Guest Frank280z Posted November 13, 2000 Share Posted November 13, 2000 I plan on removing the drip channels/ gutters on the car. Are there any down sides to this? If not what is the best method of removing(sawsall/fine blade-grinder) Will there be a split when the gutter is gone? Any help is greatly appreciated....Thanks Frank ------------------ Build it. Drive it. Improve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted November 14, 2000 Share Posted November 14, 2000 I haven't done this, but I think there will be a split. So you will have to seam weld it shut before any bondo for smoothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 14, 2000 Share Posted November 14, 2000 I have dreamed about removing those drip rails! Please keep us posted and shoot some pics. I know that the car would look good but I wonder how that top door seal will do when it gets the brunt of the water running off of the roof. Good luck! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 19, 2000 Share Posted November 19, 2000 I have often looked at the removal of the rain gutters as an essential modification to a truely custom Z car. Unfortunately, if you do not know how to cut it off and finish it up properly, there is a good chance your roof line will end up warped and ugly. Just cutting it off and then trying to weld up and finish the area will not work. Last night I was discussing the various approaches and problems to removing the rain gutter on a Z car with a master body man which practiced his magic on a Black Z that many of you may have seen around the net. After Thanksgiving I will be working with both the master body man and the owner of the Black show car to document this technique and show case some photos of the final result up close in a way that will show everyone interested how to go about it. Check my website around mid-December Eric Neyerlin of Z PARTS ------------------ Z PARTS - Used & New Online Parts Inventory at http://www.jps.net/zparts/selectzp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frank280z Posted November 19, 2000 Share Posted November 19, 2000 Sounds great!!!!!!! Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 I have finished removing one side of the drip channels. It is actually a bit above my skill level. If I had it to think about again, I probably would have let a qualified body man do the job with the paint and related. -you'll need to leave 1/16th or so of the drip rail to have something to weld, then grid off the excess bead. If you cut it down even with the roof line, it makes it hard to seam weld without burning through. At least it was for me, anyway. My little mig welder doesnt have enough voltage selection capability to control the heat properly. -the roof line is leaded heavily over the quarter window where the roof line blends into the hatch. The same thing will be found about 2 inches up the pillar as it falls down into the fire wall, and across as it makes the turn to head across the hood. I ended up heating these areas up way too much and losing a bunch of body leading in those spots. Be careful around these areas. -I would not use bondo to shape and smooth these areas. Twisting and stress on these points, especially the windshield pillars, will probably knock the bondo out after a while. Leading these areas in is probably best. -I have probably screwed it all up by blobbing up weld to try to pull together all the burn throughs caused by cutting the drip channel off too close to the roof line. I am sure that all the heat I have applied to it has probably weakened the metal quite a bit. It aint the thickest stuff to begin with and by grinding off too much, I made it so thin that it was almost unweldable. Big screw up on my part, but I have managed to salvage it cosmetically (big, big sigh). -Bottom line........if you do not know what you are doing with a welder, I would stay away from it and let someone who does take care of it. I learned alot about my limited skill, added to it somewhat, and managed to embarass myself severely. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 i would not want to do this because it probably weaken the structure of the unit body unlesss some subframing is done.car would probably shift if it wasnt jacked level and body stripped when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 Rustbucket? I ran across your post below about welding up rain gutters 2 post down from mine on hybridz. As I posted, I am working on photo documentation of the proper way to do the rain gutter removal. It could be very helpful if I could photograph what you ended up as a comparison shot to guide others. You are close to where I am (Richmond) Any chance I could photograph your car and rain gutter area for my documentation? Eric - zparts@jps.net http://www.jps.net/zparts _________________________ quote: Originally posted by the rustbucket: I have finished removing one side of the drip channels. It is actually a bit above my skill level. If I had it to think about again, I probably would have let a qualified body man do the job with the paint and related. -you'll need to leave 1/16th or so of the drip rail to have something to weld, then grid off the excess bead. If you cut it down even with the roof line, it makes it hard to seam weld without burning through. At least it was for me, anyway. My little mig welder doesnt have enough voltage selection capability to control the heat properly. -the roof line is leaded heavily over the quarter window where the roof line blends into the hatch. The same thing will be found about 2 inches up the pillar as it falls down into the fire wall, and across as it makes the turn to head across the hood. I ended up heating these areas up way too much and losing a bunch of body leading in those spots. Be careful around these areas. -I would not use bondo to shape and smooth these areas. Twisting and stress on these points, especially the windshield pillars, will probably knock the bondo out after a while. Leading these areas in is probably best. -I have probably screwed it all up by blobbing up weld to try to pull together all the burn throughs caused by cutting the drip channel off too close to the roof line. I am sure that all the heat I have applied to it has probably weakened the metal quite a bit. It aint the thickest stuff to begin with and by grinding off too much, I made it so thin that it was almost unweldable. Big screw up on my part, but I have managed to salvage it cosmetically (big, big sigh). -Bottom line........if you do not know what you are doing with a welder, I would stay away from it and let someone who does take care of it. I learned alot about my limited skill, added to it somewhat, and managed to embarass myself severely. Andy ------------------ Z PARTS - Used & New Online Parts Inventory at http://www.jps.net/zparts/selectzp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 Hello, I just finished removing mine on Sunday. It took my buddy (who is a very qualified welder and fabricator) about 2.5 hours to complete. He cut about six inches of gutter off leaving about 1/16 inch of material and gas welded it together. After cooling for a minute, he proceeded to do another six inch section. The result is very smooth, without much distortion. I agree with others that leading is the preferred way to finish this off. Bondo might crack off and turn a great idea into an embarrassing mess. And I sure like the new look. Much sleeker and modern looking. Larry Cutter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 23, 2000 Share Posted November 23, 2000 I completed the removal of the passenger side drip rail, and as expected it went much, much better. I changed to a thinner cutoff wheel to control the removal of material and cut it in smaller increments as Larry suggested, leaving about 1/16 to 1/8 of material and slowed down the wire feed a bit, and also made double sure that I had a good ground and it worked much better. I was able to melt smooth, consistent beads, then grind down the excess with a light weight 4 inch grinding wheel, then hit it with some 220 grit. The only thing left to do is lead in the spots that I melted out existing lead, and maybe add some to clear up a little of the distortion and its done. It may not be as pretty as some, but I did it myself and it did not cost me an arm and a leg at a body shop, and I learned a helluva lot in the process. Thats what it is all about for me. Trying new things, screwing up sometimes, learning from the mistakes and moving on to something else. Happy Thanksgiving Andy "Migman" Madden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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