A gap on the bottom or a bend outwards would kick the water away from the wall and act as a drip edge and that would be a better practice. A lot of manufacturers sell those kind of drip edge pieces and they are formed by a machine in a factory… it is a little more difficult to form something like that with a metal brake in the field and have it look nice, so I opt to go tight and the flashing still serves the purpose of wicking the water out from the top of the trim. Now the vents and everything below the flashing will still have to be watertight in their own right (as they should be anyways) or they will leak.

@@sidingschool Thanks for the quick response, that makes sense. I'm thinking about a different application, bending Z flashings for the water table and window trim of a garage I want to build out of rough sawn lumber -- all true 1" and 2" dimensions so the manufactured stuff isn't mostly tuned for that (more 3/4 and 1 1/2).

No problem! I believe most suppliers have 3/4” and 1” true around here (Southern NH). They may even have 1 1/2” too.