Hey guys I asked the question of r&ring the driprails on my 39 Ford Opera Coupe. The problem is that I don't like the look of the round tube or the smooth look, I bought the replacement ones from Early Ford reproductions. I do not have the ability to replace them myself, and I will have to farm out the work. My biggest question is-whether this project is gonna kill my budget, the car is no longer rusting, it's been in the garage for many years & I'm getting started on the body. I need to know how bad of a job this really is, I understand it's labor intensive, but how labor intensive????? thanks for all the help-and if there are any bodymen in the area looking to tackle a job like this please PM me. Choggie
Were you not happy with all the replys you got to the same question you ask yesterday? In a nut shell,,,yes it is labor intensive and yes it's going to be expensive to pay someone to do the repair. HRP
Not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it seemed that most of the replys were for replacing the driprails with round bar. I want the factory drips, & I would like to know how bad this project can be. thanks again, Choggie
I put new drip rails on my 39. (got them re-pop from Genes. 200 bucks for teh set.) Pretty straight forward, LOTS of removing the old ones and/or grinding out bondo, fibergl***, etc. My driprail area needed lots of metal work also.. Not a very good pic, but it is all I can find.. Start to finish, a weekend worth of work. About 15 hours or so. Good luck, -Abone.
I had the drip rails replaced on my sedan by a pro shop, they also had to replace an inch of roof all the way along, took a week and a tidy sum of money (a weeks labour!)
We installed the ones Gene's has and it was pretty easy. It took about a day to get the old out and the new in but we only had to do one side on a 37 Ford coupe.
Hey, A problem with bid work for rust-out damage is much like cancer in humans, you never know how badly its' spread until you open up the job. I've had repairs where only a small section of the roof and rail needed removal, and others that required removal of the entire roof panel to insure all of the rust damage was cut out. If any of the rust is left behind after the repair, that's where the rust will spread again! The construction of this type of roof is especially problematic given that it's a sandwich type of construction with the top panel, the cant rail & drip all welded together. Condensation from inside the vehicle's top rotting it out from within, water from below & above the drip rail rottin & rusting it from the outside. After 65-70 years, it's gonna happen! With the headliner out of the vehicle, get inside and poke around with a flashlight and a screwdriver. This should give ya a rough idea of the extent of the damage. Again, you'll only really know once the paint has been removed and the area/s ground back. Rust repair in this area of a vehicle is a dirty, tedious job that has to be well done or the end result won't last but a season or two in cold/wet weather. S****y Devils C.C. " It's time for another Tea Party!"
Seems to me you're not gonna get an answer to that question until you get an estimate from whoever's actually going to do the work. It doesn't matter if everyone on here tells you it should cost $500, if every shop in your area tells you it's gonna cost twice that much you're either gonna have to pay it, learn to do it yourself or forget about it. I can see the look on the shop owners face now when you say - "A thousand bucks!?!? The guys on the interweb told me it should cost half that!!!" I can understand you wanting drip rails, the reason some guys use rod (as a couple others already pointed out) is that the factory drip rails are sandwiched between the body panels, the rod trick gives the illusion of the rail with probably 1/4 the cost. It's as much money saving deal as a custom trick, that's why guys have done it and are suggesting it as an option. Not trying to be a smart***, I just don't know what you're really expecting here. Good luck with your project.
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