Morning everyone, working on my 71 f100 and I noticed the drip rails have like puddy or Bondo in them. I noticed it because it is starting to crack and lift. Is this a normal thing? If so what is it and does it need to be there. I poked around on the bottom of them and can't find any weak rusty spots.

thanks

kevin

 

Good question. I'm starting the body work on my restoration and noticed the same "putty" in the drip rails. I asked my uncle who owns a auto paint store and they sell this paintable caulking, don't know if these came with it stock. I'm removing what's on mine with a screwdriver and spatula and re-cocking before I paint, don't want to take any chances with leaks.

 

Thanks, do you have a name of the product so I can go get some?

 

What exactly is cocking?

 

I think he means caulking. I need to redo mine as well, figure it would be some sort of body putty or something.

 

Thanks, just making sure there wasn't anything new I didn't know about.

 

Ford used paintable caulking between the drip rails and the sheet metal. This stuff cracked apart, water seeped in, why 1967/72's are notorious for rusting out in this area.

You can buy this type of caulking from automotive paint stores, where body shops buy their supplies.

 

Thanks Bill

 

thanks alot

 

Being new to drip rails, I had no idea that they were a separate part of the door cab. I assumed that they were part of the cab. So, we can remove the drip rail and recaulk, or should we just run a bead along the rail itself on the bottom closest to the cab?

 

Ask for Fast & Firm (seam sealer) at your local automotive paint supply.

 

You want to use Urethane Seam Sealer there are several types, the good stuff requires a special gun to apply around $25 per tube. The cheaper stuff comes in a regular tube you can apply with a standard 'caulking' gun(sorry for the misspell in earlier post).

 

Ordered the urethane seam sealer from Eastwood.com Will report on how well that works.

 

any word on how it works i need to order some for my drip rails asap just got done welding the rail now its open to the rain until i get some sealer. whats the best sealer to get to use for the drip rails? looking for a type that wont crack and separate over time.

 

You want to put the seam sealer in the rail itself.