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Drip Rail Mouldings - To remove or not??

1K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  baddbob 
#1 ·
Hey guys,
Have a question regarding the painting of my early Falcon station-wagon. The car is to be plastic bead-blasted in prep for painting. The colors will be blue with white roof. The split line in this runs along the drip-rail mouldings.
These moulds are in pristing condition. I've never seen a wagon with moulds this good, my other wagon doesn't even have them!
Should I risk damaging them by removing them for the paint-job, or should I leave them alone & mask them? The gutters are also very good on this car.
Any experience with this or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Wazza
 
#2 ·
I would take them off but if you think you'll damage them during the R&I then I guess you should leave them on. Working the lower edge loose and unhooking it on the top edge is how they are removed, you work it slowly from one end to the other. Don't use an old can opener like some people suggest. Bob
 
#4 ·
I usually use a very thin and very flexible putty knife and start at the front end above the front door. Put the edge of the blade up to the lower edge of the drip rail moulding and apply some pressure to get it to pop off the lower edge of the drip rail, if you can get the lower edge loose easily you can bet these mouldings will come off without a hitch. Keep working the lower edge off for about 1 - 1.5 feet and you'll notice the top of the moulding will unhook from the top of the rail. Work it nice and easy and move towards the rear using the same proceedure.

When you reinstall these make sure there isn't a bunch of paint built up on the drip rails or they might give you a fight going on. I usually start the install at the rear just opposite of how they came off. Hook the upper edge on then with a slap of your palm the lower edge of the moulding will hook on the bottom, work about 1 - 1.5 feet at a time untill you reach the front. Some designs have small corner mouldings that joint the windshield pillar drip moulding with the roof side drip rail and these are actually the first items to be removed as they are crimped on. Hope this made sense. Bob
 
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