Taking the plunge, chopping the Hudson. The "Panty Dropper" gets a haircut...

So, I've been wanting to do this for the 9 years I've owned the car. I've photoshopped and photoshopped, from different angles, trying to get a handle on the best way to chop the car. I've been told SO MANY TIMES not to chop it, and that Hudsons look chopped from the factory, blah blah blah. The car always looked *almost* right to me, and 2 inches worth of vertical drop would really clean the lines up.

Last week, I decided to take the plunge. Here's what I started with:



The first step was to remove all the glass.



I carefully laid out the cut lines. Hudsons have a really nice body line where the roof meets the body, and I wanted to keep that. I wanted the chop to look factory. So many guys smooth the line between the roof and the body on chopped cars, eliminating factory reveals and body lines, and I've always thought it looked sloppy that way.

I figured that if I cut out the back portions of the rear side windows and set them aside, and then cut out the entire body line area around the rear of the car, I could sink the roof into the body at the package tray area, move the transition peice up to meet the roof, and then fill the gap that opens at the back.

Front:



Back:

 

Now that everything is laid out, it's time to start cuttng.
I braced the interior and cut the door tops off. Those will be dealt with later.






The next step was to cut out the rear corners of the back side windows for use later. Rather than cut directly through them and then have to fabricate new corners, I just cut the whole thing out.




After both corners were cut, I figured the next step should be to cut along the back, then the A pillars, then the B pillars last.

I used a cut off wheel on an angle grinder for some of the cutting and a Sawzall for other bits.



The top comes off!!!

 

I then cut 2 inches of vertical drop out of the A pillars, which worked out to 2.5 inches of lineal drop, and trial fit the roof:




Next, I cut out the reveal line that I wanted to keep, the transition between the trunk area of the body and the roof. I measured and cut.





Then, the A pillars were pie cut on the inside edges, to let them bend a bit, and the roof was tacked in place in the front.





This shot shows how moving the body line forward will keep the line untouched, and open a 4 inch area at the back of the car, just ahead of the trunk to be filled. This basically sections 3 inches out of the rear of the roof under the window, and moves the rear window forward 4 inches. The roof line will still be incredibly long, but not rediculously so...



And finally (for now), here's a side shot showing the height of the side window openings, and a general line of the roof. A big improvement for sure.



More later...

 

Thats great. Keep the progress pics comin. I'm in the same boat with my Stude, that back window is intimidating, tho. You make it look easy.

 

Dude.. a chopped Hudson. You're an animal!

Looks great!

 

After you took the roof off, were you tempted to leave it as a convertible. I like the lines.

BC

 

no. not even a bit.

If I was gonna do that, I'd start with a 4 door. I'm doing that (more or less) with the 39 Zephyr behind the Hudson.

 

I love chopped Hudsons....Look foward to seeing it done..

 

that is spot on perfect!

 

That poor old car, you're a genious.Badass.

 

Cool.....lots of work, you make it look easy!

 

I am diggin it. Looks like its nicely done ...

 

I was screaming oh please no! Then i saw it .... the chop fits the car perfectly awsome job

 

Lookeeeng good. From the top the back looks almost as round as a VW bug or a Navion airplane.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

Looking GREAT! Keep us updated!

 

I can't even tell you how many times I heard "Are you sure you really want to chop the car?" or "Don't do it, you'll ruin it"...

The car only is getting cut 2 inches. I'm not chopping it for the sake of chopping, I'm doing it to improve the lines a bit. Take the "bubble" out of the back end of the car...

Thanks for all the kind words. Now the hard part begins....

Hopefully, it shouldn't be TOO much work, because with only a 2 inch chop, the angles created aren't that severe. Just a little clean up here and there and she should be good to go.

Like I've said, I've been planning this for 9 years. ha ha

 

NICE MERC!!!
Just kidding, I'll bet you get that a lot.
Looks fantastic

 

personally i think merc guys are drooling and wondering why they don't have a hudson instead

 

Lookin good Keith, thats some sweet ride, love the shape..............OLDBEET

 

Yeah, it really does have a nice dome. It tapers so much in the back, unlike many other cars. I just want to get the car to flow...seamlessly from front to back.

The Hudson was the first car to really radically change styling after the war, a year before Ford and Mercury, and I wanted to accentuate the "slip stream - jet age" look...

 

Nice job, that was well thought out and requires minimal metal fabrication. That is just the right amount of chop, the end result looks like it was chopped more than it really was, that little bit went a long way.

 

Wow. My first response would be NOT to chop it, but you did a great job with the proportions, and it will look great finished. The smartest thing you did was to resist the urge to chop too much. I think that is where a lot of guys screw up, by taking out too much, instead of just enough.

 

I like it. It looks like you could take an inch out of that rear side window end piece, and it would look even better. On the stock top, it had a funny radius anyway.

 

That's the plan. I'll section that piece 3/4 of an inch and that should tighten up the radius a bit, and give me a bit more length in the window. In all, that back side window will shorten by 4 inches.

 

...such an improvement! the lines are SO much better now...i'm still waiting to bump into you at a car show.


-marty

 

Thanks Beetle. you shoulda been here though...

Perhaps next week?

 

Ha Ha, for sure. Especially a hudson with a BB Ford.

 

We can start on the glass, maybe next week? Also will be doin louvers on Feb 2.

 

sweet. great work. good luck with the rest

 

I think you nailed it.