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Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Drip Rails (Painting the Roof)  () 1 Vote
Drip Rails [message #248117] Mon, 21 April 2014 20:59 Go to next message
jcurran is currently offline  jcurran   United States
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Registered: May 2009
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Member
I'm thinking about painting the roof and was wondering if anyone could share their experience removing and replacing the drip rails ?

What about broken screws?
How did you remove the original sealant?
Any other complications?
Materials and fasteners used to put it back on?

Thanks in advance,
Jim


Jim Curran 1976 Palm Beach Alexandria, OH
Re: [GMCnet] Drip Rails [message #248123 is a reply to message #248117] Mon, 21 April 2014 21:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ken Henderson is currently offline  Ken Henderson   United States
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
Senior Member
Jim,

I did that 15 years ago. In my case at least, it was a waste of time. The
sealant beneath the rails and the adhesive holding the roof and side panels
to the longitudinal member were all in good condtion; it's VERY doubtful
any leaks penetrated them. What WAS possible was leakage around the end
caps fore and aft; those cover a multitude of meeting panels and can admit
water to the longitudinal channels where it can travel all the way to the
other end of the coach, exiting at numerous points along the way.

The R&R is a tedious, laborious job which requires great care and handling
to avoid distorting the rail, causing more problems. The cleanup of the
underlying sealants is even worse. That's even if you don't break off any
screws (I worked in 90* temperatures in direct sunlight after carefully
soaking them with penetrating oil).

Personally, I'd examine an clean out any existing visible caulk, then apply
a creeping sealing followed by a good 3M sealant along the joints. Then
carefully seal the end caps. NOT remove the rails.

JWID,

Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI & EBL,
Manny Brakes & 1-Ton, etc., etc.
www.gmcwipersetc.com


On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 9:59 PM, Jim Curran wrote:

>
>
> I'm thinking about painting the roof and was wondering if anyone could
> share their experience removing and replacing the drip rails ?
>
> What about broken screws?
> How did you remove the original sealant?
> Any other complications?
> Materials and fasteners used to put it back on?
>
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
Re: [GMCnet] Drip Rails [message #248127 is a reply to message #248117] Mon, 21 April 2014 22:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Mr ERFisher is currently offline  Mr ERFisher   United States
Messages: 7117
Registered: August 2005
Karma: 2
Senior Member
There is this from kelvin
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/roof-sidepanel-trim-stip-r-amp-r/p8573.html
Erf

On Monday, April 21, 2014, Jim Curran <jim.curran@tfcci.com> wrote:

>
>
> I'm thinking about painting the roof and was wondering if anyone could
> share their experience removing and replacing the drip rails ?
>
> What about broken screws?
> How did you remove the original sealant?
> Any other complications?
> Materials and fasteners used to put it back on?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Jim
> --
> Jim Curran
> 1976 Palm Beach
> Alexandria, OH
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>


--
Gene Fisher -- 74-23,77PB/ore/ca
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today --- give him a URL and
-------
http://gmcmotorhome.info/
Alternator Protection Cable
http://gmcmotorhome.info/APC.html
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Re: [GMCnet] Drip Rails [message #248146 is a reply to message #248123] Tue, 22 April 2014 02:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sgltrac is currently offline  sgltrac   United States
Messages: 2797
Registered: April 2011
Karma: 1
Senior Member
I agree with Ken. I pulled one off The Pig and it was a nightmare for no gain. The roof skin over laps and is sealed to the roof/wall extrusion with butyl and secured with large headed rivets which cannot be seen with gutter cap in place. Once the cap is off there is no way to improve on that joint unless there is an abnormality in that junction( prior improperly repaired roof damage). The original screws holding the gutter do not penetrate all of the way into the hollow part of the extrusion which is potentially open to various other areas INSIDE the coach. When I pulled the one gutter cap I managed to shear one out of every three of the screws despite extreme care and patience( I have removed a LOT of rusty screws successfully on many automobiles). Of those which the heads snapped off about 2 out of three were removed with vice grips and lots of wiggling( and more patience) once the gutter was removed exposing enough o the screw shaft to clamp onto. The remaining screws ha
d to be ground flat, center punched and drilled out which sucked even more. Up on a ladder trying to get a good center on the frozen fastener shaft while not dropping into the aluminum surrounding it or not plunging too far while drilling was a huge pita. Not to mention blowing through lots of drills due to dulling.

