68 Dart drip rails

The only thing is the car gets strength from the drip rail. Plus the roof tin and some other parts are folded into the drip rail and I think that is how it is all held together. If I was doing this project like I thought about I would cut a small section of about 6-8 Inches off, then spot weld it a bunch and then do another section and another and another........until it was all welded up. Kind of like welding a rear 1/4 on a car!
One more thing is the crome part that holds the wheather molding that the door closes against looks too wide kind of like if you cut the drip rail off, it would stick out from under the roof/above the door!
I would say look at it close, Cause I looked at mine and decided against doing this( I guess I didn't want the headache). Also my dart is a hard top and might be different then yours when talking about the wheather stripping.

Good luck!