chopped pickup question

[jeremy_e87]

hello everyone...this is my first post but i've been browsing around this forum for awhile. i recently became very interested in building a "rat rod" i like the idea of using what's available to build a hot rod and each one is different. i also like the look of them. most of the ones i've seen are chopped so i have a few questions. 1) does anyone have pics of unchopped rat rod pickups(i would like to see any pictures of rat rods though)? 2) how many inches is a good chop? 3) is there any way you don't have to use more than 1 cab to chop? thanks for any info

[Itoldyouso]

What year???

Don

[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.

[Itoldyouso]

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

Don

[Itoldyouso]

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.

[Itoldyouso]

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.

[Itoldyouso]

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.

[Itoldyouso]

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.

[Itoldyouso]

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

[35Harvester]

[jeremy_e87]

hey guys thanks for your pictures and all

[Leestoys]

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

[TRUCKENSTEIN]

Why do you take more out of the rear of the cab than the front? Wouldn't that make the cab tilt to the rear?
If you cut the cab side to side and front to rear how hard is it to get lined up after. I seen in the pics that the roof on that truck lined up well,,is it absolutely necessary to cut it front to rear?

[Dave Severson]

Before you do a lot of cutting, make some black and white copies of a picture of your project and chop it with a scissors and scotch tape, first.....

[Itoldyouso]

I've been trying to respond to Truckensteins question, but have been either getting "service unavailable" or "p something is filled up" I just got it now again, but then it went through. Forum server must be on Holiday.


Anyway, why did we chop more out of the rear than the front? It is because we chose to slant the windshield back to meet the now shorter portion of remaining top. If we had added a filler piece to the top to make it long enough to reach the old position, we could have simply whacked an even 5 inch slice all around, and it would have met up. But, by slanting the posts back, we needed the extra metal left in the posts to bridge that gap. It saved us from having to patch in another piece of steel.

I know that is not totally clear, but in essence, we did chop an even 5 inches out of the top all the way around. However, when you slant the windshield back, you lose some of the height of that post (just imagine if you take an upright post and start leaning it on an angle, it is less tall than it was standing straight up). I may have confused you by saying we chopped 5 out of the rear and less out of the front. The chop is actually a consistant 5 inches, but we just left more metal in the posts to make up for what we lost leaning them back.

I know I rambled in that explanation, but it is hard to explain. Here are some shots of the chop, look at the side picture, and envision what would happen when the posts get laid back. If we had cut 5 inches out of them, we would have come up short on metal to meet up.

Hope this helps clear this up.


Don