The little caps at each end of the gutter strip come off easily with one screw each ( sheet metal type rather than machine thread iirc) and expose a huge void right where all the different segments connect that can allow water in to flow wherever gravity takes it. Pull those and stuff the holes.

My 2c

Todd Sullivan

Sully
77 royale
Seattle

> On Apr 21, 2014, at 7:59 PM, Ken Henderson <hend4800@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> Jim,
>
> I did that 15 years ago. In my case at least, it was a waste of time. The
> sealant beneath the rails and the adhesive holding the roof and side panels
> to the longitudinal member were all in good condtion; it's VERY doubtful
> any leaks penetrated them. What WAS possible was leakage around the end
> caps fore and aft; those cover a multitude of meeting panels and can admit
> water to the longitudinal channels where it can travel all the way to the
> other end of the coach, exiting at numerous points along the way.
>
> The R&R is a tedious, laborious job which requires great care and handling
> to avoid distorting the rail, causing more problems. The cleanup of the
> underlying sealants is even worse. That's even if you don't break off any
> screws (I worked in 90* temperatures in direct sunlight after carefully
> soaking them with penetrating oil).
>
> Personally, I'd examine an clean out any existing visible caulk, then apply
> a creeping sealing followed by a good 3M sealant along the joints. Then
> carefully seal the end caps. NOT remove the rails.
>
> JWID,
>
> Ken H.
> Americus, GA
> '76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI & EBL,
> Manny Brakes & 1-Ton, etc., etc.
> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>
>
>> On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 9:59 PM, Jim Curran wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm thinking about painting the roof and was wondering if anyone could
>> share their experience removing and replacing the drip rails ?
>>
>> What about broken screws?
>> How did you remove the original sealant?
>> Any other complications?
>> Materials and fasteners used to put it back on?
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
_______________________________________________
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Sully 77 Royale basket case. Future motorhome land speed record holder(bucket list) Seattle, Wa.
Re: Drip Rails [message #248184 is a reply to message #248117] Tue, 22 April 2014 12:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
bwevers is currently offline  bwevers   United States
Messages: 597
Registered: October 2010
Location: San Jose
Karma: 5
Senior Member
I re-did the sealant on my roof rails before painting the roof.
It was a messy job. Removing the rails was a pain. I had to drill out most of the screws and replace them with oversize screws.

If you aren't careful, you can easily damage the roof rails.
I used an acrylic latex paintable putty to reseal it.
The result was no-more-water-leaks.

Regards,
Bill


Bill Wevers GMC49ers, GMC Western States 1975 Glenbrook - Manny Powerdrive, OneTon 455 F Block, G heads San Jose
Re: Drip Rails [message #248212 is a reply to message #248117] Tue, 22 April 2014 17:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Gary Mau is currently offline  Gary Mau   United States
Messages: 152
Registered: February 2004
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Karma: 0
Senior Member
I redid my driver's side a couple of years ago looking for a leak. I must have been really lucky as I had no broken screws. As others said, I didn't find much bad other than at the end cap. I resealed under the strips with butyl rubber strips purchased from an RV supply. This is on a '76 Royale: http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/drip-rail/p45402-driver-side-drip-rail-removed.html

Gary Mau
Former 76 Royale owner
Davenport, IA
Re: Drip Rails [message #248401 is a reply to message #248117] Thu, 24 April 2014 20:02 Go to previous message
jcurran is currently offline  jcurran   United States
Messages: 52
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
Member
Thanks everyone for the photo links and info.

Jim


Jim Curran 1976 Palm Beach Alexandria, OH
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