DeTomaso Mailing List: April 2000, Message #302

Another area of cracking is the roof pillars on windshield....Since the fire
melted out the lead it was pretty easy for my body guy to find the points to
mig/tig weld the seams but do NOT forget the windshield area....I've seen
boucoup Pantera's with stress cracks on those posts....If you press your
fingers against the top right or left corner on the posts you can feel just
how weak that area is....adding some reinforcement is advisable if you've
had a problem there in the past....I also added Hall's flush windshield kit
which includes support pieces as part of Halls windshield kit which is then
welded in to support the glass frame...makes the whole windshield area a lot
tougher.
FWIW
MD  

> ----------
> From: 	MikeLDrew@aol.com[SMTP:MikeLDrew@aol.com]
> Reply To: 	MikeLDrew@aol.com
> Sent: 	Monday, April 10, 2000 9:57 AM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Re:  Stress Cracks ?
> 
> Bill wrote:
> 
> >I am new to the forum (and Panteras). 
> 
> >>>Welcome! :>)
> 
> >I have been shopping for a Pantera =
> and have found most of the cars have stress cracks at the windshield =
> pillars and on the rear roof tunnels(?). =20
> 
> Is this something to worry about?    Is there a fix?
> 
> >>>These are very common areas where stress cracks form.  The bottom
> outside 
> corner on both taillights cracks too.
> 
> You are correct, these are stress cracks.  The degree to which they can be
> 
> considered a problem varies.  For most people, they are a mere nuisance.  
> Years ago, Larry Stock used to beat his black Pantera fairly hard on the 
> racetrack with slicks, pulling about 1.2 lateral G's, and he managed to
> break 
> BOTH a-pillars right off the top of the fender!  But that's pretty extreme
> 
> use.
> 
> Normally, when a Pantera is re-painted, they should make a special effort
> to 
> dig out the lead between the A-pillar and the fender, weld in some 
> reinforcement, then re-lead.  When my car was painted, apparently they
> failed 
> to do so, and worse yet, apparently they used bondo there (which is utter 
> doom), for on the first drive I developed 2-inch cracks on both sides.  So
> 
> next month the whole damn thing will have to be done over again.
> 
> Dennis Quella sells a Y-shaped reinforcement piece that is welded atop the
> 
> sheetmetal in the bend on the quarter panel where the decklid curves.  I 
> guess the body shop has to hammer an indentation into the panel, then weld
> 
> this reinforcement atop it, and grind it all smooth.  It simply moves the 
> stress from that one fixed point to three points about 6 inches away, 
> essentially eliminating the problem.
> 
> Mike
>