Any advise on shaveing drip rails on the roof linewhat keeps the water from just running in the car off the roof? Any hints on how I should go about it. O I have 55 ford.
Being in florida, I wouldn't shave them completely, but I have seen people cut off the vertical part, then blen the lip into the body a little bit. You have to be carefull, some cars look really bad without them.
best advice i can give is to not do it. it's a quick way to ruin a roof. some hardtops can get away with it. cars with posts usually look stupid afterwards- as the door frames look like they go way up into the roof. also, it's a probably a ******* to fix if it ends up looking dumb.
i did it on my 54 ford ...and i wish i never did ...first, it was a ***** as the roof is pinch welded . it is actually 3 pieces and you have to weld it all the whole length of the drip rail ..that ****ed as the metal was thin in some spots and wanted to burn through ...second after it was done i hated the way it looked ...not as good as i thought it would....third there is nothing to keep the water from rolling right down the side of the window .....i am actually thinking of getting another top and doing the chop again because of the drip rail.....as said before it looks bad if you try to put it back after the fact .......
been there, done that. You can see the results of my efforts in the current April issue of Cl***ic Trucks magazine. In fact Jimmy Smith and I did an article that ran in Cl***ic Trucks a few years back. I thought I posted it here but couldn't find it in a search. It is a lot of work and with the right flair it can be a subtle custom touch. But these guys are right on the money about it being a pain in the ***, listen to Lownslow he knows the score. If you really want to do this I will see if I can come up with some pictures of the process.
55 Ford, If you just plain don't like the look of your drip rail, but would opt for a more eye pleasing one, there is an option i have seen used. You could remove your existing drip rail (to an extent) and then form a new one using either break tubing or solid rod and blend the rear of it into the sail panel. I saw this done on a Desoto that had been chopped and it looked very slick and still was functional. Just an option!
I agree that this is the way to go. I have a '40 ford coupe oval track race car that had rusty drip mouldings. Take the round rod and mimick the drip moulding. Blend it in to the roof with some bondo. It keeps the proper charactor lines of the car. Is there anything more ugly than an old Ford that's had the drip rails removed and smoothed?
In my opinion , no. Its a pain in the *** and not practical. I have seen some decent looking modified drip rails though.
yeah. DON'T DO IT!!! it's only my opnion but most cars don't look right with the drip rails removed. kinda like a big smooth jelly bean on top. my old 50 Chevy had them removed and i hated it cause it made the roof look too "fat". just my opinion but something to think about before you do do it.
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