It is now time to do somthing about the joint between the roof and the newly installed quater.
I have heard of guys using just filler to cover this up, will that work or will there be problems down the road (ie: cracking). Or should I just use lead like what was there before?

If you have someone who REALLY knows lead, have it done. If you are going to "learn" on it or don't have a REAL skilled lead man, plastic filler.

Listen, unless you totally screw it up, plastic filler will out last both you and I. We will be dead and gone, the car will be rusting away out in a corn field and that filler will still be there.

Originally posted by MARTINSR:
... the car will be rusting away out in a corn field and that filler will still be there. But will it be cracked? :D
+++

Try POR Resto Grip body filler. It sets up harder than anything I've seen before and it sands smooth too. Also, it is reported to be 40% more flexible than bondo

Jeff,
I'm restoring a car and I opted for putting the lead back in my roof seam.
After I had taken the old quarters off and began fitting the new ones there seemed to be a fairly thick joint where the lead went. I could have taken filler and used that but I was concerned about the excessive thickness.
If your seam area was like mine and you wanted to keep the filler thickness to a minimum, then I would look at adding and welding in a patch panel to decrease the thickness of the filler you need to add in that area.
I was considering putting a patch in mine but I had the option of putting lead back into the seam so that's what I did.
There are a lot of good fillers out there today but proper preperation and use are the key.
Jim/Saint Louis

Using lead if you dont know what you are doing can and will cause more problems then plastic filler cracking.

If you use the product correctly body filler will do the job in that seem WITHOUT cracking.

Id first use a fiberglass straided type of filler like tiger hair, duraglass, marglass, I like Upols fiberall. This type of filler has a higher strength then regular filler due to the straids of fiberglass. Also its a tad more water resistant then regualr filler, but its NOT WATER PROOF no filler that I know of is.

Once you have the fiberglass filler applied allow it to cure, sand with 36 or 80 grit then apply a regular filler over that. Because of the glass straids in the glass type of filler it doesnt sand as easy or feather edge out, so the use of regular filler over it will make a nice finished off repair.
A great regular filler(s) would be Evercoat's Rage series of fillers, Rage, Rage Gold and Rage Extreme.

Todays modern body fillers are a FAR CRY from the old fillers of yesterday...Eric

Here's a shot of how thick the roof seam was on a car I took apart:

http://community.webshots.com/s/image3/5/63/86/104556386sEuOie_ph.jpg

I was just worried about being too thick with the fillers on mine. I have seen other cars that have used a lot more filler thickness than that and it's still holding up.

Proper products, prep, and application are the keys to whatever you choose.

Jim/Saint Louis

Try the lead. It's an easy location to work on and you might find that you like working with it. I think that Eastwood sells the lead, flux and paddles.

Tom

Body solder is nothing the novice should attempt, especially on a lap joint seam. Many things can cause solder to fail including trapped acid flux, rosin layering within the solder, and using poor quality solder containing contaminants/impurities. If you still plan on attempting the solder then at least practice on some scrap panels first. Cleanliness is an absolute must or the tinning operation will not be successful, and never bridge the solder over an area that hasn't accepted a good tin. Heat must be hot enough to raise any impurities but under control to the point of not puddling it off the panel. Paddle the solder working from one side to the other avoiding the temptation to fold it back over itself trapping contaminants and rosin. Clean the solder well to remove the surface conaminants before any file/grinder operations.

Personally I'd use Everglass followed up with Rage extreme. These products are guaranteed, proven, and I'm sure will outlast the next two paint jobs. graemlins/beers.gif

I'm sorry but lead may give some guys a "warm gooey feeling" to some guys, I think it is HISTORY.

Reinforced polyester fillers such as Evercoats "Everglass" or "Metal to Metal" are superior to lead in most repairs.

Now, read what I am saying slooooowly and carefully. Lead if done 100% PERFECTLY is better. The chance of having lead done 100 % PERFECTLY are slim to none. I don't care if the guy has been doing it for years. It doesn't mean he has been doing it right !

ANYONE with basic ability can apply a quality polyester filler that will outlast a 95% quality lead job a thousand to one! Sorry, but I am not going to recommend someone to use lead when a quality polyester filler is the GREATEST hope of a long lasting job.

Let me put it this way, you use ACID to clean the metal and then you use WAX on your paddle to form the lead. If you do not clean the ACID and WAX PERFECTLY you have ACID and WAX under your primer.

If you use a quality polyester filler half ars, you are much better off than a trace of ACID and WAX under your $5000.00 paint job.

That just makes sense to me.