L body drip rail

[thedon809]

My car is 95% rust free except for this PITA passenger side front drip rail. From looking at it, the drip rail seems like it's part of the roof skin. How in the world do I go about repairing this?
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj197/thedon809/IMG_20130115_171214.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj197/thedon809/IMG_20130115_171228.jpg

[RoadWarrior222]

I thought the more "classic" car sites would be a good bet for info, but the Mustang guys are all "Reskin the roof, you can get every piece of 'stang sheetmetal new" and the Chevy guys are like "It's a common Chevy, there's a cheap rust free shell out there somewhere."

But anyway, "as best you can" seems to be the T-M option.

[4 l-bodies]

Obviously moisture got up underneath the seam sealer. I would dig all the seam sealer out, sandblast, and see what real damage there is.
Todd

[thedon809]

That seems like the best coarse of action right now. My other omni rusted the same way in the same spot as well.

[135sohc]

Obviously moisture got up underneath the seam sealer. I would dig all the seam sealer out, sandblast, and see what real damage there is.
Todd

Took the words out of my mouth...

and for resealing the area get some REAL seam sealer (the 2 part stuff) and not that crap the parts store sells in a caulk gun tube. The self leveling stuff is even better...

[Nemesismachine]

I had the same thing on my Horizon (before I cut it in half) and decided to just shave it. WOW. What a PITA that was. The roof is rolled into the drip rail, with the sheet metal from the sides of the body. The rail is the excess. You can shave it, but you'll have a LOT of welding to do afterwards.

[contraption22]

Mine is doing the same thing.

Makes we wish I had gotten into Deloreans.

[rx2mazda]

Mine is doing the same thing.

Makes we wish I had gotten into Deloreans.

LOL :lol:

[4 l-bodies]

Mine is doing the same thing.

Makes we wish I had gotten into Deloreans.
Had to be the turbo version though.

[PunKid]

both my GLH-T have this. I have not dug into them to see how bad it is.

[135sohc]

Mine is doing the same thing.

Makes we wish I had gotten into Deloreans.

the frame still rots on those.

[contraption22]

I had the same thing on my Horizon (before I cut it in half) and decided to just shave it. WOW. What a PITA that was. The roof is rolled into the drip rail, with the sheet metal from the sides of the body. The rail is the excess. You can shave it, but you'll have a LOT of welding to do afterwards.

I came close to purchasing a Rampage on which the drip rails have been shaved. Knowing what kind of skills, time, and patience it would take to execute this correctly, and getting a better look at how the rest of the car was cared for, I decided to pass on it. LOL.

[strang3majik]

Mine is that way...it was bad. I fixed all the rust by sectioning the roof but I'm still considering reskinning the roof.

:/

[supercrackerbox]

FWIW, Amber's '62 F100 has the same problem. I'm picking up a new roof for it Monday.