Chopped 58 Edsel Custom

[Ferbz]

So I saw online that someone had built a chopped AMT 58 Edsel custom and it looked so cool it inspired me to start trying my hand at the ideas I've had rolling around in my head all these years on an Edsel of my own. First order of business was to chop the top. In my eyes the factory top looks too long so I took about a 1/4" section out of the length of it. The rear window area was cut loose and moved forward to reconnect the front and rear pieces of the top. At the same time the A & C pillars were cut (I took a bit too much to my liking out of the A pillars so I added some styrene back to them) to bring the top down. Nothing is glued back together here yet except for the two top pieces. The gap in the deck behind the rear window will get filled with sheet styrene. Some of the ideas I have for this project are things I've never done before so stay tuned and let's see where this goes....

[Kanada Kustoms]

Cool subject.  It's interesting how you shortened the roof during the chop, looks more like a business coupe now instead of a sedan.  Any plans for the front and rear?

Edited Wednesday at 10:05 PM by Kanada Kustoms

[Ferbz]

2 hours ago, Kanada Kustoms said:

Cool subject.  It's interesting how you shortened the roof during the chop, looks more like a business coupe now instead of a sedan.  Any plans for the front and rear?

Yes! Now that I think about it, you're right it is very much like a coupe 👍 As I was looking at it, the shorter top feels more like the proportions of the 58 Chevy Impala where the top is fairly short making the hood and trunk seem very similar in length. Yes, plans call for some custom work on the front and rear ends! The front already looks custom with the crazy 'horse collar' center and horizontal wrap around grill. I'm going to try and change out the bumpers and figure out some unique looking tail lights. 😎👍

[Kutnplastik]

10 hours ago, Ferbz said:

So I saw online that someone had built a chopped AMT 58 Edsel custom and it looked so cool it inspired me to start trying my hand at the ideas I've had rolling around in my head all these years on an Edsel of my own. First order of business was to chop the top. In my eyes the factory top looks too long so I took about a 1/4" section out of the length of it. The rear window area was cut loose and moved forward to reconnect the front and rear pieces of the top. At the same time the A & C pillars were cut (I took a bit too much to my liking out of the A pillars so I added some styrene back to them) to bring the top down. Nothing is glued back together here yet except for the two top pieces. The gap in the deck behind the rear window will get filled with sheet styrene. Some of the ideas I have for this project are things I've never done before so stay tuned and let's see where this goes....

 

7 hours ago, Ferbz said:

the shorter top feels more like the proportions of the 58 Chevy Impala

Very nice Ferby! Can’t wait to see the next steps!

[NOBLNG]

Nice work on the chop!👍😎

[customline]

Oh yes! Nice chop, Ferbs!  I gotta follow this one. 🤓

[Ferbz]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Nice work on the chop!👍😎

Thank you! 🙂

[customline]

Hey, man...I just looked at my Edsel kit. I'm thinking custom but chopping it scares me.  The thing that would prevent me from chopping this roof is the glass. I haven't been able to get around the glass in my fertile(💩) mind. What have you planned for that?  The angle of the pillars, top to bottom, changes slightly and the wrap-around glass will not forgive it. Making new glass may be the solution but it's going to take some planning. I'm just wondering if you have it worked out how to do this.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, customline said:

Hey, man...I just looked at my Edsel kit. I'm thinking custom but chopping it scares me.  The thing that would prevent me from chopping this roof is the glass. I haven't been able to get around the glass in my fertile(💩) mind. What have you planned for that?  The angle of the pillars, top to bottom, changes slightly and the wrap-around glass will not forgive it. Making new glass may be the solution but it's going to take some planning. I'm just wondering if you have it worked out how to do this.

amt tri 5 chevy glass might work since the vent windows are usually molded in. Should give a bit extra glass to play with

[Ace-Garageguy]

Kewl.  

[Ferbz]

6 hours ago, customline said:

Oh yes! Nice chop, Ferbs!  I gotta follow this one. 🤓

Thanks! Thanks for following! 👍 Altho if you've seen my previous builds, I do take a long time to get to the finish line. Patience is a virtue, right?😁

[Ferbz]

2 hours ago, customline said:

Hey, man...I just looked at my Edsel kit. I'm thinking custom but chopping it scares me.  The thing that would prevent me from chopping this roof is the glass. I haven't been able to get around the glass in my fertile(💩) mind. What have you planned for that?  The angle of the pillars, top to bottom, changes slightly and the wrap-around glass will not forgive it. Making new glass may be the solution but it's going to take some planning. I'm just wondering if you have it worked out how to do this.

Figuring out the glass is usually the first priority with me when I do a chop. If the glass doesn't fit well after bringing the top down, I end up not liking the finished product very much. I do some test fitting of the glass before cutting and try to figure out how the glass will/should fit once the top is lowered. The way I chopped this one, the angles of the A & C pillars do not change. This way, all the glass needs to do is slide down (or up, whichever fits best) along the factory angle(s) behind the window opening(s). I will have to make relief cuts in the top to spread the top of the openings very slightly so the pillars line up again, but that should not affect how the glass will look too much when it's glued into place. Also notice that the top isn't chopped a whole lot. The more a top is chopped the more pronounced these alignment issues become. I rather dislike extreme chop jobs anyway (except when it seems appropriate like on a Bonneville race car or something). Customizing for me is usually about good proportion etc. I will try to post how I deal with all of this as I go. Hopefully it will help!

[Ferbz]

46 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Kewl.  

😎👍

[Ferbz]

3 hours ago, stitchdup said:

amt tri 5 chevy glass might work since the vent windows are usually molded in. Should give a bit extra glass to play with

Good tip! Altho I dont think there'll be a need to swap any of the glass. I'll double check to confirm.... 👍

[Zoom Zoom]

Looking forward to seeing this, it brings back memories! In the mid-90's someone local chopped a 1:1 Edsel and showed it at the Goodguys show in Perry GA, and it may have gotten a national Goodguys award as next year it was on their T-shirts. I fell in love with the car. Then surprise of all surprise, the Modelhaus offered a trans-kit of the same car for use with the then-updated AMT '57 Ford w/the new custom interior pieces. I had to have it! The real car was a 90's shade of teal (non-metallic). I decided to paint mine a pearl tangerine orange. IIRC the bumpers were molded to the body. This was peak '90's pastel look. 

[Ferbz]

1 hour ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Looking forward to seeing this, it brings back memories! In the mid-90's someone local chopped a 1:1 Edsel and showed it at the Goodguys show in Perry GA, and it may have gotten a national Goodguys award as next year it was on their T-shirts. I fell in love with the car. Then surprise of all surprise, the Modelhaus offered a trans-kit of the same car for use with the then-updated AMT '57 Ford w/the new custom interior pieces. I had to have it! The real car was a 90's shade of teal (non-metallic). I decided to paint mine a pearl tangerine orange. IIRC the bumpers were molded to the body. This was peak '90's pastel look. 

That came out cool! I love the paint 😎👍 I feel like bright single colors like that would stand out nicely among the current popular multi-colored pattern craze. Very cool blast from the past 😁