Getting started on the choptop truck...

[marz68]

Hey KEITH....That was great how you used the bed top to make a roll pan, I am going to go that route too. Thanks for sharing that.

[lightning_msd]

hey keith, nice work!!, i was checking out your roll pan status, i was just wondering where your going to mount your licence plate? cus im stuck on what i should do on that part as well. looking really good

[SmokeyBear]

hey keith, nice work!!, i was checking out your roll pan status, i was just wondering where your going to mount your licence plate? cus im stuck on what i should do on that part as well. looking really good

I cut out a rectangular hole and mounted mine behind the roll pan.

[FORDification]

I actually haven't given that too much thought, except that I'd decided I didn't want to sink it into the rollpan....but things can change. The verdict's still out on this one.

[mrsnicks]

They make those sneaky electric flip down license plate holders for the weed crawler low riders out there.

I couldn't find any when I did a quick google search but I'm tired. They are electric, and with the flip of a switch they flip/swing down so they can be viewed, and with the other flip of the switch they swing back up to be flush against/inside the frame rail.

[rjewkes]

what about those front bumper plate moutes from newer cars and trucks? that would put 3 or 4 holes in the roll pan though.

i have seen the sunk into tail gate method and the suction cup hangers in the window like for those vanity plates.

[customcrewcab]

i got one that folds up from summit. here it is

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

so the plate fold up and stays out ands not boncing around. pretyy nice for like 30 bucks.
heres some others, i think you might have to get the 440 dollar one.
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch ... lse&N=+115

[FORDification]

Well folks....this is going to be the last update on the choptop for a while. I'm getting ready to put together a project update page and will probably post it later this evening with all the details, but here's the condensed version:

When I bought this truck, the owner told me he'd chopped it to allow the use of a standard windshield, that would just need to be trimmed down. Since he'd done several other chops in the past, and I'd never messed with them, I had to take his word for it.

So with me having three days off for the Labor Day holiday, I decided that I was going to finally fire up the water-cooled tile saw I bought specifically for trimming the front glass and get started. I spent yesterday making a template and and prepping the windshield, plus doing some practice cuts on a cracked windshield, just to get the hang of using the saw.

Did it work? Well, yes and no. The windshield did crack, but not until I was more than half done...and I have a pretty good idea what I did wrong and how I can prevent that in the future. So at least I know that this tile saw idea will work...that's not the problem. After I got the glass cut, even though it was no good, I took it over to the truck to set into place, just to see how it fit....and that's when I got a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

A trimmed-down stock windshield ISN'T going to work!

Because the roof was quartered and spread out about 4", the top of a stock windshield is going to be too narrow, so therefore, theoretically the top will have to be trimmed off. And doing so does maintain the proper side-to-side width...but it doesn't take into account how the curvature of the glass changes from top to bottom. After trimming the windshield down to about the halfway point, which would be the proper height, I found that the curvature won't even come close to matching up with the windshield frame. Here's what I saw (click to enlarge):



As you can see, the 'new' top of the windshield sticks out about 2" from the windshield frame! It fits fine side-to-side...each side fits right where it needs to be (I still needed to round off the corners), but the glass immediately starts curving outward from each side, and at the middle of the windshield there's a huge gap that no gasket is going to span. There's no way this will work...at least not without a bunch of windshield frame modifications, to extend the top portion of the frame outward. Either that, or laying down some BIG bucks for a custom windshield.

Therefore, after much thought on the subject, I decided that I needed some more time to explore some options on what's next for this project. Right now I don't have the money for a custom windshield, and I've already spent a year working on this, and ignoring my primary project...which is my '67. When I stopped working on the '67 last Fall to work on the choptop, it was supposed to be a thrash project that I'd have up and running by springtime. Well, obviously I'm a little behind on that schedule, plus Fall is rapidly approaching again, and my window of opportunity to get the '67 painted is rapidly dwindling.

So after an hour or so of chain-smoking and running ideas around in my head this afternoon, I made the decision to shift my priorities. I just need to step back from the choptop for a while and do some research on what I should do next with the glass situation and what my options are. In the meantime, I need to spend what little time I have left before the cold weather hits focusing on getting the '67 painted, so I can finish getting it reassembled.

So I spent the rest of the afternoon today pulling the '67 out of hibernation from the back of the shop, and pushing the choptop back in it's place. The '67 is mostly ready for paint...I still have a little work to do to the doors and hood, but a couple afternoons will get those ready. I'll get started on those tomorrow (probably) in addition to a few other things.

Well, that's where I sit at the moment. I know you all were hoping I'd get the choptop finished up soon, and believe me, so was I! However, you just gotta roll with the punches and deal with things as they come.

As I stated earlier, I'll be posting a project update page probably later tonite with all the gory details and a bunch more pics, and I'll update this thread with a link to that when it's done. But for the most part, this one is done for a while, while I do some research and talk to a few people. In the meantime, I just need to focus on what I CAN do for a while.

[averagef250]

That just sucks Kieth. I never would have realized the curvature of the windshild could be so different along it's height. I'd be scared to find out what a custom windshield runs.

Good to see you're not letting it get you down and just moving on to the '67. Hope it gives you time to figure out a not-so-expensive fix. for the choptop!

[Ranchero50]

Yeah, that's a bummer... May have to unchop it before it's all over, or Lexan may become your friend. Still a sheet of 1/4" is expensive as well.

Jamie

[Mooosman]

You know, if this truck is just going to be a weekend driver type "thrash project", I would maybe look into making (or having made) some kind of acrylic or plastic windshield. Maybe not Plexiglas, as that stuff scratches really easily, but I'm sure there are other clear plastics that could be used.

You could most likely just get a sheet of it, cut out a rough shape, and gently heat it with a heat gun and shape it to your liking.

Go to your local circle track, and ask the racers who does thier windows. Maybe they can point you in the right direction?

Nick

[layedout72]

That's what I was thinking, it's not a "trophy" chaser, so just get it where its driveable

[Ranchero50]

1/4" lexan would flex into shape without heating it.

Jamie

[td]

i think he should stick with glass, it does'nt have to be a show truck to need a real windsheild. just my

[layedout72]

i think he should stick with glass, it does'nt have to be a show truck to need a real windsheild. just my

a fix to have it driveable and can buy the glass, is really what people are saying to use lexan for.