Lowering and chopping a car?

-
Coyote Jack

Coyote Jack

Member #55, I'm old
FABO Gold Member
Joined
May 22, 2004
Messages
8,789
Reaction score
4,170
Location
Baxters Corner N.B. Canad
My wife and I were looking at a 300C recently and it got me to thinking. We both think it would be a really cool car to lower the body and chop the roof. The end result would be painted hot rod black with the windows tinted and a set of blacked out wheels. With that being said I came up with a few questions.

How do you go about lowering a modern car and it still be drivable?
How do you chop a roof and get the proper lines at the windshield and back window?

I am not worried about performance, I have a pretty good idea on how to do that.

Jack
 
You should check out the hot rod sites, cars of the '30s and '40s, where you'll find how-to's on chopping and sectioning.
 
Lowering new cars is usually as simple as air bags or just a lowering kit which can be found for nearly all cars.

The chopping is going to be much more difficult on and car that does not have a vertical windshield or back glass. When chopping a pre 48 car it is pretty straight forward. Find the longest piece of straight metal between the body and the roof and cut out a couple inches then weld it back together. With a new car I would start my measuring the distance between the top of the doors and the roof because some cars will have a roof or body that is taller or lower in some areas. Then I would take that into account for the amount I am going to be removing that way you can retain the same basic shape of the car. Then figure out how much headroom you need and start cutting. Then to wrap it all up I would probably find a tall building to jump off of because nothing besides street rods should be chopped.
 
doogievlg said:
Then to wrap it all up I would probably find a tall building to jump off of because nothing besides street rods should be chopped.
Click to expand...

you know, if you drop that car of the building first, it will probably lower itself nicely too
 
In the old days, we used to lower bodies on cars by channeling them, a process that drops the body lower over the frame, and sometimes had the frame rails coming up through the floor. Then there was sectioning, where we would remove a section of material from the middle of the body to make the body less tall on the frame. With modern uni-body cars, channeling is not possible, so most lowering is done with suspension mods, and airbags are most common way. I can't ever recall seeing a modern car that had been sectioned, but it's not impossible if you want it bad enough. Chopping the top on a modern 300C would not be easy, and you would need custom glass made. Nothings impossible, but that might not be worth the effort and cost involved to do it properly.
 
no info, it was a pic online I found. Google chopped 300C, images. If you chop it, the side window angles may need to be altered or the roof will need to be widened...? That car is like a pyramid. they may have cut the pillars at the deck and sectioned them there, that way you maintain the integrity of the roof and end up with a little smaller footprint of a top. Then maybe trim the glass? Lot of work.
 
You can barely see out of an UN-chopped 300. :lol: Sure would look cool though. :popcorn:
 
Bodyperson said:
You can barely see out of an UN-chopped 300. :lol: Sure would look cool though. :popcorn:
Click to expand...

This is a car for my wife. She really likes cool. I think I have the roof figured out. It's complicated but it should work. Requires three cuts and filler strips. Cost is looking more doable all the time. She says she can figure out a new headliner for it and she is a magician with fabric and a sewing machine. I have even come up with a name for it that I could ghost in on the sides. How's "SHE ***** FROM HELL" sound?

Jack
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top