fbekholden.com

These Chopped EKs are becoming a bit common... Here's mine - however I figure many of you may have already seen it before. Its full build can be seen here;

http://gallery.oldholden.com/Streetneat/EK-Van-Chop/





Now just to clear the confusion, the actual overall chop on this van is 8 inches out of the original roof profile of an EK van. This car was an original EK Van BTW- not a wagon as has been suggested by some on other websites. Roof Chops are not measured from what is taken just from the pillars due to complex mathematics of angles etc involved. Most text books on roof chops will explain this approach of de- crowning a roof as another method of lowering yer lid.

From memory I have taken 3 inches from the front screen posts and added a wagon roof in its place. The EK van door openings have been re instated on both sides and at the rear. Now to get it all to flow and marry up again at the rear I used the upper most part of the EK Van roof and reinstalled that to line up again with the new wagon roof. I removed a lot more than three inches from the rear pillars- I soon lost count as I just kept trimming until it all fitted!

My approach to keep the welding to a minimum is always to tilt the pillars inwards. This approach seems to work well on early Holdens - it dosent work on all cars however. I also like the added benefit of windscreen moulds that wont need modifying due to a widened roof. This is just my methods - it dosent make it the right or only method. It does however make sense (to myself at least) to minimise the amount of work involved with chopping.

Thommos van has used a different yet still pleasing approach of keeping the original roof and taking even more out of the posts. The advantage of doing so keeps more of the EK van DNA with the unique to vans pressing around the roof skin. This is not a competition between Thommo and myself at all - we are both on the same page there. It's all about having fun with cars - thats what we are all here for!

The look I was after was of a true sedan delivery rather like the Chev Deliveries that had smooth sides and minimal guttering. Unless explained some just wont get it. I like both chopped Van approaches - mine with an almost phantom factory style and the other which is an obvious chopped original. Both look good in my opinion. There is another style of chopped van (cant find the damn picture at the moment!) And that is using a FB/EK Wagon with filled sides and two door conversion. There is a very rare picture somewhere of an FB wagon with FE grafted front screen and guards. I have yet to find that pic on the net - but I do have a pic of the sedan version.


Cheers streetneat Andrew.

like this ? i never considered it chopped just a phantom sedan delivery

see you changed yor mind on the colour of yor van looks as if it will be a pretty stunning colour

That is the best looking one mick love the style

The look I was after was of a true sedan delivery

..I think you nailed it Andrew.

Stewart

Gday Andrew

You nailed the look of a sedan delivery thats for sure

What state is your van at now?
Is this a recent pic?

Cheers
Jeff

Thanks guys. The state of the van is as you see it with the last pic. Its the only unfinished project I bought with me to NZ. I brought four cars in my two big brown 40 ft suitcases - the FC Coupe, The EK Van - the freshly finished HG Ute and my drive car the late 05 SSZ VZ Crewman ( my first new Holden straight from the showroom floor).

The van is at the awkward 'big dollars must be spent' stage. Up until now the van dosent owe me that much. It has a new crate 350, rack 'n pinion conversion to a HR Front end by myself and Phil Hutton, TH350 auto ( rebuilt thankfully!) and Narrowed commodore disc rear end from a VS. The wiring is done but not all systems yet hooked up - it has brakes and is quite drivable. I have all new glass except for the important bit - the front screen. I also have some secretive trick bits of customising Ive done inside that I have been careful not to photograph. Due to how long this projects taking - I'm in fear of my ideas being elsewhere before this thing hits the road - thus losing some of its uniqueness.

So things have slowed up prior to my move to NZ and now I'm here I'm still trying to get established. Things like rebuilding a run down farm and house!. I havent lost the passion for finishing my van and there is quite a lot of work I can do without spending much money. The big ticket items like all the finishing stuff like chrome, paint and trim will set me back vast sums of money that I just cant find for a while. Now I have a mortgage its a bit tricky to spend money on project cars! We also have no proper bathroom - so you can imagine the likelihood of the van getting attention before that! My main focus has been sorting this place out so I can play cars again.It will happen - I just have to be patient!

