Synopses & Reviews
Chopping a top is an essential part of building a hot rod. The planning, the preparation, the actual cutting, and then the reassembly, each step must be completed correctly or the entire project will be in jeopardy. This book gives the reader six, start-to-finish; top chops that show each step in the process, from paper sketches to the final welding. Readers can use the examples shown in the book to perform their own chop – while avoiding the mistakes that first-time builders often make.
This book contains more than photo sequences, and also includes interviews with professional hot rod builders who help to explain the fine points of cutting and welding. As they explain, careful planning, followed by cautious execution, can reduce the amount of work enormously, and ensure a positive outcome—a very cool hot rod with a chopped top.
Synopsis
How-To Chop Tops Nothing defines a hot rod like a chopped top. How To Chop Tops takes a photo-intensive look at the best way to lower the roof on the project car in your garage. Over 300 images document the start-to-finish chopping of six cars, from a Model T to a 1960 Oldsmobile. Also included is a convertible top chop, one roof-filling sequence and numerous welding how-to series. Interviews with professionals help to explain not only the actual cutting, but all the other items that must be determined before the actual chopping starts. Planning the chop includes deciding how to reinforce the body, what to do about the glass, and where to position the cuts to minimize warpage and body work later. Whether you need help picking the right tool or deciding where to position the new seam, How to Chop Tops provides the how-to steps you need to chop a top on both new and old hot rods.
Synopsis
This book shows the home-builder how to chop a top. Six, start-to-finish top chops, done on everything from a Model A to a 1960 Oldsmobile, demonstrate first hand how to plan and cut so the reassembly is as painless as possible. Professional hot rod builders share their wealth of experience with first-time builders through a series of interviews. The book deals with issues like cutting the glass, welding rusty steel, and where to position the cuts so the amount of finish work is minimized. This book covers top chopping from A to Z, including all the related issues that often make the project difficult.
Synopsis
This book covers top chopping from A to Z, including all the related issues that often make the project difficult.
About the Author
Best known for motorcycle titles How to Build a Chopper and How to Build a Cheap Chopper, how-to author Tim Remus is also the author of custom painting book Advanced Airbrush Art and fabrication title Ultimate Sheet Metal Fabrication. Today the former auto mechanic runs a small publishing company, Wolfgang Publications, located in Stillwater, Minnesota. Some of his personal projects include a recently finished 250-tire Softail and an old Henry J hot rod he says may never be finished. He lives in Stillwater, Minnesota.