Before we chopped this shoebox a mere 1 1/2 inches, we gutted and bead-blasted the body which makes the window installation a lot easier: no burning paint or undercoating!
When chopping the top on a car with factory vent windows, one of the many considerations to take into account is whether or not to retain the wing windows. Of course, those who want to achieve an old school look might want to keep the wing windows as most customizers did in the '50s. For those of you that want to go with this option, you can check out Kev Elliott's article "Vent Frustration" in the May 2009 issue. Modern customs, however, might benefit from the cleaner lines of one-piece door glass.
In the case of this shoebox Ford, the crew at Roy Brizio Street Rods wanted to clean up all of the unnecessary trim and accessories while highlighting the simple shape of the shoebox body. In addition to the standard custom tricks, such as shaving, frenching and peaking, we decided to chop the top 11/2 inches and eliminate the wing windows, while adding power window regulators in the process.
While the installation of power windows may seem like an obvious upgrade from the mechanical regulators, it's actually practically necessary when switching to one-piece glass. Since removing the wing window eliminates the vertical glass channel at the front edge of the stock window, there isn't enough structure to hold the angled front edge of a one-piece window steady as it moves up and down through its travel. The power regulator compensates for this by essentially holding the glass in place as it travels.
To make sure that the windows will operate trouble-free, we also added extensions to the front and rear bottom edges of the glass holder. While it may seem like overkill, every hot rodder has had to help roll up a stuck window with his or her free hand. These extra legs will insure that the window glides up and down with the flick of a switch.
