# Chopped top **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [January 24, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341 "2016-01-24T20:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rocketman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@rocketman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rocketman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/1 "2016-01-24T20:17:18Z")
Hey, I was watching one of those “build your car” reality shows yesterday and some guy was chopping the top 7 inches on an old 50s Chevy. Anyway, he said the hardest thing was how to fit the windows/windshield and I waited for him to show how it was done, never showed it. How do you fit the windows and windshield once you’ve chopped inches from your car? Just wondering. Rocketman ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/2 "2016-01-24T20:24:57Z")
You have a specialty glass company come in to trim the glass or make custom glass so it fits the now shorter opening. Like this; [https://youtube.com/watch?v=8gyiR0basb4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gyiR0basb4) ---
**Author:** ![rocketman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@rocketman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rocketman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/3 "2016-01-24T20:54:00Z")
Wow, perfect solution Mustangman. Thanks! Rocketman ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/4 "2016-01-25T00:10:02Z")
Great video. And he did it all freehand. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/5 "2016-01-25T00:49:25Z")
Back in the late 80s my brother in law (body man and custom car club guy) chopped and channelled a 1950 Mercury 2 Door. He had the glass cut down for that and I seem to remember it set him back about 900 bucks for all it; and that was a long time ago. Not long after the family went to CO in that car on a vacation and of course drew a lot of looks and questions along the way. Flat black wouldn’t have been my first choice of colors though… The guy in the video sure made it look easy. ---
**Author:** ![Yosemite](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/yosemite/32/643_2.png) [@Yosemite](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Yosemite)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/6 "2016-01-25T01:13:15Z")
That was a great Video, @Mustangman. I’d be on my fourth windshield !!! I could never cut even house window glass to save my life. Mine would always have buggered edges. My dad made it look so easy when he would cut glass. Yosemite ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/7 "2016-01-25T01:19:07Z")
Why did he cut the corners off first? ---
**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/8 "2016-01-25T05:05:40Z")
> _Why did he cut the corners off first?_ It’s obvious, with the stresses he needed to produce with the heating, that the glass had to be tapered toward each end of the main cut line. (I made that up. ;-]) ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/9 "2016-01-25T05:16:04Z")
Good video. People who know what they’re doing always make things look so easy. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/10 "2016-01-25T05:26:36Z")
Before cutting laminated glass, you want to remove as much curvature from the glass as possible. This makes it easier to cut the glass and the laminate. If you notice, the final cut was made across the glass at the top of the corners where the glass was first cut out Tester. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/11 "2016-01-25T05:38:23Z")
wondering if the heat is needed to soften up the laminate in the safety glass. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/12 "2016-01-25T05:40:04Z")
that was my guess. Can’t see any other reason. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/13 "2016-01-25T05:54:49Z")
Craftsmen at work. Before airports used people movers based on E350 vans I remember seeing them use stretched Olds Toronados with 6 or 8 doors. I visited a body shop in Spring Valley IL and he was restoring one of these Oldsmobiles for a local beer distributor. The company (not the body shop) doing the glass work found that a glass from a F series Ford would lay in it but was too tall. With that said the glass company went through 12 windshields before cutting one that did not break. ---
**Author:** ![JayWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@JayWB](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JayWB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/14 "2016-01-25T11:47:02Z")
This video explains why he cut off the corners first and why the heat is used as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chopped-top/92341/15 "2016-01-25T19:08:40Z")
I’ve seen another video of this process… Yes, the heat softens the plastic inner liner so he can complete the cut. Flat windows look easy by comparison. I’d never try this myself, its time to hire the pros!