Guest butlersZ Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I was considering shaving the driprails on one of my Z's, I know people here have done it before, could anyone chime in here and share how they did thiers? Do I just pull off the moldings and take a grinder to it and then smooth them out from there? Also, anyone have any pics of thier shaved drip rails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 The roof line seperates so you will have to weld. It's a good deal of work.... Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Adding upon Tims comment, I used a cut-off tool to cut within 1/8" of being flush with the roof so that I had material to weld (the two exterior pieces come together for the rail). After carefully welding (stich welded it over time to prevent excessive heat concentrated in one area) it back together after cutting off the rail, I bondo'd it and primed it. I've got some photos as the site below (under the drip rail album) that shows what I did). It is a lot of work, but in my opinion it was well worth it in regards to aesthetics (especially being I dont drive this car in the rain). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Guess I'll have to wait until I get another welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdmz Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Before I shaved my drip rails I took a close look at Terry's site. The dozen or so pictures he has there really are worth a thousand words. It took my a couple of weeks to complete mine - worked on it a little bit at a time. Just grind a few inches of the rail off, weld it up, grid the weld smooth, repeat. I ground mine pretty flush instead of leaving the 1/8 inch Terry mentioned and ran into some problems with burning holes in the metal that I had to spend extra time welding up. That got a little agrevating but in the end I used very little bondo. I also used a flat file to help get things smoothed out and lined up. I suppose you could get it good enough that you could not have to use any bondo, but I am not that patient. It was a lot of work - and when I started I felt like I had gotten in over my head. Now that it is done it doesn't seem like it was that big of a deal. One other thing, the section of the roof that meets the rear quarter panel had some tin/solder/lead???? to fill the junction of the panels and that threw me for a loop when I hit that with the welder That stuff melted out of there pretty easy. Once I finished welding that section I just smoothed it up and bondo'd it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Yah, thats the factory lead they put in there to smooth out the fender to roof seam. I was welding on mine (repairing the drip rail so i could put the chrome back on.. meh, I like shiny stuf) and ran into some lead suddenly.... SPLAT! drip drip... what the he!!?? I just filled it in with weld, ground it fairly smooth and finished it with a 'skif' of bondo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest plainswolf Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 So if one was to fill-weld in the leaded area of that seam, I would think that would add alot more rigidity in that area and thus be a further measure in stiffening up the body as whole.. Am I right? or would doing this be too insignificant? I wonder this because that seems to be the place where chassis flex can be seen most apparently from what I've read. So I assumed it was the weak spot, of sorts, in the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 On that note of stiffening up the chassis, I have seen around 10-15 Z's with real nice paint jobs or factory paint jobs where that seam has flexed and caused the paint to crack along the seam. Before I knew it was factory leaded I asked one Z owner that had his original paint,which was very nice looking, if his car had any bondo in it and he said "no", but I seen the cracks on each side of the car where the seam was and thought otherwise. That was the only reason I didn't buy his car, which I now regret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Yep, I've seen these cracks in the paint on numerous Zs. I've never experienced this myself, so either I am extremely lucky, or the methods of stiffening the unibody (cage and tower bracing) really do work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdmz Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Plainswolf. If the seam is at that junction is spot welded it may be worth removing some of the lead there and welding the seam solid. I did not remove enough material there to see how that seam goes together. I would guess that it is spot welded because most of the car is put together that way. Anyone know for sure? I would not try to "fill weld" the whole area. I would say the lead covers a couple of square inches and would be too much to fill weld. Just get to the seam - weld it - and bondo. From what Terry says it may not be worth the effort to do all that - but do other body stiffening methods instead????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Well on my 75 280, the roof apeared to come down to just near the end of the upper edge of the quarter window/drip rail. Then, it had a 'step notch' (I think thats the proper term for it ??) bent into the metal (edge of panel bent down at a 90*, then back straight leaving a slightly lowered 'step') and the quarter panel was laid over it and spot welded.. it seamed to have left a gap about 1/8" to 1/16 and that was where the lead was. I didnt fill the whole thing in, just a bit, and then ground smooth and bondo'd it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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