How To Chop the Top On a ’32 Ford Three-Window Coupe

Part 1: Lowering the Lid on a 1932 Ford

By Tony Thacker – Photography By the Author

Guys typically don’t read instructions, right? Well, I would suggest that before you dive into a roof chop you do a little research, which is exactly what Evan and Justin Veazie of the Veazie Brothers did before they jumped into the chop of Bruce Fortie’s ’32 Ford highboy three-window coupe. Why? Because it was to be their first ever chop.

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02 Extensive bracing is required for a top swap of the Model A coupe — Rick “Speed” Lefever is a perfectionist and takes no chances or short cuts, just look at the extensive bracing in son Rayce’s Model A coupe. If you want to do it right then this is the way to do it.

Evan called a few people who might know, like the Kennedy Brothers and Jimmy Shine, among others, and as you would expect got as many answers. The only answer was to plan carefully and then have at it.

Before any cutting is done the body has to be braced. In this case, it was a brand-new Brookville Roadster three-window coupe that one would expect to be square, and it was. If, however, you are chopping an old body, one that may have been repaired—more than once—you should check the body for squareness.

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03 Protip use turnbuckles to adjust bracing if the body isn_t perfectly squarejpg — Some people, for example Bobby Walden, like to use turnbuckles at the ends of their bracing bars so that any imperfections in body squareness can be dialed out by simply adjusting the turnbuckle.

You can do this by bolting the body to a frame that you know is square or to a frame fixture. Next, hang some plumb bobs, preferably three at the front, center, and rear of the body before measuring every which way to make sure the body is square. If it’s not then you have some pushing and pulling to do to get it into shape. There’s no point in proceeding with the chop until you have the body square.

Once you have the body square you can begin to brace it. Most people, Evan included, use 1-inch square steel tubes and what you’re trying to do is hold the body together when you take off the roof. It will have a tendency to spring apart so you need to tie it together front to rear, side to side, and diagonally. As with actually chopping the top, there are many ways to do this; it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do it.

04 another view of the Model A coupe_s extensive crossbracing and turn buckles — Here’s a different view of that same coupe at Bobby Walden’s showing the extensive crossbracing and the various turn buckles. If the professionals do it this way there’s no reason for you to use a short cut.

Don’t underestimate the work involved in bracing, particularly if like some builders you use turnbuckles to facilitate some adjustment. That is particularly useful on an old body that is possibly out of square.

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Even after some extensive bracing Evan discovered that he had mounted the crossbrace from the bottom of the door up to the cowl too high and that had to be moved down. Of course, you can salvage the tubing and use it for another project.

05 The 34 Five Window Ford Coupe at Walden Speed Shop — A wider angle of the ’34 Five Window Ford Coupe at Walden Speed Shop shows the extensive bracing complete with turnbuckles. Of course, if you were not experienced, you could buckle up and make more of a mess than you started with.

Considering he had never chopped a car before, Evan did a bang-up job and executed perhaps one of the best and certainly cleanest 2-inch chops I have ever seen. He did the major part of the chop in just one day, however, that did not include bracing, finishing, doors, and so on. That is to follow. MR