Auburn Cabriolet stress cracks

Curt & Bill: Thanks for the input. I did find that there are body seams at this point and I'm pretty sure the factory laid-in a lead filler on top of them. I'm in the middle of restoring this car and found that the former owner had removed the lead and applied a thick layer of plastic body filler over the seams. Yesterday I sanded off the "bondo" and found that this seam area was sunken down about 3/8" deep. So far, I have welded 3" wide sheetmetal patches over the seams to bring this area up flush with the rest of the body. This may move the stress area over, as Bill said, but maybe not.

Mark

It is my opinion that rear mounted spares exasterbate this problem.

I have owned a 36 cabrio for many years, and yes, it has these cracks. I have repaired them a couple of times, and I think the problem is body flexing at these points. A bigger gusset may help, but beware! It may just move the flex point further along the panel. Regards, bill Snelson.

Question for anyone out there that has a 34-36 cabriolet: Do you notice stress cracks occuring in the paint at the top corners of the trunk/rumble seat? I'm thinking that a larger gusset welded-in at the corners would keep this from happening...

Mark