[Team24]

Kel, just food for thought if you are going to keep your drip rails. From your picture it looks like you may have some rust issues with you drip rails as I did with my cab. If I am mistaken please disregard.

I went through this same process with my cab replacing the roof panel which I weld bonded and spot welded. However prior to installing the new roof panel I decided to save my drip rails which were not in good shape. Cab had been sandblasted prior to me purchasing it and it was a project that someone else had abandoned. The previous owner had trimmed the top of the drip rail down to try and even it out with the rusted out areas. It was not to my liking and would haunt me if I left them alone.

I saved my drip rails by using 22g sheet metal in 24 inch sections which I used a metal brake, bending the sections at a 1/4 inch. I then folded that 1/4 inch section over on itself, but I placed another piece of 22g in the fold so when it folded over and I pulled out the 22g section it left a press fit space with I could push down over the drip rail. Once the I had the 1/4 fold in the sheet I then used a metal cutting ban saw and cut the other side of the sheet cutting the long side of the fold making both sides of the fold 1/4 inch.

Working with 24 inch lengths made installing them on the cab easer to control. Space left in the fold made for a press fit over the approximate 18g original drip rail leaving a 1/16 inch of the original drip rail exposed. I replaced the entire drip rail using this process bending the sections at the rear corners by hand and the bends at the front of the cab that end at the A pillar, I used a torch and heated the fold to stretch the metal at the top edge of the fold. Once I had all the sections in place and level, I mig welded the outside edge of the sections to the lower part of the drip rail. Once that was all complete I fitted the new roof panel and cleaned all the areas to be weld bonded to bare metal. I bonded the roof in place and then spot welded it every 8 inches or so. Once the spot welds were ground smooth in the drip rail, I used the weld bond to lay in the drip rail as a seam sealer and to bond the inner section of the drip rail that I installed.

I was pleased with result however if you looking for the factory stock look which is an approximately 18g metal drip rail it not going to look the same. Finished looks very similar to that of the drip rails on a 55-57 chevy car. The bonus is no sharp edge on the drip rail when you waxing or wiping down your truck. Hope the way I described this makes some sense and is some use to you if you decided to keep your drip rails. Cheers Bob

I will try to find some pictures