James Bailey

Ah cabin fever...that explains it...

Jerry Feather

Thanks Jim. You could have gone all day without calling it what it is.

James Bailey

yes sometimes I can be brutally honest..... I really do admire your independent spirit and really encourage you to simply DO IT !!!!

xschop

Chop what cha got.

The Fixer

What about the exhaust pipe/s?

I think it's a great idea and look terrific and modern but may be best left in Photoshop.

awdmoke

For me the 928 windscreen and roofline are perfect.
It's the hatch that needs work.

My radical custom would be a Shooting Brake, a bit like this

Jerry Feather

[QUOTE=The Fixer; I think it's a great idea and look terrific and modern but may be best left in Photoshop.[/QUOTE]

This surprises me. I think it is a little like someone saying that the RS should have been left to the 911s.

545svk

Any photos around of your chopped 356? I too dream of a custom 928 so look forward to some progress photos of this as well.

Lower and wider, whats not to like?

Jerry Feather

I think these are the only pictures I have of that project. I took them some time ago to show someone the welding technique I had used. I'll likely be using the same or a later derivative of it on the 928 project. These don't show the overall look of the car with the 3 inch chop but they do show the method of cutting the top into quarters and moving them down the post similar to what I'll do with the 928. The first two also show how I had grafted VW headlight bucket openings to the front of the 356 fenders where the original openings had been destroyed by rust. The rust you see here is just surface rust from being stored without having been primed first. I think these also show how the metal can be very finely finished with the hammer and dolly and the use of heat so much so that very very little filler will be needed to finish.

When I cut the 356 top into quarters and moved them down the posts, that opened up the top sideways by 1 1/2 inch and longways by 6 inches. With the 928 that is going to be more like 4 1/2 and 7 1/2, respectively. I'll be moving down the 928 posts at A-post and B-post while with the 356 I moved down the A-post and the C-post, letting the B-post float, and then welded it back where it ended up. With the 928 the C-post is going to float and then I'll be bringing up the rear to close it up as I described before.

MainePorsche

Jerry, go get 'em !
I have no doubt your design, and work will be something to behold.

Jerry Feather

Thanks MP. I appreciate your comments.

I think my title to this thread might be somewhat misleading, and was, I think, for Randy V. What Randy sees as radical is, in my opinion, more or less superficial customizing resulting in a radical appearance. For me I consider the chopping and sectioning processes as very radical but resulting in simply a different look and not so radical an appearance.

At this point, I think no one has ever chopped a 928 and that in itself is going to be quite radical, particularly with the need to shorten the car to make it work. Then, the idea to section the car is totally radical, since that too has never been done to a 928, much less any other Porsche that I am aware of. In fact these days one does not ever see sectioning being done in the custom car world just about at all.

I first became aware of the sectioning process when I first saw it having been done to the early shoebox Fords, the 49 to 51 series, and then to a few chevies of the same period. The latest I think I noticed it was in the Rod and Custom Dream Truck Project of the later 50s. Although not as apparent in that project I think they did a 4 or 5 inch section to it. I learned a lot from reading the series of articles about that project; and I bought the book a few years ago that is a reprint of most of it.

One of the tricks I am sure I learned from the Dream Truck Project, but oddly which is not now apparent in the reprint of articles, I will be utilizing in this effort, and I'll tell you more about it when we get there. It has to do with sectioning the doors. These days, just about every car I look at with the idea of any kind of custom work myself, I tend to visualize how it might be sectioned--chopped too, of course, but almost always sectioning. I have thought about sectioning 49 to 51 Mercs, Mustang fastbacks, even the 54 Chevy 4 door I recently acquired from one of my clients.

Anyway, when I can get past these broken ribs I think I will be getting with it.

Chris Lockhart

Do it brother! Sounds like fun. If it comes out anything like Sterling's photo shopped pic, it should look awesome.

James Bailey

For reasons which are pretty obvious sectioning was seldom if ever done on uni-body cars. Also the term "Lead sled" described how much filler was needed on most such projects...
One of the car shows not too long ago brought together several old timer metal guys and they sectioned an old 50s Chevy 4 inches mostly because no one has seen such work....
Huge job I admire your skills and dedication to take of such a project...because I do understand what it entails.

mark kibort

longer front winshield too, with more rake. its way to 911, straight up. look at the aston martin vantage windshield ...........like that!

Jerry Feather

Mark, the slope of the WS is about 30 degrees up from horizontal at the middle and about 32 degrees at the A-posts. That is quite a bit away from straight up, but I understand what you are saying. The problem with reducing that angle any by laying the A-posts back some more is multifold. First, and most important is that doing so will likely require a whole new windshield being made for it, whereas just moving the top corners down the posts as they are will allow just cutting off the top 6 inches of the existing WS. Second, laying the A-posts back then requires much more work with the doors to match and that also eliminates the repeatability of the Boxster side mirror adaptation that I'll be developing to accomplish this chop. I could make the new mirror bases to fit a smaller angle, but I have already started that project to fit the current angle.

I am already faced with the need to form new side windows and rear quarter windows since I don't think the originals can be cut down since they are probably tempered rather than laminated. I don't want to have to form a new WS too. Besides, I still like the idea of doing these radical custom techniques and having the 928 still look kind of original.