Body / Glass: Stainless steel molding on the gutters of a 1961 Lark

[ajalstude]

I have a general question on how the stainless steel moulding that covered the gutter (the upward flanged piece of metal where roof meets the body) was originally affixed to the body of my 1961 Lark 4-door wagon. I took it in to the body shop, and asked them to remove all the stainless and chrome. They began to take that moulding off, but seriously mangled it in the process - I told them to stop before they caused further damage, and inspected the construction of this piece of the car. It appeared to be directly pressed onto the body, perhaps mechanically, rather than tacked or screwed on. If that was the case, should it not be removed? If it has to be removed, how can it be replaced?

[Dick Steinkamp]

I would never recommend that that moulding be removed...ever. I certainly don't have the skill or patience to do it plus you will probably never find replacement once it is damaged in the removal process...and it usually is. If the car is to be repainted, it can be masked and carefully sanded around it.

In fact, I would never have a body shop remove ANY Studebaker trim unless they have lots of prior experience with vintage cars. They are bound to ruin trim, loose attachment hardware and damage the body in the process.

[wolfie]

If you do remove it time and patience. Steve

[Jeff_H]

Yes it can be R&R'd but it takes care and patience. Also, you need to find a safe place to store it when off the car. Easily mangled. I took it off my '53 since I needed to do some welding nearby due to rust holes (mouse nests in the headliner rusted the roof thru). If you don't need to and can buff it on the car I would leave it on.

[57pack]

Getting ready to paint roof on my 57 Packard wagon.
Looks to have the same type drip rail moulding. Also couldn't figure how to remove without destroying it.
Looked at it from all angles and decided to leave it alone.

[Warren Webb]

The molding has a slight bit of a spring to it retaining it to the drip rail. The lower edge has a lip to secure it. As Dick said do not remove it. Even if you were able to remove it without damage. Painting the drip rail makes it all the harder to reinstall due to the thickness of the added paint. On my 66 Daytona the drip molding was removed by the upholstery shop when the vinyl top was replaced. Even an expert with years of experience couldn't do it without damage. If my memory is correct, later manufacturers retained the vinyl with another stainless strip that held the tops between the drip rail & the roof.

[swvalcon]

I would never try to remove that mldg. unless you had to. I fact when I took my hawk body to be sand blasted I made sure he knew that had to be covered so no damage got done to it.

[5brown1]

The way to safely remove that is to use an old beer bottle opener. Even though the modern paint can openers look about the same they will not work. With my
trusty Hamm's beer opener I removed the stainless drip rail on the speedster with no damage. When done it's handy for opening beer bottles also.

[ajalstude]

Thanks for the advice - I had told the body shop to leave it on, but they discovered some bad rust just above the gutter line that prompted its removal. The two pieces that they took off can probably be repaired, but needless to say, I wasn't happy. I have since let them know to keep the rest of the gutter moulding in place to avoid further headaches.

[doug]

I've used the beer bottle opener several times with good success. Work slowly and just work it off a little at a time. Once you get the hang of it, works good.

[gpete]

The gutter trim on my 55 coupe was removed in a heavy handed way. I was able to get it back on but whoever removed it stretched it out of shape and I don't think it will ever look right again.

[RDWEAVER]

Old beer bottle opener and patience. I removed all of mine took out some of the dings then polished and buffed. You need to be careful when re-installing it as well. And not too much paint under it or it will not fit correctly.

[kfnut]

I used the bottle opener trick sucessfully but would recommend some electrical tape around the tool's working tang to soffen the catching surface . Never done it on a stude but used it on a kaiser and it worked fine .

[jimmijim8]

you left well enough alone cheers jimmijim

Getting ready to paint roof on my 57 Packard wagon.
Looks to have the same type drip rail moulding. Also couldn't figure how to remove without destroying it.
Looked at it from all angles and decided to leave it alone.