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paint cracking near A pillar

blue69runner

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So here goes. Car finished now noticed a crack in the paint where the A pillar and upper cowl meet. This is where the A pillar and upper cowl is leaded together. Started out as wrinkle in the paint their. Now has formed a crack in the paint running under the wind shield trim and down into the door jamb area. . Concerned about water getting in the car. Been touching that area up with paint. This is really bad but may be not so bad. Just don't know. It is a 69 roadrunner. I really thought about welding that seam when doing the car but that was not said in the restoring of the car. Just led that area in is all that was showed. Any answer's would be appreciated. Oh the crack is on the passenger side and not showing this on the drivers side.
 
66 and 67 cars seem to often develop cracks at the base of the a-pillars and across the ends of the cowl. Not sure if 68 - 70 are the same. My 67 has them on both sides and my 66 has signs of a partial one on one side. I’ve read that frequent jacking of the car at the frame, especially one side only may be a cause. I don’t know. Haven’t had an opportunity to try to repair one of them. It might be an area to investigate using high strength panel adhesive since it retains a degree of flexibility.
 
I have the same crack in the paint on the passenger side on my 69 Dodge Coronet 440 2 door. I bought the car in February and it was that way when I got it. The crack isn't as long as yours seems to be, just right on top of the cowl where the A pillar meets the cowl and about an inch and a half long.
 
Really common.

Just the torque of the car does it over time.

Pics of how bad it is might help.

Usually just hairline and not even really enough for capillary action to draw water in.
 
...and 66/67 and 68-70 are the same basic cowl and most of the uni-body structure, especially the front.
 
There's only one way to fix it. Remove the reveal molding, dig out the old lead with a die grinder
and replace it with either lead or Tin. Tin is stronger but melts at about the same temperature.
Epoxy does NOT work here! Watch so you don't set the under dash insulation on fire under the
repair!
 
Really common.

Just the torque of the car does it over time.

Pics of how bad it is might help.

Usually just hairline and not even really enough for capillary action to draw water in.
What he said. The torque forces cause the unibody to flex, and that is one. Especially when these cars are modded, power-shifted,etc.
 
rust often forms under the lead, pushing the lead up and making a crack...... best way to avoid this IMO is to remove the lead and weld the seam solid........ never liked all metal, I prefer marine-tex over welded seams
 
Sorry, don't know what All-Metal is. As I said, the best repair is replacing with Tin or
remove all of the old lead and put in new. It just de-laminated from the base metal
and corroded. You have to re-establish the bond between the lead/Tin and the steel.
 
So if the seams are welded solid, Then All-Metal could go over the seams?
This would be at the roof 2 quarter joint, a-pillar 2 cowl joint, and quarter 2 rocker joint. Or everywhere there was lead.
 
So if the seams are welded solid, Then All-Metal could go over the seams?
This would be at the roof 2 quarter joint, a-pillar 2 cowl joint, and quarter 2 rocker joint. Or everywhere there was lead.

I've had adhesion issues with allmetal both under and on top...... marine tex has never f'ed me ..... just my personal preference

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Thanks so much for the input. It is a shame the car is finished and this is happing. The crack in the paint is slight so trying to touch up that area. The two stage paint job is hard to touch up. Used the lead free bar's from east wood that has more psi strength than the lead. It is applied in the same way with the tinning process. Wish I had welded that area together. Guess I will have to live with it. So if any one is restoring these car's suggest welding that area instead of doing the leading process. Thanks again. Blue.
 
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