[knighthawk]

I know there are alot of ''chop'' threads and questions, but... I'd like to know if anyone has chopped a "48 Dodge 4dr post " with suicide doors,. I did a pick up once , so I know the basics. Question is, with the center door posts, I'm assuming the top can't can't be shifted ???

[pasadenahotrod]

Dig around on the 'net and I'm sure you'll find some pictures of some chopped D24 Dodge 4doors. I've seen several over the years at rod runs and swap meets,

[home brew]

I think you could shift the top but you would have to angle the B Posts forward like the C post. That would make the front of the back door look a bit strange I think. You could also shift the top but would have to cut out above the rear door and back window before the shift and then join that section back up to the top. This would allow you to keep the B pillars straight. Hard to get the top and the sides to line up again. Either way I think it would be more work than just lengthening the top.

[knighthawk]

I'm thinking, I need to keep the '' B '' pillers straight, lenghtening the roof is a good idea. The rear window is the problem that I can see ! There's not much room around it , especially the bottom, to get the hump out. Homebrew, have you ever chopped one, by cutting out the roof tin before you start, then building it , more or less, with just a frame ? as long as it would get cut up alot by streching and widening. Then just put the tin back on, and fill in where it's short.

[home brew]

I haven't done one! I have seen guys lengthen tops after chopping. It is not that hard. The Tex Smith book on chopping is a good one to get. It shows lots of different techniques. If you are not going to shift the top chopping a four door will be very similar to chopping any other top. You just have four doors that need to be fit rather than two.

Check out these links for more info:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search

[knighthawk]

I've got most of the cuts figured out for the chop ( '48 Dodge 4dr ) with the rear quarter window, the most difficult. After i lower it and pull the top forward, to flatten the rear window, it's going to leave an area at the top of the trunk, I don't think will look right, the trunk has a slight up turn in it right at the top. Do you think it's possible to kinda pancake the top portion of the trunk ????

[home brew]

Yes it would be possible to do something like that. I think you will not have enough material there though. You will probably have to add to the top or the trunk to fill the gap created by pulling the top forward. As well you have to do some metal shaping to get everything lined up. You could look at doing a pie cut in the top's quarter panels as well as to help tilt the rear window down.

For those who do not know what a 48 Dodge 4 door rear looks like I have posted a pic below.

I know that there have been several threads on the HAMB that have dealt with difficult chops. Trying doing a search for four door chops.

[shine]

boy, talk about a tuff choice of cars to chop. this is one of those that it's best to take out in the window. by doing the chop in the rear window the trunk transition does not change . but it will take a lot of work to do the 1/4 window area. but then there are very few easy chops. 1 to 10 your working on an 8. lot of work. good luck with it.

[knighthawk]

I understand all the pie cuts and filling, but the main concern , I guess is , if I try to flatten the top of the trunk to make it ''flow'' with the lowered roof line, it's probabley not going match the side to side curve of the window. Plus, I'll have to remove the trunk seal lip ( whatever thats called)and inside layer of the trunk lid itself,,,,,, I just have a hard time looking that far ahead.........

[knighthawk]

O K , picture this; leave the top anchored at the top of the trunk , pull it forward from the front, which will pull the rear window area forward and down, leaving a high spot at the top of the trunk, kinda like a pivot point.. If I could, imagine having the pivot half way down the trunk lid, pulling the top ( of the trunk lid ) down flatter with it. Does this make sense to you ??? That 's what I'm trying to figure out !!

[Mrwood]

I dont see where your trunk will have any affect on chopping the top. Looks to me like you have many options to look at, but you should not even come close to the trunk area.

[pasadenahotrod]

Until you have solved the rear glass "problem" at least on paper, don't cut that car. We've lost way too many good cars to wanna-be-chopped-car-owner-builders in the last 30 years even if it is a 4door.

[Mrwood]

Check out this site, you may find one like yours. http://carnut.com/photo/photo.html

[knighthawk]

I hate to admit this, but you're right. I don't think I can lower the window very much , because of the side to side curve of the glass. I'm trying to get rid of the bump at the top of the trunk. How about if I put a filler piece OVER the low spot on the trunk lid, so instead of dipping down , it would be kinda straight ?

[boatbob2]

hi ,i saw a 59 chev chopped 4 inches,what he did was split the top in half move the front half forward and down,and then move the back part rearward and down,i think it left a 13 inch gap in the center to be filled. i wpuld take a photo of the side of the car,blow up the photo (no,not the car) have the photo blown up larger,chop the photo top using scissors,and see what will work. im boatbob2