Solid drip rails weren't the initial plan, but once you start filling out the long seam, there's not much left to leave open. I did this side myself.

Most of the high points and weird diversions are due to burn through. The sheet metal should be 16 or 18 ga, but it burns up like dry leaves with heat levels appropriate for 22 ga. Once a hole forms, you have to keep chasing it until you reach a spot that won't burn through.

I started grinding a small channel back into it for water to flow through.

Also visible from that angle is the fully filled rear of the drip rail / b-pillar where it goes through the hardtop channel. The factory only put one blob spot weld there and filled the large gaps with seam sealer. I hit as much of it as I could from inside through the access holes, too.

I'm seriously thinking about running a solid rib down the outside of the b-pillars like an exoskeleton, rather than (or maybe in addition to) internal bracing like the TSB. I figure the bracing just passes off the stresses to neighboring metal that isn't much stronger, but a solid bead would give it some real structure. You can see a bit of that extending up above the drip rail, from chasing burn-throughs.

Owner caption October 2021 · Photo 570 of 705