Chopping the top on a 1950 Dodge Pick-up – Eastwood’s Project Pile House- Part 1

One of the next big projects planned for Project Pile House is performing a mild chop and smooth job on the cab and roof. We started the process in a previous post where we showed you How to Shave and Smooth Unneeded Holes in the bed and cab. Today we decided to really dig into this next part of the project.

Since the roof will need to be worked and modified in a number of spots, I decided to use our 7 Inch Cleaning and Stripping Disc Kit on an Electric Angle Grinder to quickly strip the top half of the cab and doors down to bare metal. This will allow us to easily mark, cut, and weld the roof as we get it situated in it’s new, lower position.

Next I decided to remove the drip rails. This modification isn’t a new one in the Hot Rod, Street Rod and custom world, but it’s definitely one that’s always debated. The original drip rails were in pretty sad shape, and I prefer smooth customs; so I decided to remove them with the angle grinder. I’ll come back with a Flap Disc and bring the rough-cut edge flush with the roof. The drip rail is composed of 2 pieces of metal pinched and folded over, so I will have to weld the two pieces together and blend them before the truck is “done”, but we’ll wait until the chopped roof is back in place to finish that portion of the job.

While we were on a roll, Mark R. (of Eastwood R&D Corner fame) helped me measure out the lines for where the chop would take place. After a little head scratching, and test fitting me (the driver) in the truck, we decided on a 3″ chop that would take place below the rear windows and bring the lower “reveal” or contour of the rear window openings down to match the height of the lower door window sill. This would also bring the roof seam down to match with the top of the door, and make the size of the side door glass close to the that of the rear and cab-corner windows (I really like symmetry in custom cars!). With the lines laid out with painters tape, I’ll be gearing up to make the cuts in the next week or two. Stay tuned, we’ll be filming and posting a DIY video showing how we chop the roof. We’re excited to see how Pile House looks with a fresh chop and shave!

-Matt/EW