Slight frame crack. Opinions?

This morning we gathered up all the new suspension parts and the POR15 package that was delivered earlier this week and my son and I drug our weary bodies an hour away to my brothers house. And I was immediately upset when we got there and realized we had forgot the camera. Anyway, this is where we were sandblasting all the areas of the engine bay that we couldn't cleanly strip with chemicals and blast the underside of the fenderswells and frame. This is on a '73 Duster 340 car. We had discovered a repair on the passenger side frame last week when dropping the K Frame. We only noticed it because whomever did it did a half *** job and didn't grind the weld down afterwards. It's a very small repair, 1/2" to 3/4" tops. After all the sandblasting and blowing the sand out of cracks and crevices my brother spotted another crack (not repaired) in the same area on the opposite side of the car. The crack is on the bottom of the frame right underneath where the upper bumpstop mount is welded on. Again, this one is 1/2" to 3/4" tops. It was decided to weld this one up and grind both down before primer was sprayed. I really don't think this is going to be an issue, but wanted input from any of you that have experienced this. Being new to Mopar and still learning, my first thought was that this happens and it's normal. I called my Go To Guy for everything Mopar and he wasn't able to be reached. My brothers car ('67 Barracuda) does not have these same cracks. So, is this normal? Or should I start cutting off the front end and start bending tube frame right now? Certainly some of you have seen this happen. We had a few other sheetmetal surprises today on the drivers side fenderwell (My brother ran into the exact same thing on his '67 Barracuda), but nothing that is structurally effected and we can't repair with a little stitch welding. Also one of the mounts for the K Member got blown out when my son was sandblasting. That's an easy fix. So not a bad day all in all, except we forgot the camera and we can't post pictures until next weekend.

Slight frame crack. Opinions?Sorta like being slightly pregnant isn't it,LOL seriously 37 year old cars,uni bodies and most likely abusive former owners could very well contribute to this,myself I would dye check surrounding areas,welding should not be a problem.The rest of your car is all welded after all.

I'm with ya bigdemo1. Welding it up isn't a problem. Structurally in my own opinion, after the crack has been welded and has stopped spreading, I think it will be Ok. I just wonder if there are others of you out there that have this and may not know about it. I mean, how often do you get down and inspect your frame? I'd feel better about it if it was a commonm problem for sure. But if we run into more serious problems down the road because of this same issue we have other options.

I really wouldn't worry about it to much,we've been dealing with rust and cracks up here(salted highways and salt in air for ever)seen lots of sectioned frames,lots of cars with one or both rails(sometimes all 4)repaired due to rust,a weld repair is just as strong as the original if done right.Probably never be an issue again.

Let's hope not! As a GM guy, imagine my surprise when my brother told me that these Mopar cars that have kicked buttocks for 40 years or so were entirely spot welded together. I was shocked!

Sort of common place to crack. I've really only heard of A-bodies cracking in that area. Both my 68's had cracks there and I looked at some other A-body in the junkyard years ago and found some with similar cracking. My 68 Dart convertible only has some small cracks.

They can also crack on the bottom of the frame rail under the K-member pads where the K-member bolts to the frame. Not as common. Check that area real close if you don't take the K-member out to see if you can see stuff from the sides.

Wen welding a crack you should drill a hole at the end point of it and fill whenwelding. This will relieve the stress and prevent it from spreadnig. Yes even though you welded the crack it can spread from the end of the weld.

autoxcuda - That's what I wanted to hear! That it was common or that it happens. The area where the K Member mounts looked good, however during sandblasting one of the plates with the nut on the back broke loose. We gotta fix that too. And I hear that is common as well.

toplscuda - Thanks for the reminder! I totally forgot about that trick!

Continue welding....in some frame connectors.These can be made cheap.

:worthles:

Pics

Purple Haze - I stated in another post that I had forgot to take the camera with us Sunday! LOL!

autoxcuda - Looks like you really had to weld quit a bit of extra in.

pettybludart - Frame connectors are going to be a must on this project. We just haven't worked back to that point. We are starting at the front and working our way back.