Shaving Nova drip rails help

[Kmart78]

Just finished shaving the drip rails on my 72 Nova and it looks great but I have a question. What do you guys do with the 1/4 " gap left on the underside of where the drip rail was? Does this get filled with body filler, do I weld it? The second picture is the area I'm talking about, it was taken with the door open looking up.

[jlcustomz]

If you did just want to use a filler product, USC all metal is one of the best choices.
Made with fiberglass resins & aluminum dust, it will seal out moisture. Commonly used as a replacement for lead in seams & anywhere you need extra strength. Sticks to clean bare metal.

[FlyDoc]

it looks like you just cut off the entire drip rail and have done nothing to it.
when you cut off the drip rail you also remove the bonding between the roof skin and the rest of the car. you will need to weld that together for structural integrity. you should remove part of the drip rail (6") and weld, then repeat.

[Kmart78]

That is exactly what I did. I used a plasma cutter and cut right below the roof line to remove about 6" sections at a time, then welded up the roof to body seam and then ground the welds flush. The first picture shows one completed side. It would take cutting off another 1/4 of the roof to get rid of the gap under the roof line as shown in picture 2. If I did cut more, there would be a huge gap between the roof and the body that would require filler rod to close.

[GRNOVA]

I did the same with mine and welded 1/4" rod to close gap. Good luck

[310chevelle]

That is exactly what I did. I used a plasma cutter and cut right below the roof line to remove about 6" sections at a time, then welded up the roof to body seam and then ground the welds flush. The first picture shows one completed side. It would take cutting off another 1/4 of the roof to get rid of the gap under the roof line as shown in picture 2. If I did cut more, there would be a huge gap between the roof and the body that would require filler rod to close.

Unfortunately cutting it the way you did lessen the overall bond of the roof, giving huge potential for stress crack or the metal popping up.
Your best bet is to cut a bit deeper a section at a time and weld that same section. Maybe 4 inches at a time.
This way you ensure structural integrity and a much cleaner look overall.

[Rolling_Thunder]

another vote for rod to close the gap - Shaved the rails off my 68 Charger - same process though