Slomotion: I am the proud owner of a 1950 F-1 Ford P/U which, like the song "she is chopped and channeled and stroked and bored" but not a Little Deuce Coupe.
I think the term Channeling is a bit more generic than to suggest that there was any one specific way to get the body lower on the frame. You can also get a similar effect by modifying the frame itself. In the back of my truck, I raised the shackle attachment points and flattened the spring leaves to get the body lower over the frame. I lowered it about 9" in total this way. As a result, I had to weld in a "C" notch in the frame to allow the axle to clear the frame. Additionally, you can "z" the frame, meaning that a part of the frame is lowered under the body of the car so that the body sits lower relative to the ground. Think of it as though you cut the frame in half and weld the top of one section to what was the bottom before. This is pretty easy to do for the back part of the frame because the "Z" is done in the fender well area where there is room to raise the level of the frame and any channeling is restricted to the trunk or in my case the truck bed area. I compensated by raising the floor of the truck inside of the box. The box sits relative to the cab where is should but the bottom of the truck box is higher inside the box than is standard. In front, it is most common to lower the graft point of the frame to a front clip. For instance, in my truck, I welded in a Gen1 Camaro clip and got it lowered about 6" just in the welding and another 3" in wheel and tire size. I still have stock suspension height at the bottom of the suspension and the springs are uncut at stock height and a very good ride with a front sway bar. In fact, I have less than a pack of cigarettes clearance under the back of the front fenders but have almost no body roll in the corners. I drive it like it was a sports car. If you plan this out carefully, you can get a lot of lowereing done without disturbing the interior of the body. I think the techniques I described above would pass for channeling.
If you are really interested in the history of Channeling, I suggest you go over to the Jalopy Journal website and get onto the HAMB (Hokey *** Message Board) section and ask a question about Channeling. The board is frequented by a crowd of guys who invented the term hot rodding and built the first rods. They know a tremendous amount about the craft. Their help was invaluable to me when I did my project.
[ December 12, 2002: Message edited by: F-1Rodder ]</p>