Traded for chop top 51 chevy. Incomplete.

[Dawai]

Traded some Harley parts for this.. wasn't free. but cheaper than a weekend in Florida. The young guy who had it was Military, and really concerned for me to be happy with the deal. (good guy)







I'll be needing some help.. (by the way).. I got the door upper frames in the trunk to lay in at a angle.. the patches on the rear fender on the pass side is 1/4" gap and tacked in... not fit up real good.

Yeah, it's a shell.. nothing under the hood. No firewall, original junk suspension. I got plenty of chevy parts thou..

It'd make good meet build materiel.

This guy on Hamb, his looks pretty darned good.. I saved his video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpETQ...eature=channel

Anybody got any good advice?

[carryallman]

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN ?LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF WORK ? gooood luck

[Hotrod1932]

Neat trade buddy! That thing has got a ton of potential!!! Shame I'm not closer, I'm sure the two of us could at least beat it to death!

[Dawai]

Not a lot of filler in it. There is still lots of rust to fix.

The window frames is what has me slowed down and asking for help.
I got three of my own in front of this one, so it's fixing to get a brand new silver tarp.. (when Porky moves his EL Camino out) Deep storage.

(it'll look good on the auction brochure when I pass)

The 57GMC is build priority.. still gotta lay on my back and bench press the T5.. I had to pick up the Harley yesterday and carry it into the building, so a ramp was priority today, concrete is drying..

I do have the scrap man looking for a frame clip, or S10 frame for this one.
She's going to have to lay on the ground, meaning even the rear wheel wells have to chop and raise. Air bags.. A chopped car just don't look right as high off the ground as a jeep.

[custommetal]

Looks like a great project. I am finishing chopping the top on my 56 chevy PU so can add a few points.

A S-10 pickup has a 55" front wheel base. I grafted the front frame section onto my 41 ford coupe frame and the wheels fit just right under the fenders. The 51 seems to have the same wide nose.

Cut the window frames in any straight section available and in as many pieces as you need. It appears the a pillar will have to be laid back. sometimes it is easier to get an idea of what is needed if you make a cardboard template of the window opening as it is, then lay the existing door frame on top and you should have a good idea of where to cut and trim.

If the body just sits on the frame, get some angle iron and reinforce the interior to prevent the sides from moving when the doors are open and closed. you need the structural strength until the body is reinforced with a firewall, floors, door posts etc.

If you have an old windshield now is the time to cut it and check the fit. You don't want to have to play with the opening after the bodywork is complete. I used the old windshield in my truck (had a stone chip) and cut it to fit the new opening. It is a wrap around design so was a bit harder to cut. Turned out whoever had done work on the truck previously had never put the windshield in correctly and I missed the fit so needless to say after cutting it was fine except for the wrap around corners--missed by 3/8". at least now I have a better pattern and did get to fine tune the opening flange before any more bodywork.

I will be posting pics of my top chop when I have time. Enjoy your new ride.

[Dawai]

Hi.

I recently put a windshield in my 57 GMC.. was a ordeal I had never done before.. lots of palm strikes, about six hours worth. They make a gasket with a tail on it, you get the top started and pull the tail, along with a string across the lip and it all works in place.. them sides are where most people break them. Mine is not chopped, but I had windshield post damage on the drivers side I had to port-a-power.

HURRAH on this project?? the Hamb.. a guy on there with a similar project used a sand blaster- rubber mask.. and cut a suburban windshield down to fit the curve of the chevy. Instead of putting it into a gasket, it gets glued in like a late model.

[Dawai]

Anybody got a link to Frenching cans?
(still gathering parts)

[anders nørgaard]

Originally Posted by Dawai

Anybody got a link to Frenching cans?
(still gathering parts)

YUP!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=452762

[Dawai]

I love Hamb. Thanks buddy.

Thinking right now in sketches of "twins side by side" like in the 59 caddy fin.. french embedded in the tail of the 51. So it will be a flattened out circle.. flat top-bottom, rounded on ends. I may play a bit later today. No scanner or I'd share the sketch.

I'm so sore from working on the 57 I can hardly move this morning.

O-Goaly said I need to section that trunk.. I told him I thought it looked like a butt. He said a crack would be a excellent shaping exercise. (all in jest).

(edit) WINDSHIELDS FOR THIS BODY MODEL (Pontiac, chevy): Hillbilly method.
A local buddy has got a junk 73 chevy truck.. I just made a template for the windshield curvature on the 51. Then I'll check it against the curve on the truck.. So I was told on Hamb, early surburbans have the same curve, cut a template for the glass "halves" then transfer it to the section on the chevy windshield, cut rubber mask from carpet "underlayment" (rebounds sand) then transfer and glue to the truck windshield.. sandblast to etch-cut to center plastic film.. cut film with razor knife.

Pat has this neato sandblast cabinet five or six feet or so long.. looks to be perfect to do this in.. Even if his is not long enough, the fabrication of a cheap sand-blast box and a junk truck windshield is cheap compared to what a pro shop wants to end up with the same two windshields.. then glue in frame.. done. I may build some wood bucks to support the glass for insurance.

[custommetal]

Just remember. Your windshield template needs to be on the correct side of the glass when you cut it or it won't be the correct size. depending on how you made the template I would guess it would go on the inside of the windshield to be cut. Just to be sure trace the pattern on both the inside and the outside of the glass and you see what I mean.

I cut my windshield by using a 1/8" dia. diamond bit (cheapo at HF) in a HF hand grinder. Keep a dribble of water on the cut at all time. This set-up cuts about 1"/min all the way thru. Entire windshield took about 4-5 hr. Every 12 in or so I would cut directly to the outside and take the piece off so there wasn't to much excess weight. No matter how you cut it, heat and vibration is what will crack the glass.

Enjoy your project.