One of the great things about vintage Mustangs and Fords is the detail work and the chrome trim that often adorns them. It brightens any paint color up, grabs your attention, and is a unique feature of the era that the OEMs have attempted to duplicate with plated plastic, but the result is never quite the same. With our project Colt of Personality '66 fastback, we've decided to make a great many changes to the car, but we plan to keep the majority of the chrome trim for that classic look. We did, however, decide to have the driprails removed for a slightly cleaner look. While the chrome trim on them looks nice, the driprails stick out a bit far, and would seem to be a bit overbuilt in this author's opinion. Most classic enthusiasts aren't driving their cars in the rain anyway. That said, we looked to Gillis Performance Restorations (Port Richey, Florida) to show us how it removes the driprails. Read on to see whether or not this mod is right for you. We loved the results.
In addition to the driprail removal, Gillis Performance Restorations performed a number of other modifications/repairs to the fastback. It's better to resolve the issues now than to have your final result marred by festering problems down the road.
1a The window channel is...
1a The window channel is a common area for rust in classic Mustangs. Ours needed repair on the driver side A- and B-pillars.
1b When completing these...
1b When completing these repairs, make sure that the door channel still has all of the necessary mounting holes for the trim and weatherstrip.
2 GPR prefers to weld in...
2 GPR prefers to weld in filler panels in all of the factory lead joints for superior strength and longevity, which includes the top of the A- and B-pillars, as well as the bottom of the C-pillar shown here. Again, if you’re going to attempt this type of modification, warping the metal/panel can be an issue without proper technique.
3 The rear window was removed...
3 The rear window was removed a while ago to facilitate other repairs, and as one might expect, there was a bit of rust in the window channel. Brian Gillis welded in a patch panel to fix the perforated metal.
4 All of the metal patches...
4 All of the metal patches are then reworked into the body through the use of body filler and primer.
1 Since there will be cutting...
1 Since there will be cutting and welding involved, the headliner should come out as a precaution. Ours was shot and would be coming out in the near future anyway.
2 After removing the paint...
2 After removing the paint from the area above the driprail, Brian Gillis of Gillis Performance Restorations found a significant amount of body filler right at the highest point of the frame--just above the driprail. To properly repair it, he removed the filler with a 3-inch angle grinder with 50-grit paper. The next step was using a stud welder to attach draw pins to the depressed area. Gillis then utilized a slide hammer to pull the area back into the proper position.
3 With the dent repaired,...
3 With the dent repaired, Gillis then cut the driprail from the body. The whole driprail component includes the 2-inch swath of metal that tucks up and forms the roof of the window channel. Gillis left this intact, as it wasn't rusted.
4 When excising the driprail...
4 When excising the driprail from the body, Gillis leaves about 1/8-inch of the original material so he has extra metal to work with when grinding the edge even and straight. If you cut away too much material on your first cut, you can screw up the line. With the driprail removed, the roof panel will separate from the rest of the driprail molding. The two panels are then clamped together to close the gap again, and then you can begin stitch-welding the seam. Make sure the welds go deep enough so that you can grind them down and not have any holes appear.
5 Gillis uses compressed...
5 Gillis uses compressed air to cool the metal as he jumps around the seam. It's real easy to warp the roof, so take you time going around and stitch welding the seam. Also, look for rust on the B-pillar where the driprail attaches to it, as this is a common area for rust.
6 Here, the welds have been...
6 Here, the welds have been ground down smooth, and the area is ready for bodywork. The leftover ridge is a part of the original driprail component, and is left in place to add strength to the area.
7 While the leftover ridge...
7 While the leftover ridge looked pretty good in its own right, its width varied greatly, so it's smoothed over using Duraglas filler. You'll want to knock down the majority of it quickly, so as not to burn through a bunch of sandpaper once it has hardened.
8 After the rough-in with...
8 After the rough-in with the Duraglas, the entire panel is covered with SPI epoxy primer and sanded with 180-grit paper to find the high and low spots.
9a Gillis then used 3M Platinum...
9a Gillis then used 3M Platinum Plus body filler over top of the epoxy...
9b ...followed by 80-grit...
9b...followed by 80-grit to knock it down into the final shape.
10 Finally, back in primer...
10 Finally, back in primer and ready for the fine bodywork, you can see the final shape and profile of the new roof edge sans driprail. We're not missing it. Are you?