Chop top Body sag fix?

[Rattyhotrod51]

I `ve been trying to chop the top on my 51 Chevy Styleline. But the body has sagged. No gap left at top of doors. Does anybody have any ideas on how or if this can be fixed? I`d appreciate any help.

 

[Bonehead]

Jack it up in the middle, until your gap comes back. Then reinforce the body underneath.

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

Thanks a lot ,Bonehead. Appreciate it!

 

[sneakysnake]

Its always good to reinforce,brace and support before you do any major body mods, but I guess its a little late.

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

I braced the inside like you were suppose too. Didn`t think about bracing underneath. But apparently, that wasn`t good enough. What would be good for reinforcing underneath the floor Length, thickness and whatnot?

 

[Sam_Fear]

Did you run bracing front to back as high as possible across the door openings? I did that and also some diagonal bracing to try to keep it squared.

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

I ran two pieces right behind the doors and below the dash in front of the doors. Two pieces from the piece behind the door. and two pieces from that same piece to the tow boards Then two pieces running down from the some pieces at a angle down to the back floor boards. I saw this lay out on another website when I was trying to figure how to do the chop. The only thing that I`ve welding so far is the B pillars. I still haven`t fixed the back window and all of that and I still haven`t figured out the A pillars yet.

 

[T DRIVER]

Hey

Gonna be ready for the GOOD GUYS show next spring I know takes a lot of time but wait till you get done hope your taking pictures through the process.

 

[sneakysnake]

By bracing low on the floorboard there really isnt anything supporting the front of the door and firewall area. Jack it up in the middle as suggested and brace off horizonally across the door opening until the roof is back in place.

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

Thanks, guys!

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

Thanks, guys!

 

[King Herald]

I really think you want to get the main car body levelled, horizontal etc and on several jack stands, 2x4's and blocks before you start, so you don't weld it up with body twist or anything like that.

Support the actual bodyshell rather than the axles and such.

When you first split the roof did you notice it spring in any particular direction?

 

[Old Iron]

At the bottom of where SS drew the vertical line, if this area is rusted out the A pillars will have a tendency to lay back because this is the rear support for the cowl. body to frame mount and the lower door hinge to keep the door from sagging.
Most all of this is done from the outside right in front of the rocker panels.
Jack the dash into place, brace and replace with good metal and get this fixed before anything else [

Jim

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

When you first split the roof did you notice it spring in any particular direction?[/QUOTE]

No , I don`t remember it springing any. But then again it may have and I didn`t notice.

At the bottom of where SS drew the vertical line, if this area is rusted out the A pillars will have a tendency to lay back because this is the rear support for the cowl. body to frame mount and the lower door hinge to keep the door from sagging.
Most all of this is done from the outside right in front of the rocker panels.
Jack the dash into place, brace and replace with good metal and get this fixed before anything else [

Jim

All of that area is new metal. had to replace it all when I got the car... or my brother did when he was helping me.

 

[Rattyhotrod51]

After jacking the car on the passenger side I ran a piece of square tubing ( like the,rest of the bracing) from the bar behnd the doors to the dash, then down from that bar to the floor.
But when I let the jack down the car seem to almost give right back to where it was before I added the extra bracing, so I just quit. May try somethng else tomorrow.