I'm in the process of de-grotting the rust pitted rain drip channels on my 63 wagon. It is particularly bad from the back of the rear doors back. So far I have picked out the seam sealer and wire brushed some of the underlying rust. I have cut a 5" section of the drip channel off right at the back and welded on a new piece that I folded up (it had become detached). There are a few smaller rust holes in the drip channels that I plan to fill with some filler in between coats of POR15.

My question is - should I squirt some seam sealer in to cove the crevice where the drip channel meets the roof? If I do, it will be after the POR15 treatment and before top coating. I'd be interested to know if this seam was sealed in the factory. The sealer I have been chipping out looks like it might be factory, apart from the fact that it is on top of the factory top coat. Was it ever done this way?

I am sure that after the POR15 treatment and some fisholene squirted in from the inside, I won't need to look at rusty drip channels again for a few decades.

Also - my car does not have the aluminium trim strips covering the drip channels. Is it possible that these were not fitted in some markets (this car is an export model sold new in Beirut) or is it more likely that they were removed when the car was repainted in the early 80's?