Early Barracuda body cracks under rear window

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Bob Jasinski

Bob Jasinski

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My '65 FS has body cracks under the rear window, and I've read here on FABO that they are a known problem. The body has been media blasted and each side is slightly cracked through the body lead at the seam there. I bought subframe connectors and plan on installing them in an effort to keep this from coming back, but my bodyman asked me to find out what others have done to repair the cracks. Any special tricks for a better repair than just filler and hoping that the subframe connectors fix the problem?
 
You need to get rid of the lead and weld the seam solid then braze fill the rest with silicone bronze.
 
Bodyperson, thanks for the tip I'll pass it on. We did discuss getting rid of the lead, but he said it is nearly impossible to get rid of the lead between the body panels where they overlap. Will silicone bronze adhere to any remaining lead between the overlapped joint??
 
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Bob Jasinski said:
Bodyman, thanks for the tip I'll pass it on. We did discuss getting rid of the lead, but he said it is nearly impossible to get rid of the lead between the body panels where they overlap. Will silicone bronze adhere to any remaining lead between the overlapped joint??
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There is very little wicked into the joint. I peel the lip up a little to help it run out with a wire brush. Those joints a poorly welded to begin with. That’s why they crack. Weld it first. It may pop a little but it will be better than what Chrysler did. After the seam is welded solid, I suppose lead would work too.
 
Bodyperson, Thanks again for the advice, I'll discuss it with him.
 
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How about a little heat on the cracked lead...will it gloss over? Lead melts at about 620F in range of 700-1200F heat gun you could possibly heat the lead and brush it out and find the weldable base metal.
 
Pishta, When we discussed it yesterday he (my body man) said it is like getting the solder off of a copper pipe once its on there. I've done a lot of copper work and I can relate, but steel isn't copper, so evidently it is possible, as Bodyperson above indicates. Its worth a try to eliminate the cracking from coming back after I pay $$$$$$ for the body and paint work.
 
Where is the crack? Down towards the trunk lid or on the B pillars? I'm gonna strip my 65 Barracuda to do the body on it starting in the spring, so I'm interested in checking it to see if mine is afflicted.
 
The cracks appear at the base of the rear window about an inch back from where the sail panel meets the quarter panel. They appear at the same location on both sides, have a look at these photos. I will try and get better pictures as the work continues.

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JDMopar said:
If the welds are made more solid, I don't see why that wouldn't work.
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Idk about the first gen so much but the seams on my 67 are HUGE. I would not feel comfortable filling all of that with plastic filler. There would be corners built. I can get some pics of my 67 tomorrow. It ain't pretty.
 
I never knew it was a thing on the 64-66 Barracudas until I saw this thread. I went out and looked and sure enough, mine was cracked just like the one in @Bob Jasinski pic he posted. If you dug all the old out, welded it solid, sand blasted it, epoxy primed it and then did the initial fill with either All Metal filler or Tiger hair, then finish worked it with Rage Gold it would probably be fine.
 
Bodyperson said:
Idk about the first gen so much but the seams on my 67 are HUGE. I would not feel comfortable filling all of that with plastic filler. There would be corners built. I can get some pics of my 67 tomorrow. It ain't pretty.
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Virtual no weld holding from the factory^^^
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Silicone bronze ^^^
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Steel wire before I got a tig welder ^^^ so I could use silicone bronze and other metals.
 
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