De Rosa Chopped 41 Caddy

88 YEARS AND STILL AT IT

Frank De Rosa has been building Custom Cars since the 1940’s and today, August, 2015, at age 88 Frank is still at it. Lets check out his latest creation. A wonderful 1941 Cadillac Series 61 which he chopped together with his son Frank Jr.

Frank De Rosa has been restyling cars in the Pittsburg, CA area since the mid-1940s. Together with his son Frank Jr they run a restoration and Custom Shop in Pittsburg, CA. The father-son team has over 100 years of building between them. Frank is mostly known for his very creative and outside the box thinking creations from the 1970’s and 1980’s. In the 1970s, they were part of the Northern California car builders that brought back customs. Although the De Rosa’s had never really left it!

At age 88, Frank is still doing what he loves best, creating custom cars, and the 1941 Cadillac in this article shows that he is still more than capable to do a super job on it. Perfectly balanced chop which of course could be done with the many years of experience of both Frank and Frank Jr. The 1941 Cadillac Series 61 in this article was done for a customer. But the car is for Sale as it is. Lets take a closer look at the De Rosa Chopped 41 Caddy.

Call Frank at 925-439-5115 or visit their Pittsburg shop at 1090 Harbor Street, for more info.
Frank De Rosa Custom Cars

 
Where is all begins. The body has been stripped from all the trim, glass, rubber and the interior completely removed. Frank is starting to take measurements to figure out where to make the cuts.
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A lot of thinking goes into chopping one of these Fleetline bodies, and Frank makes sure all the cut marks are exactly where he wants them to be.
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Marking the pie-cutsthat will be removed to make sure the top can be moved forwards and the B-Pillar be angled into its new position.
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Pie-cuts are also marked on the inside of the C-Pillar.
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And then… its time to make the first cuts. Together with Frank Jr (on the left) they are cutting the top at the marks Frank had previously made on the body.
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With a section already removed from the C-Pillar Frank is making more measurements to make sure it will all line up after the top has been dropped.
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The top is now dropped into its new position and the fine tuning of the pillars can start. Frank Jr is holding the door post, while Frank Sr is figuring out the best way to cut the B-Pillar for the most perfect flow.
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Great photo of Frank cutting a piece of shaped metal for the chopped top.
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All the main body work on the top has now been done, and its time to start on the details, like filling the trip holes and creating a new molded in drip rail.
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All body work on the top has now been done, and the main body has been put in primer. Notice also that the rear door corners have been rounded.
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A nice detail is the rounded top corner of the door. Frank chose to round the corner less than the window shape, making the B-Pillar a very interesting shape.
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The trunk had to be pie-cut sectioned to make the new shape of the chopped top flow with the rest of the body.
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First time out of the shop shows the wonderfully shaped body on the non dropped frame.
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Great flow of the trunk towards the top.
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Can you imagine how this car will look with a nice drop of the suspension and a wonderful dark organic paint job?
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For more info on this 1941 Cadillac or any other work that the De Rosa Custom Shop does. Call Frank 925-439-5115 or visit the De Rosa Custom Shop in Pittsburg, Ca. at 1090 Harbor Street.

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