choppin' a top, how much is too much

[rodknocker]

I was thinking of choppin' the top on my 69 chevelle project for a lower leaner appearance. I'm gonna smooth the body,door handles and locks anyway so it wouldn't be any more trouble really.....now is the time. Any opinions, or has anyone seen a chevelle done this way that can give me some pointers???? also thinking of recontouring the rear wheel wells to show more tire, whatcha think? Thanks

[third base]

I don't know about the contouring of the wheel wells, but, I would definitely chop it. I have never seen one done like that and think it would look awsome! Please keep us posted. See if someone here can photochop it for you. Good Luck! :yeah:

[paul67]

You will need a spare roof to take up the gaps when lowering, as the roof will get stretched the lower you go because of the contures, or some that has a english wheel and knows how to use it.
paul67

[paul67]

Also the biggest problem when chopping a roof is refitting the front and back glass, what some people do is lower the glass lip into the fire wall.
paul67

[rodknocker]

the glass shouldn't be a problem, I'm using speed glass. The speed glass comes oversized anyway, so it has to be cut to fit. I think I am going to go ahead and flush mount the glass also while I am at it. I really like that look and it shouldn't be much of a problem after choppin' the top. How much should I take off, I was thinking about 4-5 inches would be nice or is this too much?

[boodlefoof]

Hey Rodknocker,

I recently did a chop-top on my Datsun Z project! You may have seen the post in the "project updates" section. It actually wasn't as difficult as expected... just took some planning. It was particularly difficult with the Datsun because of the sloped hatch back... I wanted to maintain a seamless looking curve.

I put a writeup on my website of how I went about doing it (link below and go to "project racer-Z" then to "bodywork")... I ended up raking the windshield. I don't know if you are interested in doing that with yours, but if you did... you wouldn't require a second roof to fill the gap.

At the b-pillar though, you might have to fabricate some metal to smooth out the transition where you've cut. When you lower it, you'll have a "step" so to speak between the top half and the bottom half where you've cut out a section.

Keep us posted on the Speed Glass. I've been looking at the possibility of using that for my windshield (since there is no way my stock glass is going to fit). And be sure to post pics if you chop it!

[rodknocker]

My garage runneth over.......... I am in the process of building that 5k Goat, and now I take on something else. I must be a glutton for punishment. still, I just wanna see that chevelle chopped really bad.....thanks for the help guys and keep it comin' if youve got an opinion or idea.