Thread: Thinking about chopping my Taxi

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We muct be on the same page, I feel the same way. Doner sheet metal, he'd probably have enough for the roof, and some left over to make a set of shirts like the ones in Tree's picture.

Originally posted by pro60chevy
We muct be on the same page, I feel the same way. Doner sheet metal, he'd probably have enough for the roof, and some left over to make a set of shirts like the ones in Tree's picture.

Kewl.... let's do it. You get the torch and I'll get the nipperz'. He He

Originally posted by pro60chevy
We muct

What the heck is a muct! Where is my smell checker buttin.

pro60 & pro70 here ya go didn't shorten it but tweeked it a little


I'll distract permanentjaun with photo shop stuff and you guys sneek out and go 2 cut'N .....

HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA We sure gave him some cool ideas, as long as his pockets hold out. I kinda like the new carbon fiber scoops though. But the one you have on there is awesome! I almost forgot what the original car looked like!

Yeeeea. that's what I'm Talkin' 'bout.

Now that's a cool ride. I like all the photo shop chops, expecially the first one with the big meats. Also the later one with the B and C pillars angle forward.
There's just one thing you've overlooked,
when chopping the roof, the roof is going to move forward leaving you with a large gap to fill between the rear window and trunk lid. This is good because it gives the illusion the car has being lengthened. Unless of course you have another roof that you can section a piece in to keep the roof where it original sat.

Check out the chopping of my 1950 Studebaker.
http://www.angelfire.com/super/1950bulletnose

You'll find the roof chop about half way down the project page at Jan. '03.

To retain the stock tempered curved rear glass, I remove the entire window frame from the car and trimmed away some roof sheet metal to reposition the frame after the roof was placed back on the body. As a result of the roof moving forward my side window frames were now out of alignment. I removed and reposition the side window frames which required removing excess C pillar sheet metal also.

I'm not sure how your cab customers will welcome the lowered roof, but it certainly would be a head turner. Maybe you should find another Checker and go Pro Street, it sure would be a show stopper. Keep a stock one strictly for business.

HA! I appreciate the hilarity but definently not the direction I'm gonna go.

I have some concerns though. First is I don't really like the laid down rear window look either. I think that takes too much of the look of the original car out. Can I just cut that glass too so it fits nicely?

Also, do the pillars have to be slanted? I think it would make the car look even more beefy and mean if the pillars were shortened in stead of leaned. This way the back window would also be able to go up and down. Unless the window crank was custom mounted diagonally I dont think it would be able to come down.

If I didn't lay down the rear widow it would probably be easier adding metal to the rear instead of the front. What are your thoughts? matt

If you take note of the size of the side windows in comparison to the back window.
You have enough roof there that you can remove the entire rear window frame, chop the roof, remove some sheet metal and weld the frame back into the body. The side windows will now be almost the same size as the rear window and therefore look more in porportion.
What about the front glass ? You may have to do the same with it just like the rear glass. As for the side glass, it's flat, so you can have them made up. You do not what to try and grind it, the possiblility of breaking it weighs on whether you can locate more.. The only other route is as I have suggested.

What about plexiglass? I see no reason why a shop couldn't make a copy of the windshields from the originals but cut off a few inches.


I wish I could be a real cabby and earn some dough but sadly this is just my car. It's nice to have fun with it. It's just a tad too bulky though and I think that low sleek mean look could really turn more heads than it already does. But yea, plexiglass...how does that sound? Matt

Originally posted by permanentjaun
What about plexiglass? I see no reason why a shop couldn't make a copy of the windshields from the originals but cut off a few inches.


I wish I could be a real cabby and earn some dough but sadly this is just my car. It's nice to have fun with it. It's just a tad too bulky though and I think that low sleek mean look could really turn more heads than it already does. But yea, plexiglass...how does that sound? Matt

Acrylic windshield won't be too practical. Debris will ruin the surface. Not street legal either.

Originally posted by Streets
[B]I run two pieces of "Morgard" on my Pail.. IT ain't legal but they don't bother ME

Streets... I'm shocked... Can't believe you would drive sumpthin' that's not 100% leagal.... and obey ALL the rules of the road at all times. He He

I'm sure by now permanentjaun has figured out that cutting the top on his Cab is not a weekend thing. If this car had a wooden roof and straight up pillars like some of the real early stuff, then I would say it may be a weekend job. There is alot of work involved, not to mention the preparation. Look how long it took us to "fix" it. And just think, it took us 4 pages too! My poor desktop is full of pieces of his car. Now let's see, this goes here, ooops, no it goes over there, oh nooooo BTW, are we done with our make-over, or is there more to do. I'll just sit back and watch for a while, I've done enough damage.

I guess you all are done unless you wanna play around with the different views, add the limo tint, 18" 5 spoke chrome rims. But I have to thank you all for really doing an awesome job. It turned out quite nice. Unfortunately because of all the work I doubt this will be happening very soon. I want to look up lexan or plexyglass windows anyways so that I don't have to lean anything. If or when I get it done I will surely post pics on this site. Matt

Here is something to look at. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/progla...ing.htm#custom For under 100 bucks you can probably replace either your front or rear windshield with Lexan. It's lighter and more durable than glass. You could probably bend and cut it real easy to fit in your application. This is definently something I would look into when chopping the top. 1/4" Lexan would be rediculously strong too. www.proglasswindows.com even makes custom fitted lexan windows from the original glass you give them. I'm sure they'd be willing to cut off the few inches for the chop toppers out there. Matt