Don’t chop because it’s convenient

Question:

I am looking for a set of hinges for my 1946 Chevy pickup and I constantly come up empty. I am likely to just get Rocky hidden hinges and benefit from adjustability.

I also like the chop on the Ford that you did (Project ’46). I may chop my truck just to get away from having to pound all of the dents out. I bought it on the Internet and all of the dents didn’t show up in the pictures.

I am working on a portable version of an English wheel so I may possibly get it smooth rather than chop it.

Answer:

The Rocky hidden hinges work well so they are a good choice if you are not opposed to customizing your truck.

Having said that however, I’m not so sure about the logic of chopping it to avoid fixing dents. If you want to chop it because you want to end up with a cus-

tom, chopped truck that’s one thing, but if you want to minimize the amount of body work that you end up doing you’re probably better off fixing the dents and not doing the chop.

If you do choose to fix the dents then I caution you that an English Wheel will not be the best choice of tools to do the job. If you intend to “metal work” the dents out, your primary burden is to shrink the metal that has stretched as a result of the impacts that caused the dents. An English Wheel is used to shape and form metal by stretching it, not shrinking it, so it is not the recommended tool to use when working dents out of automotive sheet metal.