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The flux used creates corrosion which lifts the lead up.. like frost under a rock.
Broke my 7UP Pop Machine today....
- Thread starter dadsbee
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I wonder why they would use a corrosive flux. I thought the lead was there to protect the seam in the first place.
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No different than a plumber that doesn't wipe his solder joints and the pipes turn green very shortly after. Flux has acid and I guess 50 years to work under the lead. Happens on many roof to quarter joints as well.
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Would you use a non-acid flux (like you'd use when doing electrical work) when redoing it?
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There won't be lead going back in, that I can be sure of.
1 Wild R/T
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In that location I agree... Some places lead is just the right choice.... the rear dutchman panel to quarter panel on convertibles lead is the only way IMO... It flexes & every type of filler I've tried has popped.. Lead it once & you'll never have to touch it again...
Nobody ever thought that anybody would be wondering about the flux 50+ years later. Or anything else about these cars.
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Well, dadsbee's car lead has to be touched again...
1 Wild R/T
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Yes, it happens... But it's still attached & the paint hasn't cracked... I have a similar area on one of my convertibles... And since it's on the rocker panel if I ever dig into it it won't have lead when it goes back together... But plastic filler on the dutchman panel of a convertible fails much worse and usually pretty quickly...
Between my red convertible & my friends pink convertible we tried regular plastic filler, fiber reinforced filler, fiberglass, we welded the seam fully, welded in a metal filler to bring the seam up to nearly flush then tried a super thin skim coat of plastic.... Every method failed...
I wound up tracking down an old guy who'd been doing lead since the 50's & had him lead the two problem seams on my red vert.. This was back in 95.... I recent got the red vert back... Those seams are still perfect...
I learned to do the lead myself & leaded the seams on my other two convertibles & they are both perfect too...
Please tell me you are using friction tape and not electrical tape with glue. The glue on electrical tape will not do well and it will look like crap very quickly.
Just figured I would ask in case...
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Using exactly what they used at Clairpointe when they threw them together, which was vinyl electrical tape. It lasted 53 years so far and properly re-wrapped it'll do for the rest of my lifetime. Not exposed to engine compartment heat where it is...
It's interesting to learn different Superbird construction methods. I must say I'm surprised they used electrical tape. But then again, back in the day, the car companies threw these cars together. It's only now that we are sweating every small detail!
4406bbl
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Maybe, but the moisture to corrode had to come from the backside, as the paint looks good. I say stress is just as much at fault in that area. I would fully weld that seam, as it is only a few spot welds in stock form, no matter what you put in it for filler. We saw this a lot back in the day once you put slicks and a good engine in a car, or when they were wrecked. Might want to pow wow with the body shop on this, and specifically get a guarantee on the work he does in that area. I would want to be there and see it chiseled off in person before I believed that is corrosion, it may be. My sbird showed witness marks there and the lead was tight, with zero corrosion under it.
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I have zero fear that it won't be taken care of correctly. Shop owner has been in business for 42 years and the guy working on my car has been there for the past 37 of those. They redid both quarter to roof seams on my Bee and the front cowl replacement during it's restoration.
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Scrubbing bubbles do your thing.
Mounting plate off of each actuator for blast and paint.
Nothing like the original parts manual supplement.
Details..
I've seen guys, rediculously, asking $300 US for these 4 pages. More than I paid for the entire 1970 parts manual.
Headlight door vacuum modules painted up, using a paper candy bag to protect the rubber bellows.
Headlight bucket end plates, signal light mounting brackets and vacuum module mounting brackets in the media blaster.
An hour and a half later...Yes I'm cheating and not removing those adjustable pivot mounts, so we don't have to fight to get the light covers lined back up with the nose.
Exhaust fan in the window and a few coats of SEM Trim paint.
Painted and the heat cranked up. See ya tomorrow.
Mounting plate off of each actuator for blast and paint.
Nothing like the original parts manual supplement.
Details..
I've seen guys, rediculously, asking $300 US for these 4 pages. More than I paid for the entire 1970 parts manual.
Headlight door vacuum modules painted up, using a paper candy bag to protect the rubber bellows.
Headlight bucket end plates, signal light mounting brackets and vacuum module mounting brackets in the media blaster.
An hour and a half later...Yes I'm cheating and not removing those adjustable pivot mounts, so we don't have to fight to get the light covers lined back up with the nose.
Exhaust fan in the window and a few coats of SEM Trim paint.
Painted and the heat cranked up. See ya tomorrow.
Last edited:
Overspray is not our friend.
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Why I can't have them pretty fancy floors!
threewood
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You can bag all that original dirt and grime it and sell it on line as a must have for a proper restoration. That dirt is only original once. 
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Drivers side headlight bucket into the blasting cabinet.
I'd put a new gun in the cabinet last month. It was working great and then it became a fight to get it to remove any paint/rust. Checked the nozzle to find it totally obliterated.
Even the tip retainer nut chewed out. My old gun is years old, did 100's of hours of blasting on other car parts and never did this. Sure it hogged some of the old red ceramic tips out, but never did this or so quickly.
A couple of hours later when I gave up. A small portion of the inside left to go, but cleaning up fairly well.
Couldn't see **** anymore and went to remove the inner peel shield, only to realize there wasn't one there and it was fully sand blasted. Oh well, the glass was broke anyhow.
Fortunately I have many 12" wide cut offs of Acrylite out in the hangar.
DANG.... I can see what I'm blasting!
53 year old headlight bucket, looking like new.
One cleaned up, one to go tomorrow and then paint.
Thanks to my good friend Jerry Hall in Alabama for sending me an NOS standing Bird for the trunk lid. A true Southern Gentleman!
I'd put a new gun in the cabinet last month. It was working great and then it became a fight to get it to remove any paint/rust. Checked the nozzle to find it totally obliterated.
Even the tip retainer nut chewed out. My old gun is years old, did 100's of hours of blasting on other car parts and never did this. Sure it hogged some of the old red ceramic tips out, but never did this or so quickly.
A couple of hours later when I gave up. A small portion of the inside left to go, but cleaning up fairly well.
Couldn't see **** anymore and went to remove the inner peel shield, only to realize there wasn't one there and it was fully sand blasted. Oh well, the glass was broke anyhow.
Fortunately I have many 12" wide cut offs of Acrylite out in the hangar.
DANG.... I can see what I'm blasting!
53 year old headlight bucket, looking like new.
One cleaned up, one to go tomorrow and then paint.
Thanks to my good friend Jerry Hall in Alabama for sending me an NOS standing Bird for the trunk lid. A true Southern Gentleman!
1 Wild R/T
Well-Known Member
Blast cabinets are a double edged sword... The parts turn out great but you can burn hours & hours leaned over a little dark window.. I have a fairly nice cabinet, dropped a grand for it back in the mid nineties.. These days I gather my pieces & head to my buddies auto machine shop... His commercial cabinet can do in ten minutes what mine takes an hour to do..
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