boogerschnot

Well,, while sitting on the a arm cleaning the shock tower, I noticed that the little round spot weld was pulled up just off of where it should be tacked. and that at the bend in the shock tower there was a hairline crack on both sides.. Driver and passenger.. Drivers side was alonger than the passenger side.. What the heck?? Whats the best way to repair this. can I just put a bead of weld accross the crack,, almost like a butt weld? I dont think it needs a plate on top of it.. and the crack is about 2 inches below where the bolts from the suspension arm come through.. I will get some pics in a little bit, if i have the time..

Also, I have a bolt in the top of my battery tray that is stripped beyond belief.. I think Im going to just cut the head off of it and drill out the rest of the bolt. Sound good? I have already broken an eazy out in the bolt.. P.O.S.

valley firearms

Maybe your car was used by some stunt kids in the past. A few jump never hurt anything, right? I would just put a bead over the top of the cracks. Grind them down and paint over. You'de never know. As far as that bolt that is stripped, grind the head off and drill the center with a small bit. Work your way up to a larger bit and the bolt should come out. You may be able to get it out with an easy out or if you can drill large enough, it will peel out. If you mess the threads up just replace it with a bolt and nut combo using a lockwasher.
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valley firearms

You had mentioned that the spot weld was lifted. You may want to drill the spot weld out and re weld to ensure the problem doesn't escalate.
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boogerschnot

Thanks,, will do.. I did try an eazy out, and busted it in the bolt head.. Im trying to find my dremmel or a grinding disk as I type..

RSRXION

Believe it or not, Ford often welded up the shock towers on the big horse cars from 67-70. They found that many of the big blocks or high winding small blocks were stressing the towers terribly. What happened was the tower would actually tear vertically right beside the reinforcing plate portion of the crossmember. Ford just had their service techs and eventually the assembly line lay down a nice pretty bead running where the crack was or was going to be.

While it's important to note that a Windsor 2 barrel was not typically a torque monster, you never really know what kind of life your car may have seen. Perhaps it was a drag car at a young age and used cheater slicks. Even a Windsor 2V would hook hard enough with slicks to cause that damage. Maybe it was driven around a city with a lot of potholes or uneven street surfaces. Chassis flex would also cause this damage. Post a couple of pics and I can tell you real quick if yours is the common ailment.

As a side note, that weld is one of the first things I look for when trying to authenticate a big horse car. It paid off on a 70 Boss 302 fake that I looked at years ago. The car had the correct Boss 302 VIN code of G etc ... Even had an honest to gosh boss 302 in it. But it had no tower welds and further inspection revealed no staggered shocks, no manual choke hole etc ...

Like I said, post some pics.

Good luck, Dean

Daze

Not to contradict you but covering a crack with a bead of weld is not the best way to fix it. The problem is part of the crack will still be there under the weld and it can spread past the end of the weld and probably will. The best way to fix a crack is to find the two ends of the crack and drill a 1/8" – 1/4� hole to stop the crack. Then take a cutoff tool and cut about half way through the metal along the crack this will create a really good grove to weld in and allow for better penetration and for lack of a better words "crack removal." Once you have it prepped weld it closed making sure to plug the 1/8" to 1/4" holes closed. By doing these steps you will have a quality repair that will even be strong enough to grind smooth and complete eliminate. Please let me know if you have any other questions or if there is any thing else I can help with.

boogerschnot

Daze...
Good info and good Idea,, the only thing that concerns me is that I have never welded before (not that Im scared to, im pretty handy with tools, and very confident) , and I dont have a welder. Do the parts stores rent welders? I am in the Navy and we have a couple of great auto hobby shops with just about everything I would need, I just dont know if they have welders, but if they do that will be a great deal for me.. Also,, do you think I would be able to get to the cracks if I dropped the motor in,, I wouldnt mind driving it to the hobby shop to work on it.. I just dont know if i could get to the crack if the motor was in.. And I dont want to buy a welder..

boogerschnot

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/tls/411050221.html How would something like that work?? IF I could find a cheap welder, I guess I would buy it.. I just dont know what to get.. Mig, tic, ?? I dont even know what they are,, what are the differences??

john721

A MIG welder is a wire feeder, and TIG welding is also known as HeliArc welding, where a tungsten electrode establishes the arc, and you feed the wire into the molten puddle manually. From what you describe, I doubt you could get to the cracks with the motor installed. If you decide to rent a welder, make sure it is AC/DC if you plan on using TIG as your repair method. You can also "stick" weld it, using a 6010 0r 6013 electrode, which might be you best bet. Drill stopping the crack is important, (drilling the ends of the crack). This will prevent to crack from redeveloping. If you need any other info for welding...just holler...I can help you out...

Daze

If you have never welded before than practice first on a piece of extra metal many times. Simulate the crack by cutting a grove between two drilled holes and then weld it closed repeat until you can do it well. I also forgot to mention in my first post strip the paint on the shock tower before you weld, but after you prep the crack. The crack may be hard to see after the paint is removed. Use a wire feed or tig, and practice practice practice. You may be able to get to it with the motor in, however I would be worried about weld splatter on hoses wires and other parts.