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Just joined the board so please don't run me out of town if I screw up my first question. I didn't see a search option. I have the common bad drip rail, roof rot. Looks like my options are 1. Find new cab (not ready for this yet) 2. Find used top of cab (same as above) 3. Repair damage. If I go with #3 it looks like all pieces will need to be fabricated since no after repair pieces available. Right now I'm looking at drip rail. Keep it or remove it. Looks to me over the windshield it may not be a problem but over the doors unless there is a great seal water may get in. Any thoughts or experience here? If I were to make a drip tail it looks to be a "L" shape welded under roof support. Or maybe a more complicated factory piece originally. Anyone have pass experience in this area? Thanks in advance

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SL
first Welcome to FTZ, we're glad you joined. As for your roof... it's a mess.. That is probably the most difficult area on the truck to repair. There are three pieces of metal that come together there... the roof, the drip rail and the top of the cab. The options you mentioned are correct. Removing the drip rail is a major deal as it is time consuming and requires some good welding and filler skills. There is a lot of alignment to do. Also you've got some patch pieces to fabricate with a compound curve and that rail is difficult to reproduce ... that's Ron Covell skill level !

Mid-50 (midfifty.com)offers a fiberglass replacement for the roof (http://www.midfifty.com/item.php?INV_ID=2013&PN=Roof-panel-stock-fiberglass ) but that also is a major modification. Don't know your skills so it's hard to recommend...and I don't know the condition of the rest of the cab... i.e. corners, lower doors, floor panels, etc. if it were me (little bodywork skills) I'd look for another cab... might be cheaper when you figure in labor cost and material if you have to pay for the work. Bodywork ain't cheap. There were several at the Supernats last week.

Wish I was more help... but this is really above my pay grade.

john

 

Welcome to FTZ

I was lucky with my pickup and my panel. Both had great tops.
Bottoms were not so much.

Junk yards are where to go for parts of cabs, I know of nowhere that makes patch panels for the top parts of a cab
Like J John said, that is a rough place to repair
John might have an answer, he did a magical trick on both his panel, and his pick up. He is right at the beginning of show season, but should be along soon

 

Welcome to the ZONE! Where are you located? I have a spare rust free cab that I would sell cheap...

I'm in Eastern Oregon...

 

Looks like you've got a project on your hands for sure. I will throw this out to you from my experience. Evaluate your entire Cab. If you're doing the work yourself; anything is possible with enough money, time and skills. If you're going to pay to have your cab fixed BEWARE I'm $3,000 into mine (inner & outer rear cab corners, front floor boards, front cab corners, rocker panels, 2 used roofs and a big back window frame) and still not finished with the body work, let alone finishing the dent repairs and paint. I turned down a pretty clean cab for $1,500 (dumb idea). Terry's F-100s makes a fiberglass roof for under $500. I looked at them at the Super Nationals last month and they look like the way to go if you can't find a steel roof.

 

How cheap is cheap? 56 Cab right.

 

Couple hundred bucks?

 

Got pictures? Do you live near a Fastenal store?

 

I could take a pic or three! I live in the Eastern Oregon desert outside a town with only 600 people in it. No Fastenal store within 200 miles.....

 

Would love to see it.

 

Here's Fabman's build on one of his 56's

https://www.fordtruckzone.com/threads/resurrection.661689/

 

I saw this tread when he posted it. Wonder if there's any further progress? I'd like to have a roll back COE, WHY it just looks cool.

 

There are repair panels available, see Auto Parts Direct eg: inner roof panel and a complete roof panel. I'm working on the same problem but not quite as bad as yours.

 

The drip rail has to be removed to make the repair and since it is the cause of the rust I'm planning to leave it off.