Not looking for a step by step although would b nice just wanting a few pointers I guess. Im going to attempt to chop my 37 ford pickup cab. I really think I have the ability just no direction. Watched tons of videos of other chops and kinda have an idea. I think just waiting for someone to tell me to quit crying and do it. Lol. Any advice is good for me. Im thinking 4 inches but maybe more. Anything to really look out for or not to do's? Thanks in advance.
top chop
- Thread starter b-rod
- Start date
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soltz
The Rat Captain
quit crying and do
"how do you get to carnagy hall, practice, practice, practice"
"how do you get to carnagy hall, practice, practice, practice"
05snopro440
Well-known member
Plan it out carefully and think it through before you cut anything. Otherwise you might end up with a convertible!
gold03
He lives in an "Altered State"!
Try this...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578435
Check out some of the chop threads here. Similar technique.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578435
Check out some of the chop threads here. Similar technique.
Old Iron
Well-known member
Make sure to put plenty of bracing in the cab before you cut anything loose.
Dry those tears, put on your big boy pants and get with the program [P
Dry those tears, put on your big boy pants and get with the program [P
Bonehead
Skull Master
It is only metal.... wack it.
cantwell.colton
Rat Rod Philosopher
[cl
[ddd!
Sunnybeach
Well-known member
If you are not "ready" to chop it, figure out something else to invest your time and money into.
Frame, Suspension, Breaks, Get it running, etc... All those things are more important than chopping it right at this moment.
Seen many a chopped cabs sitting after the "haircut" when interest wanes.
Frame, Suspension, Breaks, Get it running, etc... All those things are more important than chopping it right at this moment.
Seen many a chopped cabs sitting after the "haircut" when interest wanes.
Dirtyrat
Got Fins?
Step one is bracing everything up on the cab before cutting any metal.
sneakysnake
"There’s nothing new in originality"
Also make sure doors are adjusted and closing properly before you hack every loose.
IAM-LDS-2
Well-known member
In the back stay as close to the belt line as possible . Stay out of the curved areas as much as possible . When I chopped mine it was my first time and there was almost no online advice available . I made cardboard templates to help me visualize things . Worked for me .
Torchie
Well-known member
Here's my 2 cents.
Every thing stated so far is good advice. Door gap and bracing,templates, ect.
Other things to consider are amount of chop. Going thru the rear window or around it. Will you have to widen and lengthen the roof or to you want to lean back the A pillars.
Good marking and careful cutting makes putting it all back together easier. You can also post a good profile shot on the site and ask some one to photo shop it for you to give you an idea(if you haven't done this already) of roof height.
Yeah, they look cool with a low lid but having built and driven a few chopped cars, too low and they are no fun to drive. My current build has a 4 inch chop. That seems to be around the average for truck cabs.
Back when I started messing with cars(Very late 60's) only ones doing a chop job were the pros. Very few do it your selfer's. Now with the advent of mig style welders there are literaly hundreds of people chopping their own projects at home.
You will find it very satisfying.
Torchie.
Every thing stated so far is good advice. Door gap and bracing,templates, ect.
Other things to consider are amount of chop. Going thru the rear window or around it. Will you have to widen and lengthen the roof or to you want to lean back the A pillars.
Good marking and careful cutting makes putting it all back together easier. You can also post a good profile shot on the site and ask some one to photo shop it for you to give you an idea(if you haven't done this already) of roof height.
Yeah, they look cool with a low lid but having built and driven a few chopped cars, too low and they are no fun to drive. My current build has a 4 inch chop. That seems to be around the average for truck cabs.
Back when I started messing with cars(Very late 60's) only ones doing a chop job were the pros. Very few do it your selfer's. Now with the advent of mig style welders there are literaly hundreds of people chopping their own projects at home.
You will find it very satisfying.
Torchie.
donsrods
Well-known member
Every piece of info you have received so far has been right on the money, but let me add a couple of things.
There are a couple of ways to chop a top on a body like that. When you remove some metal and bring the top down to meet the lower piece you will see that the top is now a little short and possibly a little narrow to fit right. (Think pyramid, if you take a section out the top piece will no longer match up to the bottom piece.)
One way is to slice and dice the top piece either across it's width, then add a filler piece to make it long enough, or sometimes you have to cut it front to back too, to widen it.
