On my 54 there is a seam that runs across the back of the cab above the glass where the roof cap meets the back wall. I was thinking of smoothing this seam out so it does not show.
Will body filler crack along the seam because of expansion and contraction in that joint or can I put a tack weld here and there along the seam to control movement and then use body filler and get good results with no cracking in the filler or paint???

anybody tried this with good or bad results???

thanks for any input. Ed

 

Before I got the body painted, I cleaned out the old seam sealer and filled the gap with good quality body filler. The metal parts are already welded together so there should not be any movement, the sealer was something the factory put in to seal and hide the gap before paint. Couple of years since paint and no cracks showing up at the seam.

 

i went ahead and tack welded the seam then filled looks good,

 

Welcome to the darkside!! I have been accused of overbuilding, which I consider a compliment, but I rarely have to re-do something. That being said, I have filled the seams on all of my many effies and have found that a continuous weld is the way to go. I go inside the cab with a dull chisel (I have a lot of those) and hammer both sides of this seam to get them as even as possible and to reduce the amount of filler that is needed. Then very gently heat the seam with a Bern-Z-Omatic to cook all the filler out and finish cleaning the seam with a razor blade. Weld the entire seam shut in small areas at a time. Welding the whole seam eliminates the possibility of anything escaping from underneath after the finish work is done. Hammering the sheet metal beforehand allows for a smaller weld with less grinding to finish. There are pics in my gallery. Good luck

 

oops, sorry, those pics are not in my gallery. I'll see if I can find them.

 

Ah shucks Fenders, you just wanted somebody like ME to look at every picture in your gallery. Nice work and I like the back window.

 

FF56 vindicates my feelings on this. I was surprised that some have just filled the cab seams and have had no problems. Others (pro builders) that I have talked to have admonished me to weld these seams completely also. Tim's use of the torch is a new twist that I'll be doing and I like the idea of reducing the gap. The cab mods are the next thing I plan to do.

Tim - Can I borrow one of those dull chisels? Mine are all still sharp.

 

I am still the sharpest thing in my shop, that should give you some sort of a reference point.

 

Tim-
I'm trying to understand this reference point thingy ......if you are the sharpest in your shop and your tools are dull, then if Randy has sharp tools he must be the dullest in his shop??
Larry

 

the reference is just to show how dull my chisels really are..........

 

I know, I was just making a feeble attempt at being funny.

 

Full weld on mine, get er done , do it right.

 

thanks everybody for the input.
Welding the seam is what I was thinking also...I would hate to spend all that time and $$$ and have it crack thru the paint and have to take it back down to fix it.
I welded up 43...yes 43...."Custom" previous owner holes in my firewall.
The only holes left are for the heater studs, heater hoses and stock wire harness hole.
When I get it all smoothed out I'll post a pic of the seam and firewall.

thanks again, Ed

 

The seam on my 56 was filled with Bondo by a P.O. I can tell you first hand that it will crack. I plan on welding it when I get that far.
Scott