VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood 1928 body roof drip rails and belt moulding?

1928 Coach removed the roof drip rails and belt moulding trim strip.
The roof drip rail has a 'corded' fabric like rope strip that is inside the a groove that covers the nail heads.
The belt molding is a somewhat pliable and flexible metal that has rusty nail ends that were used to anchor it to the wood and cover the seams where the body panels meet.

My questions are:
1. Must these be re-used or are there new reproduction material for the drip rails, cord inert in the drip rail, and the belt moulding?
2. If they must be re-used how to you install new nails and belt moulding? it appears that the nail heads themselves are buried and not visible in the molding itself

The fabric filler to my knowledge has not been reproduced. It will be necessary to remove the filler that covers the nail heads and then remove the nails by prying under the head or the molding and then the nails. I found that you can purchase split welting and install it inside out in the drip rail. Split welting has two sides that can be parted and nails installed to hold the welting in place. If it is installed with the slit on the inside it fits properly and looks like the original filler.

Thanks Chipper on the filler cord idea.
What about the belt molding that has nails protruding from it, is there reproduction replacement moulding available?
If Not, I don't see anyway to replace the old nails with new nails.

Either use the remaining nails by using the existing holes in the wood or drilling small pilot holes. Better yet drill small holes and install either oval head or flat head screws (no. 3?) with shallow counter sink. Then when installed cover them with body filler, epoxy, sand smooth and paint. The screws are much better than nails.

In redoing the top for my '28 Canopy Express, I found LOTS of nail holes in the wood that I thought would make it difficult for new nails to be able to grab well.

So, I glued a wood toothpick into each hole (using Gorilla Glue). When the glue was fully dry, I cut off the toothpicks and thus the integrity of the wood was renewed and ready for a new set of nails.

Cheers, Dean