With the possible exception of "cold beer" and "dinner's ready," there's no two-word combination that will capture the attention of a street rodder faster than the words chopped and channeled. And since we've devoted a few pages elsewhere in this issue to the first, we thought it'd be sacrilege not to take a look at the second. Thankfully, the guys at Hot Rods by Dean over in Phoenix, Arizona, kindly supplied SRM with a slew of photos depicting the channel job they recently performed on a '33 three-window. So, with the help of these images, I'll attempt to outline just what it takes to channel a hot rod.
Oh, and by the way, for those who may be new to the hobby or thumbing through this issue while passing the time in the customer lounge of the local "quick lube" joint, here's a quick explanation of what we're talking about here:
Channeling is the process of lowering the profile of a hot rod, custom car, or classic truck by cutting out the floor of said vehicle, lowering the body down over the framerails, and then re-mating the floor to the body. This will lower a vehicle without modifying its suspension (see the accompanying photos for illustration).
Chopping a vehicle is the process of lowering the roofline by removing a section of the body (usually a few inches) through the center of the window openings and then reattaching the roof to the body (see that story, "Chop Chop," on page 76 in this issue for photos of that process). With that said, let's take a look at how a professional channels a hot rod.
