/fabricate your project into what you want, what YOU desire. It takes time, maybe longer than what you want, maybe more experience than you have but that's what this board is here for, that's what TECH week is about and there's a wealth of knowledge to be gained once you get past the tire kickers. I will say, excepting mental barriers, anything can be done... look atChet Herbert, Bill Hines, Sam Barris...everyone started at the bottom and worked up, no-one woke up one morning and said I know everything about how to build every car. Be encouraged and take the risks you want to take. I'd say, read voraciously and poke your nose around here, around shops, around shops to see what's happening what you like, what you don't like...I'm here,there're are others willing to answer most any question and you can pm me anytime should you decide to run down this road, for anything... mark-anthony markanthony.rice@soletechnology.com
Markanthony is right.. i did mine myself .. and i studied, asked alot of questions, and just stared at my car for hours... I didnt know any body work, or even knoew how to weld.. but If other guys can do it SO CAN YOU... peace and chicken grease here is mine with the back doors welded shut.. and here is a 4 door with the back doors welded shut hardtop and here is mine as i welded my back doors shut.. if you noticed i could have still had a 4 door chopped top
hate to be an A-hole here,but you guys have GOT to start doing searches because this has been covered a TON of times before..i think Ryan should make a sticky post or something saying "ALL NEW GUYS DO SEARCHES BEFORE POSTING" because this is getting annoying creepy
thing about it is.I did a search.there are alot of stuff on there about chopping a 4 door.but this thread came up with more useful info than the rest.it doesn't hurt to do a search and you should. but you never know what someone going to post and it doesn't hurt to get as much info on what you are wanting to do as you can.just one of the pics someone posted, helped me with more of what I wanted to know than 10 pages on the search."hate to be an A-hole, but if it's been covered a ton of times before" and it ticks you off,don't open the thread to read it. just my 2 cents, Reb
Amen Reb, I did open the tech and read, but my questions were not answered and the info i got from this one helped me greatly. This site is great especially for MEN like MarkAnthony who are willing to help and because of men like him, one day when i have info to help someone i will do the same
I forgot, after i get my motor and drive train done i WILL be chopping it myself thanks to the inspiration i got. Thanks again
just wondering if there was any recent progress with that chop...im looking at a 53' more door and wanna chop it maybe a 4 into 2 conversion...do you have any pics also
I searched and came up with red x's on every picture...I'm sure,-- SCRATCH THAT-- I KNOW its my service, but can anyone email me some pics or pm them ,of these chopped 4 doors, especially '58 chevs if any, would like to show the wife, as she has one. Thank You, Ken
GREAT work Kartsa....[as can be expected in your case!] That ought to show the rest of us ,just what some P***ION and a little shortage of the "right" car, can result in,when mixed properly....
Kartsa...wow, your the man ! Proportions are great in this side view, another great Kartsa chop see the light of day. / primerkid
Yes,I have more pics of the conversion and chop.Anyone know how I can resice multiple pics.I think it can be done with IrfanView.But how?I try to upload some pics today.
Just uploaded a bunch of pics about the Chevy. More in here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v295/Kartsa/Chevy/?start=0
WOW!~ that is killa! Its exactly what I want to do to my 4door Pontiac - I love it. Do you have any other info on the work involved? Thanks, nooch
i plan on chopping my 4 door. not gonna stay a 4 door though. nothin wrong with welding the back doors shut.
I have to agree with everybody else's comments on this reply. This kind of reply in my mind comes from people not willing to help. As the other guys have said, every such new thread about the same topic always brings forth different questions and answers and therefore MORE information about the topic. Yeah, it's true that one must search but why do we have to be content with those results? I myself have a 54 4-dr Bel-Air which I'm gonna chop very soon including welding the rear doors shut. I was thinking of lengthening the front doors to the same length as those of a 2-dr but after seeing pics on this thread I'm happy to just weld the rear doors and not make a whole lot of work by shortening them and making the front longer. I'm still in two minds about leaving the post or making it a hardtop as I want to suicide the front doors. Without the post being connected to the roof I'm scared that, when open, the door's weight will cause it to twist/bend the 'half' post outwards. What is your view this?
Amen to that! All I ever read around here at the moment is the veterans *****ing about old ground being covered again - I can only imagine what we would be reduced to talking about if we weren't allowed to repeat ourselves every so often! As for the hardtop of suicide doors - I have a 4door 54 pontiac with the roof hacked off and I can see the affect its having on the door pillars, they bend and shake everytime I open and close the door, thats why Im going the route of the killa chev above and welding up the back doors, etc (which reminds me, if we hadnt revisited this topic none of us would have seen that killa car). I ***ume you are doing the same in which case there should be enough support on the back to avoid to much shift when you open and close the doors. Poorboydave suicided his pontiac without too many problems once he'd welded up the back doors nooch
The Jalopy Journal
