Customs What’s involved in chopping a 1955 Ford Customline?

Chopping a 1955 Ford Customline sedan.

I know you can use the windshield from a hardtop car and it looks like a factory chop.

What about the back glass?

I know there are some folks on here that have swapped a hardtop roof.

What are the tricks to chopping one of these?

Asking for a friend….

 

I saw a local car a few years back that just sank the rear window down into the package tray/trunk area. This was a 55 Ford sedan. I don't recall all the details but I do remember I did not think it was the best method.

 

Rough measurements off online pics suggest that the side windows lean inwards at around 10°. That will affect everything else. A 3" chop would require that the roof would need to be about an inch wider.

I can think of two ways to tackle the windscreen: either tilt it back about the midpoint of its bottom edge, and trim accordingly, which is likely to make it about ¾" too narrow across the bottom and require some subtle modifications to hide that ⅜" step either side; or simply cut from the top and reconstruct the top of the opening to suit. The former could hypothetically work for the backlight too, but it might be easier, and possibly more appropriate to the build, to panel up most of it, reducing the rear window to a small rectangle or half-oval in the middle.

 

Are the back windows on the hardtops smaller or the same height?

 

Find a copy of How To Chop Tops by Tex Smith.

 

The '56 hardtops had a different roof contour altogether. The rear window is laid down more and isn't as curved side-to-side. A complete swap would look pretty cool, but would require a bunch of work. The '55 Ford hardtops were pretty much the same as the sedans, only the convertible and Crown got the lower roof. I believe the '55 Mercs hardtops also got the lower roof, another possible donor.

 

Chris, you might try contacting @travisfromkansas
He has/had a car that had this done to it. >>>>