After you got your new reproduction drip rails, how did you weld them on as where it looked factory. I want it to look correct, with no welds . Weld from the inside of the cab?
I believe that the originals were pinch-welded from the factory. When you look closely at an original there will be small divots created by the tongs of the pinch welder which are visible unless filled before painting. I just installed drip rails on a '36 cab but used original drip rails that I had to drill out each pinch weld to remove from the donor. I then used the holes created by drilling to re-weld onto the new cab. Not satisfied with the results. In your case using new drip rails there are no holes but getting access to the back side of the cab might be tough. I know that all the inner door structure on a 36 would have prevented welding from the back side unless started cutting on the inner door structure. This answer probably doesn't help you at all though.
I dont have a cab of that vintage here to look at but if I remember right there is a recess on the roof where it fits into? Here is a suggestion, sandblast or sand both so they have a fairly rough surface and use JB Weld epoxy to attach them.
Pretty sure they're spot welded from the factory. I replaced the drip rails on an a coupe last year. Not too tough a job but bending them to conform to the roof sides takes a little time. I would not recommend trying to JB weld them in place...Once the "bed" the drip rails nest in is clean and straight, and the drip rails are properly bent to fit well, welding is pretty straight forward.
the adhesive is what I was going to suggest , body shops are using that alot now and not just on small things like a drip rail whole panels are being epoxyed into place
The drip rails on my '33 (Ford) cab are attached with spot welds. If you don't have a spot welder, do what 56don recommends.
Drill through the body, clamp the drip rail in place and rosette weld from the inside. I posted pictures of the installation here. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=738350 After the drip was bent to basic shape it was clamped at one end and the owner welded from the inside while I continually monitored moved the clamps till we reached the end. I made sure to keep clamps close to the weld area to forestall any gaps creeping up.... I'm a big fan of Brady adhesive but I'm not sure I'd depend on it 100% on this job unless the drip rails are a perfect fit with no stress trying to peel way one end or the other
Yeah, just the drip rail. But if you could get to it from the inside, I would think that would save the grinding part. Check out Rich's thread, it is a good tech.
This is how to do it. Dont drill holes in the drip rail. Glue is for wood and new cars with 28ga sheet metal. Rob
yea thats how Ive done them. weld from the inside out so you wont have to grind in the drip rail. Ive never done a 32-34 truck but have done a couple model A coupes that way.
Big thanks everyone, I will weld from the inside. I will let ya know how it goes with some pics. Thanks Rich for the link. You do great work.
I think panel adhesive would work OK, but only with a perfect fit that eliminated any stress between the two parts...even then I think I'd at least tack the ends and maybe a spot or two evenly spaced out.. But I'm a little paranoid
Just a picture to show how many clamps it takes to get stock Ford drip rails to fit a stock Ford cab.
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