Stress Cracks

[Clark K.]

I thought someone had scratched my fender near the hood. I took it to my local restoration shop and they tell me that it is not a scratch but a stress crack in the fiberglass. He sees them all the time, he says.

Well, the crack (about 3 inches long) is costing me $650 to fix. I went by there today to check on progress. I was shocked to see that they had to sand the entire left front fender from the fender peak to the hood (see photo) and there is primer where the stress crack used to be. It is now painted and awaiting buffing early next week.

I noticed the crack right after the last chapter meet. Is it possible that a judge put his hand there and leaned over the engine, putting pressure on this spot during judging, and cracked the fiberglass? -Clark

[Rich P.]

Re: Stress Cracks

Clark,

the only way it could crack from someone leaning on it is if there was a VERY POOR repair there before. It's unlikely that.

Rich

[Rich P.]

Re: Stress Cracks

Clark,

I wanted to add something to what I said. I did not mean for it to sound like you car a bad repair but ment that the area where the crack is located is pretty strong, having the support of the fender skirt just below it. It would take more than leaning on to crack ( unless some one put all thier weight on thier one hand).

Rich

[Bruce B.]

Re: Stress Cracks

Clark,
My limited experience with midyear cars is that cracks tend to develope in the corners of the headlight cutout area. My 65, which I drive frequently has fine stress cracks developing in that area on both sides.
I believe it is a common occurence.

[Paul J.]

Re: Stress Cracks

Clark,
My limited experience with midyear cars is that cracks tend to develope in the corners of the headlight cutout area. My 65, which I drive frequently has fine stress cracks developing in that area on both sides.
I believe it is a common occurence.

Clark:

I've also seen stress cracks at the corners of the cutout for the hood and wheels, as well on the fender and hood bulges. Fiberglass is plastic. The glass fibers reinforce the plastic resin and hold it together so it does'nt break into a bunch of pieces. Fiberglass moves a lot with temperature differentiations, and is subject to deterioration from vibration and age. I'm truely surprised that these bodies hold up as well as they do.

I hope that your body shop applied gel coat after the repair. Opinions vary, but I believe that this will help prevent future cracks.

Paul

[Edward S.]

Re: Stress Cracks

Clark,
I have a 65 and a few months ago a stress crack showed up on the top of my pass. door - my painter said theres a joint in that location. First time in seven years of heavy use that i got one, however I see them on cars quite often - I would think more on some years then others. I was there when my painter start the repair and was alittle surprised on how much area was worked on in order to blend it enough not to notice the repair. My car is yellow which seems to be a pretty easy color to work on, I am pretty sure that red would require more work. Good luck.