The second method is to lay the windshield posts back somewhat to make the bottom piece short enough to match up. I prefer that method because it is less work IMO, and also it gives a swoopier roofline to the cab. If you do it that way you will need to take less metal out of the chop than just doing, say, a 4 inch section straight across. More than likely you will take 4 inches out of the back section and only 2.5 to 3 out of the windshield posts because you lose some height when you lay the posts back.
Can't stress enough about putting cross bracing in the cab before you make your first cut. If you don't brace it in every direction it will be like a wet noodle and go way out of shape. Have the bottom part of the cab securely bolted to your frame or some jig before you cut also.
Some people use a sawzall, some use a cutoff wheel, some a jig saw, and some use a hacksaw. You may use one of each for cutting various places as that tool will fit in there better than the others. When you start putting the top back on use lots of clamps and tack it in lots of places, rather than making one long weld (warpage).
I like to mark off your proposed cut out area with masking tape, then drawing lines with a permanent marker to define the cut line. I will try to find some pictures of a 39 Dodge pickup cab we chopped a long time ago, to show you what I said above.
Don
Ok, found some pictures. Here you can see how much we were going to remove from the back and how little from the front:
Here is some of the bracing we put in:
Windshield post laid back:
There are a couple of ways to chop a top on a body like that. When you remove some metal and bring the top down to meet the lower piece you will see that the top is now a little short and possibly a little narrow to fit right. (Think pyramid, if you take a section out the top piece will no longer match up to the bottom piece.)
One way is to slice and dice the top piece either across it's width, then add a filler piece to make it long enough, or sometimes you have to cut it front to back too, to widen it.
The second method is to lay the windshield posts back somewhat to make the bottom piece short enough to match up. I prefer that method because it is less work IMO, and also it gives a swoopier roofline to the cab. If you do it that way you will need to take less metal out of the chop than just doing, say, a 4 inch section straight across. More than likely you will take 4 inches out of the back section and only 2.5 to 3 out of the windshield posts because you lose some height when you lay the posts back.
Can't stress enough about putting cross bracing in the cab before you make your first cut. If you don't brace it in every direction it will be like a wet noodle and go way out of shape. Have the bottom part of the cab securely bolted to your frame or some jig before you cut also.
Some people use a sawzall, some use a cutoff wheel, some a jig saw, and some use a hacksaw. You may use one of each for cutting various places as that tool will fit in there better than the others. When you start putting the top back on use lots of clamps and tack it in lots of places, rather than making one long weld (warpage).
I like to mark off your proposed cut out area with masking tape, then drawing lines with a permanent marker to define the cut line. I will try to find some pictures of a 39 Dodge pickup cab we chopped a long time ago, to show you what I said above.
Don
Ok, found some pictures. Here you can see how much we were going to remove from the back and how little from the front:
Here is some of the bracing we put in:
Windshield post laid back:
Last edited:
BillM
Well-known member
Don is (as always) right on the money....and if I might add.....block your current view with some cardboard down to the "proposed" amount of chop you want and drive it. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get over-zealous and make it a "not so nice" drive afterward........
...just my two cents.....
...just my two cents.....
kenny c
Well-known member
don't forget it's not just the view, it's also comfort, as in seating position and leg room. As seat position lowers your feet have to be situated further forward. If you are tall or have long legs it can get cramped real quick.
catfish
Member
dont know how old this has been poasted but one big way to do it is a little till you get what you wont,dont chop to much at a time.this is the way i do mine.
MercuryMac
Builder Junky!
hi b-rod. I like all of the advice given so far. One thing that has not been mentioned is that a '37 cab is already 2" shallower than a '38 to '47 in the window area. I have not chopped a cab yet, but I've imagineered and measured a lot. I thought I would have to make a '36 drivers door out of a '47 door so I measured everything I could. Hope I'm on time to save you from chopping a way too much out of your truck.
Keep on tinkering.
Keep on tinkering.
christcrusader13
Zip-Tie Mechanic
u guys are on it! Dream about it, make sure you can't live without it, BRACE it measure it ... chop it!
I-R-POPS
''Rusty Mopar Slacker''
Sounds like a sermon of sorts but you left out the praying.
