Long awaited drip rails

Last weekend I went to town and made some drip rails for the Murray. Since there's nothing right off the shelf that will work, I had to make something from scratch. After a conversation I had with Jimmy White about one of the Model A coupes they just built, he clued me in on what they did for drip rails. So I took his tips and applied it to my application.

I simply took some 5/8", thin-walled square tubing and got the shape that I needed for the body lines and gutter pad. Clamped it in place, stared for awhile and made adjustments until it sat just right. Then I tacked everything in place to make sure it was going to sit right after some heat was applied. Then I fully welded between the tacks until I had a complete weld from front to back, skipping around to avoid too much heat in one area.

I fully welded the gutter so no moisture could come between the body and the gutter and rust out between the cracks. Ford originally just spot welded them on.















After the welds were complete, I smoothed them out so they would blend with the body.
















Once the welds were smoothed, I cut the middle flat part of the tubing out but left the bends. Then I filed away until everything was smooth and the leading edge had a nice shape to it that complimented the visor panel lines.
















The drip rails are not done though. They're too boxy looking. I have plans to roll the edge to give them a nicer looking shape and get rid of the boxyness.

There is still a ton of work to do on the roof. Little more bumping and smoothing and some pinholes here and there where all the splice and sectioning welds are and I should be done with that part of the body.