I keep looking at these doors and wonder if there is anything wrong with chopping the doors first, then the body shell later? There will be more time spent on the doors and garnish moldings, just wondering if anyone else did the doors first. Bob
If it was mine here's how I would do it: Bolt body to a solid square frame. Hang doors on body, shim body on frame as needed and get doors aligned. Tack weld all kinds of bracing in the body. Cut door tops off front doors, leaving top hinge attached to lower section. Cut tops off rear doors. Since top hinge will go with top, tack weld doors in place. Chop top and complete all welds. Finish chop doors.
You have a point there, the shell will look like a tool shed build with six 2x4's toe nailed to the sill swaying in the breeze. I've got a lot of other things to work on before the Saws-All comes out, that reminds me that is another item on the misplaced list. Bob
It's a lot easier to fine-adjust two posts on the doors to fit each hole than it is to adjust six posts on the roof to fit four different doors.
If it were my car I would chop the body first,I think fitting the doors to the body would be easier. HRP
Ok, the Saws-All is still misplaced the chop can take place sometime in the summer. Blast the shell, prime it and install the top wood kit, square things and weld in the braces after all the doors are fit. Bob
Are you going to stretch the front of the roof or slant the windshield posts? If stretching the roof, I'd probably hold off on installing the top wood kit until after the chop. If slanting the posts, then having the wood kit in would be fine.
The post slant is one feature I really want. Only rot in the sills is back were the wheel wells are, and that gets cut out for the new ones that will clear the '32 frame kick ups. No, I don't have a '32 frame yet, so many things that need to be done in the proper order. Really looking forward to some day when all the bits are together in primer. Bob
oh boy, you need a chopper's triangle, because your windshield is tilted back... .... Tape a piece of paper to your garage window, shim your car so the beltlines are level... draw a level horizontal line, then a vertical line intersecting it on the paper... from the horizontal line up, mark the amount you want to "chop" on the vertical line... example ; 3" ... place your angle finder against the windshield, mark it... place the angle finder against the paper flush with the "chop mark" at the w/s's angle... trace the line down from the chop mark through the base line at that angle... ... the vertical line tells you how much you should chop the rear of the door post, B pillar, rear doors, rear quarters... ... the angled line tells you how much to cut from the door's front post and the A pillar... ... the short line along the base tells you how much to ADD to the door top and roof... careful ; ***ling the w/s posts back to make up the difference pooches the w/s to filler panel [bowtie] fit... note your slant windshield has a groove stamped in it's bowtie just for that... more angle needs deeper groove.. ... chop on !
chopping the rear quarters ; i cut the pillars and verticals on the rear window...as level as possible... about 1" out into the skin with a sawzall,[new blade]... trace a centered line at 1/2 of your desired chop... with a metal cutting blade in a sabersaw, i cut down from the upper sawzall cut [C pillar] to the centered line and across to 3" before the rear window then cutting up to the rear window's upper sawzall cut... ...Always cut the top cuts first as it keeps things a little more rigid for the second cut... now cut from the lower sawzall cut, up to the centerline, across to 3" before the R/W and down to the lower rear window vertical cut... repeat on the B side... after all pillars are cut and fit lower the roof panel down over the body... roof overlaps the body... tack all pillars, then tack the inner and outer overlapped seams, slide the sabersaw into the 1" of sawzall cut, cut across along the centered line... grind tacks and remove the s****s... top is bigger so depending on how much chop, you may need to cut a V from the chop line up about 4" ... **** welding should go well as you cut both pcs. at the same time, the sabersaw's gap is about right... ... chop on ! ...
top chop ; door and quarter window verticals... after the outer skin is tacked, i cut from the chop line up into the chopped upper half, parralell to the tacked outer skin and up to the door top's radius then down to the body half's radius... then i clamp a straight edge against the gl*** surface, this requires spreading the top gap and grinding a wider gap so the bottom can be gently crushed to keep the outside right, and the gl*** surface smooth... when all is cool, weld the vertical gaps... this will make installing gl*** a breeze.... chop on !
I fit a body to some chopped doors once, from experience it is way easier to fit the doors to the body than it is to fit the body to the doors. It sounds pretty simple bolt the doors in and cut the roof and drop it down on the doors but for some reason it just doesn't work out as easy as it sounds.
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