[kirkm76]

Hi,
I just got a 1968 Cougar that has no rust underneath, but does have substantial rust on the drip rails along the roof (I'd go as far as saying they are rotted). What would be the best way to repair this. This is not a show car, just a daily driver. I do have some pictures if anyone is really interested.

Thanks,
Michael Kirk

 

[bowl]

the drip rail come off pretty easy, just use a good quality can opener and slowly peel them up from the bottom, be very careful not to bend them, some can openers wont work as they dont have a wide enough foot print on the bottom.
Once they are off you can get a good idea of there your at as far as the rust goes. remove the head liner to check / fix rust from the other side as well. There are some real good industrial oil rig rust converters out there and a good rusty metal primers too.

 

[shufflecat]

hmmm....

Never had to replace drip rails, but I'm sure you could "canopen" the old ones off and re-fab some new ones...perhaps you could "use" some copped off a parts car...but what a pain in the arse...mercy...good luck...stay in touch on this one please....very curious on how it turns out...:eek2:

 

[bowl]

there is a bunch of sealer that needs to come out of the gutter first. a painters "5 in one" tool works good. the stainless pieces might still be reuseable

 

[kirkm76]

Thank you all for your help. I will probably "canopener" them off and leave them off. I intend to use this car as my everyday driver. Since it won't be a show car or anything I don't see the need to go to a lot of trouble to replace them. If I am wrong about this for any reason, please let me know. I drove a Saturn for 3 years that didn't have them and I can't say that I missed them for any reason.

 

[dark7068]

A friend of mine had the same problem with his, so he just cut the lip off and welded it up. Gave it a nice smooth look to it.

Rick