Alignment

   The rear quarter panel was attached too low at the factory causing the rear lid to sit too high. You could not adjust the lid down since the lower gap would close up. Oddly enough the drip rail was in correct relationship to the lid but not to the fender. The only way to permanently correct this is to build the fender out to the proper contour with lead. This car spent the first 53 years of its life acquiring many shallow dents in the trunk lid from everyone SLAMMING the lid thinking it was not shut all the way due to how it looked. Not anymore. Now it looks and latches like a Mercedes should and it's all metal. Note the two small dings in the lower boxed panel that I also leaded, after pulling them out.

   A very common problem in the 50's and 60's is fender and hood length not matching up once ALL the other gaps on the vehicle are adjusted to their optimum. I don't settle for other panels being slightly off in order to fudge this issue. The best way to address this is to modify the fender by either shortening or lengthening it. LEAD is the only way to build the fender out. It is permanent and strong.

   After all is hammered, cut and welded on the doors to bring them into submission, you still need to build the body out with lead to get those beautiful, uniform, "laser cut" looking gaps and fit. This body also had the side and top cowl vents removed and lower patch panels welded into the cowl so the cowl had just a few square inches left that wasn't paddled in lead.

   The third picture is checking the contour to match the front fenders. I eliminated the need for front fender piping by having a perfect fit fender to cowl and having only a thin gasket out of sight between the two, resulting in a much cleaner look. I did the same on the rear fenders by leading the fender mounting lip until it was perfectly flat to flush up to the bed sides.

   I removed the radio cut out on top of the dash and changed the dash for the tilt column, finishing off both in lead.

Dents

   Mirrors are always vulnerable to getting hit and denting the door or fender. After welding a new mounting nut, this door was brought back to shape with lead which will both replace the contour and strengthen the mounting area against vibration, or the mirror getting hit and damaging the door in the future.

1-5  This was very hard to get at the back of due to the location on the body and the tight body line being flattened. After getting it as straight as possible, lead was the answer to getting the panel zeroed in. Lead is hard and will not pit or chip due to stones or larger objects striking the front of the car.

6-8  Rear wheel arches are usually double walled and when dented are difficult to access from behind. Lead, again, is the only way to restore the contour after pulling the dents out.

1-5  Rear corners can be very vulnerable and quite difficult to metal finish out below the trunk floor level ...... LEAD BABY, it's the only way to go. The rear roof seams were also re-leaded on this Camaro as was some damage around the passenger door handle.

6-8  Many hoods and trunk lids are supported underneath. This dent was inaccessible from behind and was too sharp and deep to pull without possibly distorting a very large, dark colored panel. Lead was the best way to fill it, and remember, the back is not visible.

Seams

   There are many places on an automotive body where the factory spot welds the panels together and then leads over them. This type of seam is very common throughout the 50's and 60's. The foremost reason these fail is because you should never lead over an open seam due to acid migration during tinning. After removing the factory lead I weld all the seams shut, then get the steel surgically clean prior to leading. There is NO other way to redo these seams and have them last. Most of the shops claiming to due restoration work will NEVER go this deep to fix your car's body. They do nothing but repaint old cars.

   Ditto for the A pillar to roof seams and rear roof to quarter panel seams.

5-7  I also removed the visible rear seam on this '38 Ford Tudor by welding the seam shut and then covering it with lead. In the picture you'll see that I also hammered the drip rail and leaded it into the roof. Me ..... I like old cars because of drip rails ..... but it's what the owner wanted. He most likely won't be driving in rain very often either ....... unlike me! Hahahaha

Boxed Panels

   Well, we found out why the rear of this 230SL was all cracked.... BONDO! Unfortunately, I also found where someone had done more damage, drilling holes to pull out a dent. I straightened out what I could, metal finished the center of the panel, then used half the thickness of lead than they used of plastic filler to get it straight.

   Rocker panels are very often boxed. Even when not, they are among the most vulnerable areas on a car body and also seldom match contour with the adjacent panels, three very good reasons to only use lead to repair or perfect them.

5-6  Shows a 1940 Lincoln Continental that was done at a "restoration" shop. The owner paid $10K in 1988 for body and paint work, but was unhappy with the way the doors fit when done. He took it home, stripped it back down, got real depressed and that's how the car sat for five years until he found me.

   Second time around in 1993, the body and paint cost him $13K including media blasting the body inside and underneath, using lead and fabricating three MAJOR rust repair panels that were just "overlooked" the first time around. Fifty percent of what I do, I must first undo the damage caused by poor workmanship that others have done before me ....... it's just a sad, sad fact. The other fifty percent is due to age and poor manufacturing techniques.

Vintage & Custom

   This is a NEW steel body that fit horribly, no ..... worse than that. When it was done, it looked great, fit perfect and was plastic-free.

   OK.... surely you are thinking, "what's with this one lonely picture of a Model A Coupe on saw horses?"

   It's because it is the oldest known picture of my lead work on a clients car. It was taken in 1977 at my first real shop, (excluding my parents' and friends' garages, where I began using lead in 1973 at the age of 17).