Lead Seams

[JCode]

On my 70 Challenger im starting to see some cracking by the roof going into the quarter panel and also by the front by the windshield pillar where its very thin . When did they stop using using lead and start using bondo? When the roof is taken down if there's lead there can you use bond to fill it or does it have to be lead?

[71GranCoupe]

Not sure when they quit using lead altogether, but lead seemed to be used when the car didn't have a vinyl top and had a painted roof. Vinyl top cars got composite filler for the joints. Not absolute, but what I have observed.

[MoparLeo]

Todays fillers are much superior to 50 years ago. No lead used any more for a long while. Very uncommon to have cracking in those areas on a unmolested car.

[JCode]

my car is a hard top so can I use filler if there lead im not sure what's under there yet

[Racer57]

Older gentleman that I've known for a very long time was considered the best at using lead back in the day. He says the lead now days isn't worth using anymore because it isn't as pure as it used to be. He added that the best thing that ever happen to bodywork was the introduction of putty.

[tparker]

I replaced my roof due to rot from the vinyl roof. The seems had lead. As mentioned above, lead isn't available anymore. Eastwood sells a lead free solder filler or something like that. I used it, pretty easy after you got the hang of it. My Challenger didn't have any cracking or any other signs of distress in that area.

[7E-Bodies]

@tparker I bought 70/30 lead from Eastwood a couple years ago. Did that opportunity go away? I'm using it as we speak.

[7E-Bodies]

@71GranCoupe I do think you are correct from what I've heard said. Furthermore, my 70 RT project is a V1F vinyl top car and I found zero lead in the sail panels, as well as where the quarter meets the rockers and also where the roof meets the A pillars. I went ahead and used lead in going back with new AMD quarters, just to be sure. This car has it's NM 440 and I didn't want to have that type of torque finding the weak spot and having it be under that SMS vinyl top replacement as they were quite proud of the material as well as the 6 month wait for special order. See pics in my earlier reply to this thread.