The creativity hasnt stopped - I have designed yet another radical custom which will be FE/FC or FB EK based - as soon as I find an appropriate donor car! Its a concept I came up with in Aussie but they would never let me build and register there. Quite annoyingly I had all the bits gathered there to build it - but had to abandon mission and parts when we decided to move to NZ. NZ is a place where creativity isnt shot down by bureaucracy before its born - hence why I am here. I have pics - but once again I'm keeping that info from public view to protect my ideas. ( the only way you get to see that one is by seeing the designs in my house here in NZ!) This last design is one I would happily replicate and sell as a kit - so being commercially sensitive info - I cant reveal it just yet!

I hate being elusive with my plans - but just letting you know that its all still in the pipeline. Its very frustrating not being able to just walk out to my fully equipped workshop and just start building stuff like I used to. First I have to build the workshop! I have renovated one old barn to a point where I at least have a lock up shed.

Cheers streetneat -Andrew

Oh, you do have some work in front of you.
I hope this forum can keep the fire burning
until you get the chance to work on the van again.
Until then, ya gotta live.

Cheers
Jeff

Nice van, always have liked the look of it and in the candy red would look wild! But life has a habit of getting in the way. Can't wait till you get back into it.

Once again thanks for the encouragement - its why I joined up- to try and get motivated again! Yes there is always another project to push the van aside - this time around its not another car but a rather large amount of renovations! I need a few life times to get through the planned projects!
The last pic shows the van near one of my sheds - the one we have yet to renovate... I can post some pics of the shed renos - but will have to chuck the van in the pics somewhere. Right now its back in its box.

Cheers Andrew.

Very well proportioned Andrew, the colour will set it off and also help highlight the contours of the van. Be great to see more progress on this one! Doesn't matter if it takes you a month or 3 years to finish it as it will be all well worth it in the end. Keep up the great work.

Love the van and coupe

Man! Perfect, spot on....

I've been waiting on updates for ages on this car, shame it will be a while yet.
Adding my 2 cents to the design (if I may), IMHO the roof needs something to break it up, it might look different with a coat of paint but at the moment it almost looks like a fibreglass canopy. In saying that I have followed the build and realise the shear amount of work that has gone into this.
I've taken the liberty of adding a FE/FC Pano style gutter in a comparison. I think the gutter rail breaks the roof line well and makes the windows appear shorter and the body below the hipline a bit taller.

Gday Stinky!
Long time no speak. Yeah the van needs a coat of paint to get the full effect . If you have a look at a 53 Chev sedan delivery - you see the effect I looking for of smooth and understated. I had actually cut the swage line out of the original van roof and offered it up - I had problems keeping my breakfast down and it looked like an add on and I was trying to hide something - so it never happened. I eventually gave the swage line sections away for someone repairing their van.
What you have posted up is precisely what I'm trying to avoid - having the gutter line there! I recall someone else saying the same thing until they came and saw the van in the flesh - only then it starts to make sense.

When the van is complete I had ideas of adding a panel on the side in sepia tones under the candy. Inside that panel was to be some Little Mick art - now I have moved to NZ - obviously that is less likely to happen! There is a bit of stuff I have deliberately not shown on the net for two reasons - one is to keep the finished product fresh and some of my custom ideas from being copied for now. It sucks when you come up with something different- your project lies on the back burner and someone else uses your idea and takes the credit... The other reason is ideas evolve and can take a different turn. Hell if I posted everything I would spend a long time trying to explain the end result I have in mind.

For now aside from the huge project of house and shed renovations - the EK Van is next in line. I just want to finish what I started-this has taken way too long! I have a few construction bits to iron out and I may change the front seating to overcome the entry exit program into the back seat. The van is pretty much roughed out- I just want to refine a few things to make some of my mods work a little better.

Now I reside in NZ- there is the temptation to to go even wilder as we can get away with a lot more here than in QLD. I would love to supercharge it - but that probably wont happen as money is tight and why change something that already works fine.... Time I suppose will tell. For now the Van is stored away in its box and comes out every now and then to keep it running. I have to do something with it soon as the moisture in the container is sending even new stuff rusty. My big problem is shed space - which I am working on in amongst everything else...

Cheers streetneat-Andrew.

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