Chrome drip rail

[Robert Bergstrom]

Here are my thoughts on the installation of the stainless rail gutter moulding. As above prep work is the key. I assume that when these were first offered for that one year the paint was thinner than what is used nowadays. This meant that the factory moulding could fit easier to the paints then used. Today they are thicker (at least my new paint is) and the drip rail chrome from Taiwan does not fit correctly unless the paint is sanded or scrapped off the rail. The fitment of the Taiwan rail is great EXCEPT for the radius near each door (photo attached). I tried to push and form it to the radius but could not match it before damage happened to the part. If you place the tab notch on where the rail curve break starts, then the rails will be too far apart in the front for the 7/8" clip to cover. I assume not all radiuses are the exact same on each truck so maybe the piece will fit correctly on them. The last item is when two rails are coming together there was some twisting so they would not lay flat on drip rail. I corrected this by twisting them but just be careful because if you twist or bend to much the piece will almost snap. Just take your time and do not press hard or you could damage the part.

[geunther]

Old but interesting thread. I just assumed they all had it, or it was part of the chrome windshield package. Mine has little clips at the bottom that were probably once more shiny. There could be a rosette underneath as there is one in the center top. I will add it to the list of dealer options the original owner went nuts on.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by geunther

Old but interesting thread. I just assumed they all had it, or it was part of the chrome windshield package. Mine has little clips at the bottom that were probably once more shiny. There could be a rosette underneath as there is one in the center top. I will add it to the list of dealer options the original owner went nuts on.

Is the option shown on your SPID?

[425HP409]

Originally Posted by Robert Bergstrom

Waited almost a year to get my stainless rail trim from Classic Industries (supply chain issues). Spent an hour putting it on. Went relatively smoothly because I prepped the rail with a Dremel tool. I made sure the rail thickness was uniform and bump free. The hardest part was twisting the rails in two places to lay flat against the rail.

I was going to put a LMC set on my truck but as you stated, there is some cleanup of the rail for them to fit. The front roof corners had a large bump where the metal was welded and I didn't want to do any grinding on my paint so i didn't put them on. I instead installed a plastic chrome from a roll I got from Napa. I also made door edge guards out of it. I looks pretty good and helps set the truck off with the other chrome on the truck.

[halfstep]

I'd like to see some photo's of your install with the plastic chrome NAPA trim. I have an old set of the metal/stainless but for all the reasons stated, haven't dared the install.
Thanks

[425HP409]

Here are some photos of my truck with the Napa plastic self adhesive chrome trim. I put it in the roof drip rail and made door edge guards out of it. It looks better in person than the photos show.
Photo #1 shows the roof and door trim.
Photo #2 shows the trim at the top of the door and the bottom of the roof rail. I trimmed the trim at an angle like factory trim is done.
Photo #3 shows the trim at the top left of the roof where it doesn't fit well due to the weld and sealer. It looks OK at 5 feet! I may have to trim it to fit better now that I looked at closer.
Photo #4 shows the trim at the top right where there was no interference and the trim sits good.
Photo #5 shows the Napa part number. There is also a black trim available part # 22-50

[mr48chev]

Unless it was part of the custom sports trim package or a similar package I'd say dealer installed.

The lists for 69 are here https://www.gm.com/content/dam/compa...olet-Truck.pdf

Still I'll go along with the concept that in specific regions certain dealers ordered certain packages on many of the trucks they ordered in. Locally my high school classmate was the third generation Chevy dealer for years and from 71 or so up until he closed shop and retired just about every Chevy pickup he sold had a tilt wheel simply because he is about 6'3" and hates to drive a truck that doesn't have a tilt. I had a 75 1 ton 4x4 crew cab that I wish I still had that was a pretty well bare bones 400 small block, turbo 400 truck that one of the few options was a tilt wheel that was a truck he sold new.

[geunther]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Is the option shown on your SPID?

The drip rail is not specifically called out on my SPID. It is a super, but I don't know if that matters or if all supers had them.