1941 CHEVY Rat Build....yeah another one!

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Well read his stuff but the one was a Ford cab which are different animals than Chevy. His little "drag rat" he built is Chevy but didnt show much of the front A-pillars. The more I look the more I want to lay back the pillars. Just gotta find out more info on it and where to make the cuts exactly.

If Im thinking right here on the bottom A-pillar (calling it this after you cut it off, bottom is on truck cab and top is on roof panel) you would cut it on the door side and spread it open and weld it up to fill it back. On top pillar you would cut a small "pie" shape out on the outside and spread it.....it would be self filling for lack of better words, then weld up. Hard to put this into words. I will keep doing research tomorrow.

The original Bonehead truck was chopped with a filler strip in the roof. I like the slant look on the windshield so I thought I would try it on the new build.
Mr Gussett has a great chop on his last customer's truck. I have cut about 5.5 inches out of the Ford I am working on, and it is more slant, and that means more to line it all back up. I am also making a removable hard top, so it is alot more work. At any rate, the basics of the slant are the same. If the dash comes out, that helps. The smaller the chop the less you have to move things. I had hoped to cut on the side that self fills also, but the top of the pillars with the curve of the roof makes that hard to do
 
Here are a couple of pics of a 38 ford that I just finished a 3 inch chop on.
I laid the A pillers back.I cut 3 inches all the way around to give it a bit of a rake. Just cut below windshield inside and above inside and fill void after the top and bottom line back up. It might be needed to put a small relief cut outside as well opposite the inside cut.
The key to cutting the doors front post is to cut the first cut as low in the post as the cab was cut and then cut as many cuts as needed to shape to cab.
Hope that makes sense! ???:confused:

You can see at the top and bottom of the a pillers where the paint is sanded the upper one above the windsheild is cut in from the door side you will have the infill this because it will open up. The lower one is also cut in from the door side and a small pie will have to be removed so the a pillers will lay back. if you look at my 51 cab cuts you can see on the inside where i cut the dash around the door opening and a little around the side leaving the front alone.
 
Well I have no dash in this one at the time so hopefully it will be easier. I just want to see some Chevy cuts because Ford cabs you have to stretch them front to back and side to side so there relief cuts I would think would be different. But nevertheless I will dig thru some stuff and take what I can from it. Keep it coming, great discussion.
 
Well found this chop http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=13350. Looks like what I want to do. Whats the consensus on the relief cuts? Look right?

I planned to section the roof to start with so having to rethink this. I already took a complete 4" out of A-pillars and rear so do I need to take more out of the back? 1/2" or more? Or play it by ear? I like the bigger chops personally but I read about a 6" today and he had done a 5" and a 6" and said the 6" created ALOT more work. With mine being cut along the belt line I dont have to make all the relief cuts in the corners......not sure why everyone doesnt do this.
 
OK, cool. I been looking all day for some build ups with CHEVY cabs that lay the A-pillar down. Thats been about the only one I have found besides some crazy 8" stuff. If you guys know of any send them my way. Im sure there alot of Ford ones out there but there different and I wanna compare apples to apples.
 
This is what Im talking about being beltline.....its not right on it but it dang sure aint a chop up in the window area where the cab has more curves at. I couldnt have went further down without getting into cab structure. Everything lined right back up like it was factory.

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I get ya now. When I read that, I was thinking of the A-pillars. Thought maybe you figured a better way to bend 'em back.

I think a lot of guys get stuck on the idea that the cab needs chopped where the windows get cut.
 
That's why I cut mine where I did. If you look at my cutline it is as close to the rear support as possible (actually right on it) because that is the flattest part of the cab. The cab obviously curves forward and tapers in the higher you go. Therefore, the more you chop the more you have to bring the top out both forward and side to side to get it to match the bottom. It's the opposite on the front. The more you chop, the more you have to bring the top in to match the a-posts. In my opinion, a 4" chop on these Chevys/GMCs is the "breaking point", if you will. The top and bottom go together better because you are less into the contour and taper of the cab, it's easier. With 5" you are in the contour a little more and so on. The labor difference between a 5" chop and a 6" chop was considerable but it wasn't bad. It's all work anyway, don't be afraid of it. Chop your truck exactly how you want it (4", 5", 6" lean the a-posts, stretch the roof etc.) and you will be happy with it. Just my $0.02!
 

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Thanks guys for the inspiration. I want to go more but Im skeered alittle. Mainly on the A-pillars. Im pretty good with a welder but not so much in the body work department. Ive got an even 4" cut out all the way around it. From what I have read if I lay the A-pillars back I need to have it staggered and Im not planning on adding metal back to do it. So I guess I need to cut another inch out of the rear.....might do 1/2" and see what it looks like.
 
Well scored a Super Bell 4" drop I-beam axle and Posies spring on Ebay last night!! Had to pay a little more than I wanted to but oh well.....gotta pay to play.

Gonna try and finish the chop while Im home this week. Gotta go to Dallas Thursday and pick up mommas new ride. Its a one owner 95 Toyota 4runner with 98K original miles. Put new tires on the dually and of course paint the rims black!! I have more to do at home on my week off then I ever do at my week of work!!
 
Cool project Glen, what part of Texas do you hail from? I'm on the west side of Houston and have a place about 20 min. from Livingston.
 
Thanks guys, hopefully get the chop pretty much finished this week off and post up some more pics. Paul J Im originally from Quitman, Texas.....north of Tyler. Now me and my wife live just west of Tyler and have a farm about 15 miles north of Palestine. Funny you said cause the guy I got this truck from lives in Houston and has a place in Livingston. Thats where I picked up the truck from.
 
Well here is all the update I got.....LOL! Got in a fight with a Bosch grinder today with a NEW Dewalt cutting wheel on it. It hung in a cut I was making and came back and grabbed me. 21 stitches later and Im back together. Im out for awhile.....he did get the tat lined back up good though. Heres a pic.

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Well..that is one ugly cut.....

Just so happens that I was sitting down at my desk, about to eat my homemade chicken and dumplings.....honestly, no issue, I've been to numerous autopsy's so that is a scrape.....not to you, just comparing it to having someone lying with their chest wide open and the insides coming out...:eek:....sorry....pm me, I'll send a pic or two....LOL
 

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