i need ideas on how to chop a top on a 52 chevy fleetline(fast back)

well hello every body i need help my first top chop and i dont realy know witch way i sould do it im confused i checd out 50chevy.com and got some ideas but i need a veteren top choper

yeah i picked a good top for my first why not a 30 model a, it would be so much easier but i like the fleetline but if anyone can help just post away i need all the help i can get thanx alot

 

Welcome to the HAMB we only need a few thousand more from Wisconsin And there will be as many of us as Californians

 

Welcome to the H.A.M.B.!

Got any pics of your project?

Check out the threads on sticky lifters 50 fleetline chop, should be very similar to your 52 in concept.

Original Post
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72325&&showall=1

Live Updates
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77976&&showall=1

PArt 2
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82015&&showall=1

Tech Post
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78310&&showall=1

MArkX Fleetline
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39235&&showall=1

Tex Smith's book "How to Chop Tops" has lot of good info

This area is for intros, if you have more questions post them in the main forum.
Hope that helps.

 

thanx alot man that gas monkey car is what im looking to do i already bout tex smith's book i've read it about 20 times i have a good idea on what to do it seems like droping the deck lid into the trunk is the best way and 50chevy.com is awsome i've been looking at that for a long time now but after spring break i'll have some pics up but the top aint geting cut yet i'm waiting for my dad to get better cuzz i know it will mean alot to him if he helps me build this car but i'll have some pics soon well thanx for that that should help me out alot

and also with 50chevy.com how do i become a member cuzz i'm gonna take a lot of pics of this as i go along so other people can get a step by step on the fleetlines but the car isnt scaring me that much any more i spent alot of time staring at it but i would like to poast my car on 50chevy but i dont know how thanx for the help man peace

 

email me pics of your car and I will post them on www.50chevy.com

 

welcome and good luck

 

Welcome from a fellow "52er", good luck!!!

 

hey sorry guys i havent been on in a while, my dad is getting worse so my project in on hold and i havent had time to do anything these past few months, but im gonna do some work on her this weekend. i got to get her running so i can drive her cuz i aint got anywhere to put her since my dad sold his house in the north woods, but i'll get some pics up next week

and i was wondering cuzz i went to advanced auto for the electrical shit for the motor and they couldnt find a 6 volt coil for it so i got a 12, im just wondering if it will work or if it will fuck anything up and if ya have any tips on getting her started id be grateful, i already know she aint getting spark wich im working on that this weekend

oh tips on how to get the brakes to work with no money or little money involved when the pedals is to the floor

thanx for all ur help

and i'll keep the duct tape thing in mind

 

If the brake is to the floor you probably have a bad line. put some fluid in it and chek if you can find the leak. Hopefully you will get lucky and it will be just a line that you can replace. good luck and i hope your pops gets better.

 

the piston or what ever u want to call it in the master was seized up but a bit of some penetrating oil help and i took the blow gun and blew it through the line it got it pumping and all four of the wheel solenoids were bad so i took two out of a 84 buick that we have siting in the back, and since my truck became a camaro doner mainly the motor, but i took the two out of that and she has four working brakes and they all fit like a glove. it was amazing driveing her last weekend every one was saying im gonna drive it and want to pull the motor out of it rite away but i like haveing the straight six in it, it mite be slow but its not a race car shes a cruzer

ps all the lines r now new cuzz every time i took her out of the shop to take a drive a line blew so all of the metal lines r spanking new

 

I've got a '51 Chevy Fastback -- had it for 10 years and it has been on the road since 2002. One of my buddies in my home room in high school had a Fastback (1958) and I've loved the shape of these cars ever since. I've only seen two (2) chopped Fastbacks that I have liked: (1) The first I saw at the Oakland show in 1998. I think he called it "Gold Dust" or something like that. (2) The second I saw in Austin at the Lone Star Rod & Custom Roundup in 2004 -- it was done by Gas Monkey Garage from Dallas. I talked with one of the owners of Gas Monkey, and it seems that the chop had been done by an employee, and it was the first he ever did on a Fastback. I've attached a shot of the Gas Monkey car. If I remember correctly, what the fellow did was to cut the amount out of the posts, and slide the top forward. I've sent 4 shots of the car. Notice in the shots of the rear that there is a little shelf (sort of a lump) between the rim of the body underneath the trunk and the rear bumper to fill in the difference when they slid the top forward.

I would suggest making the rear windows fixed. When you get to this point, post a message and I'll let you know how I did mine.

 

You might want to have someone who has chopped that body style looking over your shoulder and helping you, since its your first one. Its not hard to chop a car, but its hard to do it right.

 

That would be ME............. it was just a bit more complicated than that....... you can see the car @ 50chevy.com

 

yeah i printed some pics of ur car and sat and stared at the pics and stared at mine i have a good idea on what to do but the hard thing is to find some place to do it now that my dad had to sell his place. but i found a place to store her this winter and in spring when i get my privlage of driving back shes gonna be my daily driver, and if i can find the money to take a road trip im gonna drive her down to one of the shows in the west coast and maybe find some nice guys down there to loan me there shop and maybe give me a hand with choping her but i think im hopeing for to much there but idk i'll see what happens

 

thats the thing, no one in wisconson has choped a fleetline or slant back car befor i know a few that have done stylelines and tudor cupes but no fleetlines so im kinda s.o.l. with that one but its only metal and it can be replaced and beat around and my father always told me i have to be smarter than metal which that i now am the problem was witch way i should chop her but thatnks for the tips

 

yeah my dad and i built a 49 fleetline but ever since then ive been hooked on that style, i had a choice of a realy nice solid styleline that i wouldnt have to do any metal work on the floors or rockers and a 51-52 chevy fleetline that needs floors rockers quarters and fenders but the fleetline needed the help so i got my baby shes gonna be a learning tool to me and many others, every one says that car is a waste of my time and money but i see no car as a waste

thanxs for the info but shes not getting choped for a while now but thanks anyways

 

Personally, after seeing how much harder it is the chop a fleetline, I would not do it for my first chop unless you are already really good at body work. I was at Mark's (Stickylifter) HAMB chop and it was a ton of work more than any other car to chop, and most of it was bodywork not to the top. Its a great looking car however now that its done.

Because of the fastback roofline, both the fleetlines I have seen chopped that looked good had sunk the entire roofline/trunkline into the car to keep the roofs flow. The quarters were cut, the entire top and trunk sunk several inches, then sheetmetal used to fill in the gaps. With the tops of the quarters at stock height, this ends up giving the rear end a finned look. Its absolutely tons of extra work though.

Because of how the heavy crossmember in the bottom of the trunk at the rear where the lip is, it limits how much you can wack out of the top also unless you are going to do an angled chop. Becaue of the extra crown in the fleetline roof, I would do this and keep the stock glass if I was ever going to shop mine. There is about 4-5 inches on top of my windshield that the glass could go up into and not hurt anything.

I ended up channelling my 49 fleetline instead of chopping it. Even with the 6" channel there is tons of headroom.

 

yeah i see where ur going with that, but the metal work doesnt scare me im awesome at that, its the fact that i got the car from my dad. i've only got two things from my dad one is a mac tools 57 chevy tool box that i love and that car, he tells me just to take all the good shit off of it and find a new one but that car has sentimental value to me. but the other night the cricket in my house keept me up all night and i started to draw and what i came up with looks really cool so im gonna drop it and fixx the rust and leave it at that for a while, and find another fleetline to tinker with the top and if all goes well then i'll have two choped fleetlines and i'll have a driving resumae.

but thanxs for all the help