shaving driprail?

[67shovel]

I've got my car all stripped out and to bare steel getting ready for paint. I'm really tempted to pick up the sawsall and trim the driprails off of my 73 GT wagon. I'd weld the seam of course and already practiced on a used section of a Vega A piller. It worked well. Building a mild V8 street car and won't have any other body body mods other than newer bullit mirrors and the "Nomad" B piller panels. I think it would look good and freshen up the looks of the car. It's also a good way to total a car if it doesn't work out. Anybody done it or have any comments/thoughts on shaving the drip rails?
Thanks,
Roger

[67shovel]

Nobody has any comments? I can take it and I'm usally against these kind of mods but that sawsall is calling me!
Roger

[cjbiagi]

I am all for the "smooth look". I removed and filled all my emblems in a attempt to smooth the body and I think it looks great Go for it

[Stonebird]

I don't know, seems like a lot of work and risk(depending on you skill level) for the effect. You still have chrome window trim right? I just left the drip rail trim off of my sunbird coupe when I blacked out the window trim. The drip rail kind of disapears when its body color.

[Kenova]

Nobody has any comments? I can take it and I'm usally against these kind of mods but that sawsall is calling me!
Roger

No no no, use a rotary cut-off disc. There is less chance of the blade deforming the metal by pulling or pushing the metal. Cut a few inches at a time and lay down a short bead between cuts. Heat is your enemy.

Ken

[67shovel]

Clyde, that's what I'm talking about, the smooth look.
Stnebird, your right in that I still have the chrome door window trim and I'm thinking of black anoidizing my window trim/moldings since it's al oxidized anyway. I can pull it off the welding because I tried it on a foot oof a scrap A piller and iit went super smooth.
Ken. A rotory wheel huh? Got one in my arsenal of metal distruction tools and hadn't thought of using it. Was planning on a new metal blade in the sawsall and trim it a little at a time like you suggested. I'll give the ziz wheel a try at it.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to do it.

[cos2482]

Roger,

You may be after the smooth look with the drip rails removed but if you are going to install actual "Nomad" B-pillar moldings,
best beware that those moldings are designed to fit between the drip edge and the vertical top surface of the rear quarter and door. In otherwords, they are as thick as the drip rail. They will stick out like a sore thumb. The drip rail also hides the unsmooth transition between the door B-pillar panel moldings to the original door window frame molding when the door is closed.
They really can't be shaved thinner because the rear "Nomad" filler panel is only 1/8" thick where it wraps around the original B-pillar.
Good luck what ever way you go.

[67shovel]

Jim,
Thank you for pointing that out as I was concerned and puzzled when mocking them up. I got the panels off of E-bay and had never seen them on the car or another Nomad Vega in person. I have been mocking them up and thinking that they fit terrible and I'd have to address that. Now I know why. I had planned on trying to shave them to fit flush but, as you pointed out, I'll run out of material on the rear B piller cover. Are these picks of your car? I'd like to see some more pics if you don't mind so I can get a better visual on the whole Nomad paneled Vegas.
Thanks so much Jim as you pointed out a big obstical that I wasn't seeing.
Roger

[rtm]

my buddy is a VERY good fabricator/weldor.
he told me to shave three inches, then weld ,then shave, then weld, ETC.
becuz that's a MAJOR structural seam in the body of the car.
I guess that's why I never did it, but, it would look cool.
also effects the outcome of your paintjob, becuz the mig wire is harder than the base material,
if you are planning a black, or high gloss paint, it WILL show through. unless you REALLY take the time to blend it WELL.
just my 2cents
could be wrong.

[cos2482]

Roger,
My wagon is a 75 GT. Owned it for 33 years. Like you, when I did it over, I wanted to customize it but I wanted to be able to someday return the car back to original. At this point, I can detape, restripe and replace original parts back to stock in a weekend. I repainted the original color, then I used several model year of Vega parts, moldings and stripes. It's not an original Nomad. I found a fairly complete set of the Nomad moldings on e-bay.
If you go to viewtopic.php?f=16&t=25612, you can view several "Nomad" pics including a photo of my clone at a Hemmings Cruise-In.
For those who can't visualize not being able to shave these Nomal B-pillar panels, front or back.....

DSC00146 (Medium).JPG

Hoefully you also recieved the door and rear window chrome moldings along with the interior rear window B-pillar block out panels form your e-bay seller.

[67shovel]

Jim,
I did get the interior pieces and the chrome trim for the doors. He didn't have any rear window trim for the rear fillers though. I'm looking for that and found some but the guy wanted $250.00 just for the trim pieces. I've got to pass on that. I was mocking the Nomad panels up this weekend and your right in that they are pretty thick and move out to almost the drip rail on the side I checked. Rear panel is held out there by it's thickness and if I were to shave the drip rail it would protrude as you mentioned. Now I'm considering grinding the Nomad panels thinner as it tapers up to meet the shaved roof profile. Pretty sure I can pull that off. On the missing trim, we have an anoidizing shop 1/2 mile from my house that I was thinking of having all the window and door trim anoidized black. On the rear Nomad panels I was thinking that I could shave off the rear section that the trim rests on and it would blend in with the black trim around the rest of it. Q: I didn't mock up the interiior rear piece yet. I suppose it comes out the the edge of the outside panel so if I cut the edge it will expose the overlap of the interior piece? I appereciate you taking the time to educate me on this so I don't head off in the wrong direction. You don't have any extra trim for the rear do you?
Roger

[67shovel]

I went ahead and shaved the drip rail. Cut it with the sawsall without any problem. The lenght of the sawsall blade made it easy to do since I could lay it against the roof so it would guide the cut. Cut about 6" and weld, cut 6" more and so on. I am concerned about something else though. At the factory they had some type of yellow foam sealant down where the roof section meets the rest of the body (gutter). This foam would start a small fire when I was welding in a some places. No big deal as I just tapped it out with my welding glove. 2 weeks later and it has a bunch of corrosion along the weld seam. I hit it with the DA and 80 and then squirted some metal prep on it and it's gone. I'm watching it now to see what it does before slinging the bondo on it. It must have had some chemical reaction with the foam igniting there. Any ideas?

[megavega]

Roger, pics,pics.....lol I need to see what your up to, might be a good idea for my wagon if I can ever find a set of nomad inserts.

[cjbiagi]

It's not unusual for bare steel to rust or oxidize within a very short period of time. Any bare metal should be sealed right away after being cleaned. Ever notice how quick your brake rotors will develop a thin layer of rust if the car sits? I have seen it happen just sitting overnight outside. I think the foam is either some type of bonding chemical or was used for sound dampening.

[67shovel]

I've got to figure out how to posts pics from myphone camera. The whole car is bare steel now for over 2 months. The rust ir only festering from the seem of the driprail removal. It's stange.
Roger