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Quick update on the chop.
Didn't work on it yesterday due to life getting in the way. But back at it now.

So I spent about 2 hours tweaking the roof and posts to get things lined up better. The picture of the cab corner shows how close the top and bottom cut are to each other. And I believe that I will be able to bring them even closer yet.

When we cut the top off we cut the very bottom line under the window panel and just slid the back panel down inside the cab still attached. So if you look inside the cab you would see it hanging there. When I get things where I want them I will run my thin kerf cut off wheel along the cut from the outside of the truck using the exsisting edge of the cut as my guide.( Hope that made sense).

And the last 2 shots are a before and currently profile.

Torchie.
 

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Think about sheet metal screws to pull the back closer together. Then weld up the screw holes after.

With a little planning you might be able to screw it while doing relief cuts. Then do your final cuts and some tach welds at the same time to hold it all together as the excess sheet metal comes off.

About relief cuts. I saw a chop where the guy would make his cuts with a half circle at the top of the cut. He said it helped maintain the curve instead of getting flat areas. More work to weld up, but less shaping after.

Those dome roofs need all the help they can get when being chopped.

Looking good. I'm looking forward to lots of pictures from you as you proceed. I would like some foots of the A pillar work over.

Gold03
 
More pics to keep this thread alive.
Got the roof set and starting to fill the gap with metal.
Also here are some A pillar shots for gold03. Relief cut at the top of the winshield to move the upper pillar outward. Front is lining up well but the gutter edge is still too high and doesn't line up .

A view from the back side of the piilar shows this better. I may be able to put a flat clamp on it and pull them together or will make some relief cuts to ease the process of pulling the gutter edge down.

The rear section of the door frame line up well already.
Front shot looks good to me.

A little bit more of this and that and we will be ready to weld.
Everyone have a safe Easter weekend.
Torchie
 

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Not much motivation today.
Combination of Easter Feast food coma and the fact that it's snowing like crazy here.
Anyway.......
Started to fit in the gutter pieces for the roof split. I am using the 4" sections removed from the front pillars that still have the gutters attached.
Looks like I will be able to do both sides from one piece. Which gives me a little bit of security in case I screw one up.
Last pics shows the rear edge needing to line up better.

That's all for now.
Torchie.
 

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I make the a-pillars match then make the roof top gap what ever it needs to be.
Make sure the top isn't sagging. From the pic it looks like the back part needs to pivot back to have the correct roof arch ?
You have it looking good. Rock On [cl [P
 
Thats the fun with the F-x series trucks... the bubble roofs are a real pain to keep the arch, when they are cut they want to bend more....
 
Yep. The roof part gets interesting when you split it in half.
The A pilars line up good and I am still messing with the back half to get a better arch. Sooner or later I am going to have to weld it all together as I don't want to screw with it forever.
The guy that taught me to do body work years ago always told me to look at the big picture as I tend to get too OC on these projects and am never satisfied.No pics for now as the camera went bye-bye.
Torchie
 
Got the camera working. Who knew these things need batteries...
Here is my A pillar alignment. Made a relief cut on the side of the pillar and pulled the gutter back into position.
Back corner of the cab. Body line matches pretty well and so I tacked the door post in place.

Profile pic of the cab. I am happy with the overall look of the chop. Anytime you split a roof there is going to be some alignment issues. Especialy with a roof like this where I think that there are truly no flat areas. Just one big compound curve. I will most likely have to make a couple of relief cuts in the roof to bring the front edge down to match the back. As well as the application of some lead or body filler.

When I put the roof back together I was lookng at the gutters and the tops of the door line as that is what I think attracts the eye.
But as of this point it is full steam ahead
thanks to all for the positive comments as well as the continued interest.
Torchie.
 

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I think it was Mike who said the roof will try to curl up more when you cut them. It looks like the roof is trying to close up at the cross cut. If I remember right, DR pushed up on the inside of his roof skin when he welded the cut across the roof. A big board across the bottom of the door window, and a hydronic bottle jack with a 2x4 on the top of the jack. DR ?

Everything looks good. Do you think you will need relief cuts on the back of the cab?

This chop method is a change in general practice of cutting the roof into four pieces. It's a combination of that, and the gjunctionmike method.

You might be a pioneer man... I'll fess up though. I wanted to see it done before I do mine.:eek:

I like it better than a four way split or leaning the pillars back.

Gold03
 
I think it was Mike who said the roof will try to curl up more when you cut them. It looks like the roof is trying to close up at the cross cut. If I remember right, DR pushed up on the inside of his roof skin when he welded the cut across the roof. A big board across the bottom of the door window, and a hydronic bottle jack with a 2x4 on the top of the jack. DR ?

Everything looks good. Do you think you will need relief cuts on the back of the cab?

This chop method is a change in general practice of cutting the roof into four pieces. It's a combination of that, and the gjunctionmike method.

You might be a pioneer man... I'll fess up though. I wanted to see it done before I do mine.:eek:

I like it better than a four way split or leaning the pillars back.

Gold03

Indeed, that is what I did, I had a lot of trouble getting the arc back where it should be on mine, if I had it to do over again, I would have made templates and welded them to the inside of the roof skin, so when I cut it apart it had less tendency to arch more ... I did use a jack to push the skin back in alignment and it worked pretty well.
 
gold03 and DR there is indeed lots of flexing in these roof's. When I originaly lined up the two pieces I had a filler piece in there with butt clamps. I used 16 gauge steel for the filler piece which may seem too heavey but in conjunction with the butt clamps it did a good job of lining everything back up.

The truth of the matter is that in spliting the roof you are going to be putting in a flat filler to join the pieces. Even if you crowned it slightly it wouldn't work because as has been said the edges of both sections are pulling down. The guy that I worked with years ago always equated chopping a curved roof to cutiing a baseball in half and adding a band around it to widen it. Your going to change the shape somewhat but as long as it is pleasing to the eye who cares...

The type of chop that I did is based on what GJunctionmike does. It is more like sectioning. On most chops(Especialy square tops) people remove the chop amount on a horizontal line all the way around the top. Drop the top down and weld. If you look at how the great customizers section a car body they usualy don't just cut the car is half horizontally and then weld it back together. They remove the same amount but from different horizontal lines on the car and then drop it down and weld. I hope this all makes sense.

As far as the relief cuts go gold03 I will most likely need at least one per side. But as GJunctionmike pointed out it will lessen the likely hood of flat spots.

Any way ..Taking a break from the project today as my beat up artihritic hands can only take so much these days.
Torchie.
 
Looks like you've got a handle on it....

I'm glad mine was nearly flat....getting that curve could be a challenge...but even I used jacks to put a bit of stress on the flat panels I welded in....my only problem was not hammering the welds down....cause some crazy waving that took me a bit to flatten back out... but it looks good man...very nice...
 
Cold and snowing here in N Mich today[S but I mustered up the energy to go out to the unheated garage to look ahead a few steps on this chop.
A question for DR or GJunctionmike and or anyone else that may be paying attention to this chop.
How did you deal with the top of the doors no longer having the correct angle to put them where they need to be once the doors are shut. Having cut the top but not widening it side to side makes my door tops stick out past the body .The farther up it goes the more it sticks out.
My plan is do do a relief cut the width of the door on the inside and lean them in. Most likely parralel (sp) to the body line so that the window channels are still straight. If anyone has a better idea please share. And pics would be great.
Thanks as always ,
Torchie.
 

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