I am looking for some input here. I am going to remove the drip rails on my 46 Merc coupe. I have never done this before. Here's what it looks like to me. The roof and the body appear to be turned into the inteior at the seam and welded. The drip rail is sandwiched in between. My thought is to start at the front of the door using my air saw and slice the drip rail off flush all the way back. Then I will clean out any rust, weld up any gaps then fill. Am I missing anything here? Any surprises I am not seeing? The roof will stay connected to the body, correct? Any help, advice, or thoughts are greatly appreciated Thanks
you should do a search,there was a thread awhile back about how to replace a driprail on a car where it had been removed. you should think about leaving it alone and performing some other modifications in the meantime that won't completely fuck up a perfectly good car...
Hi ! Are you building a custom , driprail removal is a must , I dont know one cool custom built around 1950 that had the driprail still attached . Sometimes I wonder why its obvious to some guys to remove the hood bird and not the driprail . Probably because its MUCH more hazzle . If the car has a unrusted body its not that big of a deal but I chopped a eastcoast -40 Merc and removed the driprails and revield a ton of trouble , rust and partial parting . I grinded away as much rust as I dared and then filled the gap with a welding rod 1/8" that I carfully tackwelded with the MIG welder . I know hi end builds need to use TIG weld but that I use out in the open skin and hammer afterwards and not where there is rust and no possibility to afterwork the weld which leads to warpage ! Also tack weld with the MIG space apart and come back . That way you futher minimize the warpage . This area is pretty strong with alot of strength behind and that helps also t minimize the warpage . To remove the driprail I use airchisle and a flat cut , lay it flat against the body and hammer away . To saw it off opens for the possibility scaring the bodyskin and cutting into the skin which creats more un neccessary job . Only tack and then sweap it with a coat of fiberglass bondo Ive seen but thats the quick and dirty version so you have to ask yourself if you are going to keep the car for your self or ? Putting a expensive paintjob on the car this version opens for moisture creeping behind the piant ! Wolf
I posted about replacing a drip rail that has been removed,,,we replaced them on a 40 ford sedan,,,with it removed it was friggin' ugly and a BIG MISTAKE. HRP
YOU'LL BE SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!Why fuck up a nice car that way???????????????And I'll bet it's not even chopped..........
It's still there,,,,I guess I should have named it better and maybe it would have been moved to the archives,,,HRP http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146469&highlight=simple+fix+for+stupid+mistake
I just installed new drip rails on a '41 business coupe we choped.........I think these cars need drip rails to complete the 'look', but you can do what you want, naturally. It's pretty easy to remove them, cut, grind, weld in that order. Repalcing them is a little more work!
From looking at a lot of '40's, my opinion is so: The drip rail actually functions as a strong curve in the side styling, tying the roof curve to the windows. When it is gone, that side curve is carried nicely by the gap between door and roof halfway, where it suddenly drops straight down at a 90 degree angle. Suddenly the door does not fit the body styling...a flowing curve shortstops at an angle, ruining the flow, and the back window becomes a sort of orphan weakly trying to find the curve again. The effect is at its worst on coupes. The car with no rails MUST be painted black to disguise the flaw in styling, as the door line becomes extremely apparent on light colored cars. Laterally, across the car, the drip line is necessary to transition the roof curve to the sides...that curve is weak and transitions poorly without the drip as a turning point, a poorly ddefined curve that looks like a badly sanded AMT custom model.
I think it really depends on the look of the Kustom. If its built wrong from the start it wont matter.
Here is a pic of my father's car, we removed the drip rails due to the fact that one side was almost entirely rusted away and held on with silicone. (no repro rails available for 47 sedans) Rod was welded in and smoothed over to close the gap between the roof and the doors. We will most likely be putting rod on to restore the body line . . eventually.
No one could have better discribed the cause of the ghastly visual appearance of otherwise beautiful flowing lines on the cars we all love by removing the drip rails than you just did! I guess it's a matter of taste, but I also think drip rail removal interrupts an older car's classic flowing design.
Most people who did it right didn't just take them off, they moved them inside the door opening... There have been plenty of gorgeous customs built with shaved drip rails... If it looks like shit after it's done, you did something else wrong.
Just my opinion, but I think on cars with the drip rails removed, the side windows look too deeply set into the side of the top. I notice this particularly on the 46-48 Ford and Merc coupes. I'd recommend not removing them.
I have put drip rails back on two 40 Fords cuz they looked so stupid. I think if the car has heavy frames around the front door frame/window's it does not work. If they have are are converted to convertible style with no real frame around the window it works. To illustrate what I mean, here is Sam Barris' Merc and Bob Hirohata's Merc. Look how much more fluid the iconic Hirohata car looks! Now if Sam's car had kept the drip rails it would have flowed better and I think it actually makes the top look lower as well. JMHO
That right there is the epitome of "apples and oranges"... The Hirohatta car is hard-topped and therefore doesn't have the door tops and has the window surround for the Quarter window removed. That's why the top looks thinner. Perhapse the drip rails help a little but it's a bad example... If someone wasn't focused on the drip rails, they'd look at the top of the Barris Merc and wonder why it looked so smoothe and flowed so well. There is absolutly NOTHING wrong with that car... NOTHING... If you can copy that car including the top, you'll have one of the nicest chopped cars ever...
Well, I really dont think I will fuck up the car no matter which way I decide to go. Once again beauty is in the eye of the beholder and personally the things that I find that detract from a nice car, custom or streetrod are drip rails and handles. Especially a custom. My vision for this car is everything rounded. Not a square edge anywhere. A drip rail is a 90 degree angle to a round top dying into the side of the car. It should flow, not have this protrusion jutting out For example Here is the 40 Chevy coupe. A nice streetrod but we should have removed a lot more stuff. Here is one of the same type of car I took at a cruise last weekend without the rails. Sorry I didnt get a sideshot Here is the car I am doing. No I am not chopping the top, mainly cause I dont know how and I dont want to fuck it up. Fat Fenders are hard to chop right. I am rounding everything as you can see in this pic by the door corner. I am doing the same with the trunk. I want everything to flow. So I am still not convinced not to do it. Post up some pics of 46-48 Ford/Mercs with the drip rails removed and tell me why you think they look so bad
We should argue about some stupid bullshit more often here. Its been what a solid month since we beat this dead horse. Who gives a flyin fuck if this guy wants to saw his driprails off or not. He asked how to do it, not if.
Its good to argue sometimes as long as no one gets their panties in a wad and takes it personally. So I say beat the horse. LOLOL I guess I must be on the right track since no one has said the way I am doing it is wrong Trust me Pete, I will do what I want in the end since I am building it, but I am still waiting to see butt ugly 46's with the drip rails shaved...........
I agree that the Barris car is about as nice as they come, but still feel that the area where the door top has the gap and then there is nothing over the quarter is awkward. I heard similar comments when I was looking at the car at a show. Beautiful car? YES! Could it have been better with rails or maybe even a small revel or molded type rail? Definite maybe.
Why dont you consider easing it a bit in lieu of completely removing them or shaping some pencil rod for a mor molded look? I personally don't care for the look without and they actually serve a pretty neat function if you ever get caught in a downpour...
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