Chopping The Top - Enhancing The View: Part I

Ever since the birth of Ford's Deuce some 75 years ago, hot rodders have been enamored with its staggering allure and seductive lines, elevating it to an iconic level within our hobby. As decades have passed since the early years of dry lakes racing and speed-equipment development, countless coupes, roadsters, and sedans have received their initiation into a culture that has given each and every one of them a fresh rebirth, far from where Henry Ford would have ever envisioned this model could have gone. The need for speed and style allowed builders to inject serious amounts of engineering into their creations, and that dawn of hot rodding is still very much alive across this vast country where every day, awe-inspiring creativity keeps bringing it to new levels.

The Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop can be found tucked away in the picturesque little town of Greenfield Center, New York. Little does the average passerby know that within the confines of this renovated barn some of the most wicked Deuces in the country receive their calling in spades when their unbridled fury is unleashed once they leave the building. In this article, the Rolling Bones crew will put their own personal spin on George Poteet's Memphis, Tennessee-based Deuce five-window with equal parts wickedness and gow added to the cauldron 'til they create one nasty stepchild.

With taking on a chop of this significance, it's important to note the potential difficulties that may arise once the cutting commences, as well as solutions for what may be encountered. Being veterans of hammering coupes and sedans, the crew, led by Keith Cornell, approached the start of the chop with great care to ensure everything would go according to plan. In preparing the body for the chop, Keith first secured the body to the chassis, ensuring that it was properly shimmed and that its firewall was bolted securely into place. Keith prefers to chop a car at ride height so as to have a perfect visualization of what the car will look like as the job proceeds; therefore, the car is actually completely jigged as it appears in the images during the procedure. Next on setup, Keith spent plenty of time measuring and cutting angle iron to properly brace the interior of the coupe to all potential stress points, ensuring that its integrity would remain intact once the roof came off. This would include bracing the cowl to the floor, crossbracing the doorjambs, and also the bottom of the rear window channel. Prior to any bracing, the doors and hinges were aligned to make sure everything was square, followed by the removal of the interior wood once it was properly marked. Proceeding from this point would ensure that there would be little or no movement once the shell was altered.

After deciding that a 5-inch chop would be a perfect starting point, Keith set up his measurements, beginning out back with the rear window where he C-clamped a 4-foot carpenters level to the window opening once he made his initial marks locating the starting point for the chop. The rear window is a critical area due to the curvature of its opening, and Keith stressed the importance of making sure that only a razor-sharp straight section be removed to maintain the proportions of the area. With the rear of the car now carefully marked, Keith proceeded to use a 5-inch measurement stick to work the lines around the sail panel and follow through to the A-pillar area. Once all of the guidelines were established, Keith then followed up with a 3/4-inch roll of masking tape to lay out the chop and get a visual impression of how everything would look. At this time, it's easy to adjust anything that might appear askew before the first cuts are made, since proper proportions will either make or break the chop.

With everything finally ready to go, Keith took his cutting wheel in hand and commenced making noise, starting with the rear sail panels and gradually working his way forward. It's always beneficial to have some help available during a chop, so this is where Ken Schmidt and Chris Chabre of Rolling Bones lent a hand steadying critical areas while Keith forged on until they were able to finally get the lid off of the coupe. With the roof removed, Keith was able to fully assess the cuts made, acknowledging that it was now time to start finessing the vintage steel.

Chris began filing smooth all of the areas on the body to deburr them. Using the B-pillars as a point of reference, the mounting points of the top section were ground smooth to establish an even, flat surface to determine the amount of trimming that would be necessary to bring the altered areas back into perspective. According to Keith, the top can be put on, clamped down, and removed dozens of times until just the right fit is established.

It was amazing just how downright bitchin' the coupe's attitude had grown with the top finally secured down and the grinding and trimming coming to a cease-fire. There are, however, countless areas that are in need of being re-proportioned, such as the A- and B-pillars, door tops, rear quarter-window openings, and sail panel areas, which will be addressed in the next installment when the guys get the last of the chop all dialed in.