With the possible exception of "cold beer" and "dinner's ready," there's no two-word combination that will capture the attention of a street rodder faster than the words chopped and channeled. And since we've devoted a few pages elsewhere in this issue to the first, we thought it'd be sacrilege not to take a look at the second. Thankfully, the guys at Hot Rods by Dean over in Phoenix, Arizona, kindly supplied SRM with a slew of photos depicting the channel job they recently performed on a '33 three-window. So, with the help of these images, I'll attempt to outline just what it takes to channel a hot rod.
Oh, and by the way, for those who may be new to the hobby or thumbing through this issue while passing the time in the customer lounge of the local "quick lube" joint, here's a quick explanation of what we're talking about here:
Channeling is the process of lowering the profile of a hot rod, custom car, or classic truck by cutting out the floor of said vehicle, lowering the body down over the framerails, and then re-mating the floor to the body. This will lower a vehicle without modifying its suspension (see the accompanying photos for illustration).
Chopping a vehicle is the process of lowering the roofline by removing a section of the body (usually a few inches) through the center of the window openings and then reattaching the roof to the body (see that story, "Chop Chop," on page 76 in this issue for photos of that process). With that said, let's take a look at how a professional channels a hot rod.
Though channeling a hot rod...
Though channeling a hot rod is a pretty labor-intensive task, it pays off with dividends in the looks department. Plus, it allows the vehicle's suspension to keep its full range of motion, retaining a decent ride.
This shot shows a close-up...
This shot shows a close-up view of the right front cowl/door opening section of the subject '33 sitting in its stock un-channeled form. You can plainly see the body is sitting on top of the framerails, and that the floor/inner rocker area kind of folds over the edge of the 'rails and swoops downward a bit.
In this fuller view, you can...
In this fuller view, you can see there's no area in which the framerails are totally hidden. The bottom edge of the body does wrap over a portion of the 'rails, but not by a whole lot.
The first order of business...
The first order of business is to support the body (in its stock position) so the floor can be cut loose from it without the body falling to the floor. The floorpan is then cut free from the body as close to the floor/body union as possible. Once this is done, it can be removed and put aside for future reinstallation or left in place, depending on your particular situation.
With the floor out of the...
With the floor out of the way and the body resting on the supports mentioned earlier, it's then time to lower the body over the framerails and down to the desired level.
The guys decided they'd channel...
The guys decided they'd channel the '33's body about 6 inches, equal to the height of the 'rails themselves. They used the front lower corners of the cowl section as a point of reference, tack welding a tab from that corner to the bottom edge of the framerail and making sure the opposite side of the body was lowered and tacked equally and evenly.
This head-on view with the...
This head-on view with the firewall removed shows how the floorless body has been lowered equally over the 'rails. The rear portion of the body has been tacked to the framerails as well, and was done so it's sitting level in reference to the frame.
Here, with a door in place,...
Here, with a door in place, you can see how the top portion of the framerail is now located well above the door bottom. Because of the swooping lines of the '33-34 Ford rocker area, the door bottom is now equal to or slightly below the bottom edge of the framerail.
With the body now tacked into...
With the body now tacked into its channeled position, the firewall will end up too tall by an amount equal to the channel. This can be remedied in one of two ways: The extra height can be sectioned out of the upper portion, or from the lower. In many cases though, it's actually easier to section it at the top (in a straight line) rather than taking it out at the bottom where you'll have to re-contour its shape at the trans hump and steering column opening.
Once the desired amount of...
Once the desired amount of channel is reached, the body tacked into place, and the firewall trimmed to fit, the guys removed the body and set the floor back into position on top of the framerails.
While the body was off the...
While the body was off the frame, they removed the inner rocker panels from the lower body edge. These inner rockers will then be reattached to the floorpan-not in their original position, but to the bottoms of vertical filler panels that have been fabricated to match the framerails in height and shape.