Body Seam Repairs
Short answer: Those cracks at the top of the windshield pillar are in the body solder, not the structural weld — the weld and its reinforcement (about an inch below the roofline) are very strong. The fix is to re-solder the thin spot, which is far better than filling it with Bondo or All-Metal.
How to re-solder body lead:
- Use 30/70 solder and a small, low-watt iron. Clean the area thoroughly and prep with tinning butter.
- Melt the area around the defect to blend the new solder in — practice on a junk panel first, as it takes some skill.
- Afterward, neutralize the acids with a baking-soda solution, then rinse with plain water a couple of times.
- Wear a dust mask when grinding or sanding lead.
The solder is purely cosmetic (the factory used it instead of slow-drying filler because the cars were dipped about an hour after welding). It thins out past the welds after grinding, so it tends to crack at those thin points from stress.
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Content last modified: June 13, 2026 at 10:06 am
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