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Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:51 am

Heres one I've been working on for a customer. We chopped it 5'' and
sunk the top down and forward to meet the windshield frame. I like
how, with the top down, there's no baby buggy shape above the
decklid. And look how fast it can go just siting there (see speedo).

Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:26 pm

bringing back an old topic. did this vert above ever get finished? i was just thinking about chopping the top on my 64 vert and turning it into a fenderless rod.

Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:53 am

He's workin on it, but top isnt finished yet...

Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:22 am

Brilliant idea on moving the convertible top forward and down to match the chopped windshield!!! BTW, on chopping a sedan, keeping the lower body stock (no rat rod look) how would you keep the rear window as large as possible on a 58 and later Bug and how would grafting in an oval section be done on a "flattened" roof line? I am racking my brain on this!

Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:03 pm

R-Baja wrote: Brilliant idea on moving the convertible top forward and down to match the chopped windshield!!! BTW, on chopping a sedan, keeping the lower body stock (no rat rod look) how would you keep the rear window as large as possible on a 58 and later Bug and how would grafting in an oval section be done on a "flattened" roof line? I am racking my brain on this!

A cappella style chop will keep the rear window the same size as stock. I'm assuming you mean the rear window and not the rear side windows. Basically, you are doing a wedge cut at the rear and lowering the front to the hieght you want. The rear pivots at the wedge cuts and is welded back up, keeping the rear window frame untouched and stock. You'll have to do several pie cuts at the upper and lower A pillar to get the alignment right at that point.

Sat May 07, 2011 1:57 am

What a great write up! and it leaves me with just one question, what's a guy to do for similar chop while retaining fenders and rear deck lid as is. and no, not wanting a slant chop. it just doesn't look right... sorry not trying to offend those that have it or do it... i just don't like it for the look I'm after

thanks

Mon May 09, 2011 7:22 pm

RMC66 wrote: What a great write up! and it leaves me with just one question, what's a guy to do for similar chop while retaining fenders and rear deck lid as is. and no, not wanting a slant chop. it just doesn't look right... sorry not trying to offend those that have it or do it... i just don't like it for the look I'm after

thanks
My build is just that. Lowered the roof line 6" and widening the fenders. Decklid will be untouched. It's a more difficult process, but worth in in the long run. I've cussed the car many times, but I've stuck with it and should be doing the filler/smoothing in the next two weeks, as long as my work schedule permits.

Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:50 pm

Great write up! I've been thinking about lowering the lid on my '66 and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I found ^^this^^ in the Gallery and I LOVE the chop on this bug. I can't quite figure out how it was done. It looks quite a bit different than any shown in this thread. Besides the slanted B pillars, which I understand how to do, the rain gutter on the C pillar looks a lot smother and flatter than most others I've seen and really seems to rake the roof forward.

I've tried to contact the guy who posted it in the gallery(search "black chop" to see more of it) but have not gotten a response.

Any input or advice on how to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

Later,

Ryan

Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:30 am

what did you do for the suspension in the rear ? i see coil overs but what did you use? and do you have better pictures of it ?

Clark Kustoms wrote:

Heres the car done. You can see how wide the area from the oval and the
first roof line is from making it wider.

Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:33 pm

keltikrewser wrote: Great write up! I've been thinking about lowering the lid on my '66 and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I found ^^this^^ in the Gallery and I LOVE the chop on this bug. I can't quite figure out how it was done. It looks quite a bit different than any shown in this thread. Besides the slanted B pillars, which I understand how to do, the rain gutter on the C pillar looks a lot smother and flatter than most others I've seen and really seems to rake the roof forward.

I've tried to contact the guy who posted it in the gallery(search "black chop" to see more of it) but have not gotten a response.

Any input or advice on how to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

Later,

Ryan

That looks like a capella chopbut not chopped as much as the original capella bug from the 70's

Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:45 pm

texson wrote: Great Info. What about the window work? How do you cut the windows to fit???

More specifically, the side and door glass as well as the windshield. Where do you get those made?
Will any glass place make them up for you?
Is there a better way to do it?

Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:53 pm

This is my chopped 1965 beetle, It has had around 4 inches chopped out

Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:19 pm

Hi, didn't read anything on what to do about the glass. I consider myself pretty crafty, but cutting safety glass sounds scary expensive. This step by step is exactly what I've been looking for, thanks!

Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:17 am

I don't know how they cut the glass nowadays but many years ago I worked at a custom body and paint shop and we did own glasswork.

We protected the original glass on both sides by masking everything that we wanted to keep right up to the cut line. Then the cut line was masked with a thick rubberized roofing tape. The glass was then cut by sand blasting along the cut line.

Ya might want to try it on a scrap piece 1st ........

Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:35 pm

For the donor roof and doors, should the car be the same as the one getting chopped or any beetle will do?
The one I am planning on chopping is a 71 super beetle

Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:06 am

Love this post. Ive been contiplating chopping and rodding my current project. I'd be going the Capella chop route slanting the "B" pillar is ole' school chop.... Still looks the best in my opinion.

Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:46 am

how much would someone charge to do a 4"chop? i have a 66 straight roofed bug i want done.

Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:50 pm

I charge $2500.

Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:26 pm

Clark Kustoms wrote: I charge $2500.

With glass and seals? :D

Tue Mar 06, 2012 5:24 am

Thanks for this post, I've been reading through it a lot, I will use this method to chop my Rat as it is a great look! The car looks great and the owner must be really happy with it?!! Keep up the good work! 8)