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This is a thread devoted to chopping the top on a '53 Chevy Bel Air. My buddy contacted hot rod legend Gene Winfield about chopping his '53 at the Boston World of Wheels car show. This is what happened.
Before

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To make it easy here's after, with the in between pics next.

[Mywifes335]

Shit. I thought this was an Arnold thread.

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We started at 9:30am Friday. Cleaning

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A pillar, b pillar, and c pillar all cleaned up inside and out. The c pillar/side panel was the area that would see the most action later in the day. Next up measuring and marking.
Gene marked it and grabbed a sawsall and started cutting.

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Cut the doors 1st

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Then Gene got in the trunk and surveyed the roof. His keen eye was already planning the final look

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The donor rear window was set in place

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Check out those modified clamps. The first of many "secrets" I would see.

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Marked and ready for more sawsall action

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We had braced the body in weeks prior but Gene wanted another cross brace so we could clamp stock in place to hold the top. This allowed measurements to get the roof even(side to side) and at the level that was determined to be COOL!

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So with all the measurements taken and roof supported it was time to get cutting

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The point of no return.

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Gene throwing sparks.

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Here Gene is marking a relief cut so the a pillar can meet the roof again. The chop was 4" but required 4 7/8" removed from a pillar. This meant relief cuts in a pillar near a pillar to door transition also. The door pillar had to be laid back to match the new roof angle.

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We sat the roof back on using the previously mentioned braces

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Everything looked good so the a & b pillars got welded up. Gene gas welds then hammers the hot weld. This raises up the hot area and then it gets pounded into place. This technique cleans the weld of carbon impurities and adds strength.

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B pillar

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Roof back on and getting a good feel for the final look.

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Here's b pillar and sail panel. Pretty good progress for 1 day.

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Now it's time to get rear window grafted onto car.

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We had already trimmed it and made relief cuts. But it had a long way to go.