Thread: chopped pickup question

Tweet

mmm...i'm not sure yet lol i've been looking and just have to get one. i know it'll be late 30's or early 40's...one of the smaller cabs but it wont be so old that the front posts are straight. something to the likes of a 46 ford...that cab style.

We'll it's a '39 Dodge, not a Ford, but here is the one I'm building.

Don

Jeremy: Here are the pictures I promised you in our PM's. I can't figure out how to post to them, so here they are here. The first picture is off the stock height truck before chopping. We have marked off the area with tape where we will cut 5 inches out in the rear and 3 and 1/2 in the windshield. The second picture is after we cut the top off for the first time.

Before you cut, be sure to brace the body well as it will become misaligned and move as soon as the top is gone.

The third picture is more of the cutting work being done.

Once you have a reasonably close cut made and have removed the desired amount, you can start trial fitting the top back on. This will tell you how much you have to finese the metal to get it to match back up.


Those clamps you are seeing in the picture are holding the separated panels in somewhat of temporary alignment to let us see where we are and what we needed to do.

To get the windshield to lay back we removed the dash and pie cut the bottom and top of the windshield and laid it back to meet the top. I like the looks of a slanted chop more than a straighter windshield. Just a personal preference.

To move metal around, you have to use whatever you can, like portapowers, and even load binding straps. Here we are pulling the windshield into alignment as it was crooked slightly.

The second picture is after the pie cuts were welded up.

The 3rd picture shows the top after it had been on and off about 20 times, starting to fit better. We would trim a hair off and try it again until we got a tight joint all the way around.

And these 3 pictures show the top almost done and starting to fit pretty well.

We still have the doors to do, but those are a piece of cake compared to the top.

The older Chevy you are talking about should be much easier, as it is more square. Hope these help.

Don

Originally Posted by jeremy_e87

mmm...i'm not sure yet lol i've been looking and just have to get one. i know it'll be late 30's or early 40's...one of the smaller cabs but it wont be so old that the front posts are straight. something to the likes of a 46 ford...that cab style.

If you do decide on a 46 ford pickup, I have a couple extra cabs left over. A late 70s or early 80s chevy pickup chassis is just a hair narrower, and with a few shims works quite well. For the top, I would split the top front to back in the center, and then side to side, making for quarters. Chop the posts, and weld them bach together. Then fill the center of the top in. This way allows you to bring the top down straight, or put a slight rake to it. Remember to attach braces while you do this, because the cab will try to spread out when you remove the top