What Do You Guys Think About This Crack?

redneck15431 · May 11, 2014

About 5 years ago I had removed my entire interior to have subframe connectors and upper and lower torque box reinforcements welded in. I currently have my interior out for some surface rust on the passenger side floor from water that leaked in. I completely forgot about this crack, but at the time, I had just drilled out the ends of the crack to keep it from spreading. This is behind/underneath the rear seat BTW.

This is the worst crack in the entire car. There are a few other much smaller, much more mild cracks. There is a good bit of separation there, so do you guys think it can be welded up with no problems? Or should I just leave it be? I have no welding experience, so I don't know what to do with it. I'm assuming the spot welds around it are from the upper torque boxes which had began separating. What do you guys think about those?

CarMichael Angelo · May 11, 2014

redneck15431 said:
About 5 years ago I had removed my entire interior to have subframe connectors and upper and lower torque box reinforcements welded in. I currently have my interior out for some surface rust on the passenger side floor from water that leaked in. I completely forgot about this crack, but at the time, I had just drilled out the ends of the crack to keep it from spreading. This is behind/underneath the rear seat BTW. This is the worst crack in the entire car. There are a few other much smaller, much more mild cracks. There is a good bit of separation there, so do you guys think it can be welded up with no problems? Or should I just leave it be? I have no welding experience, so I don't know what to do with it. I'm assuming the spot welds around it are from the upper torque boxes which had began separating. What do you guys think about those?

Dude that is a classic case of the torque box getting ripped out of the floor and the resulting stresses that are occuring because of it.

You HAVE to have it welded. You should STOP driving it until you do.
You will continue to tear the car up just by driving it, until it becomes so major (if it's not already) that the car will require extensive surgery (i.e. frame work) the get it where it'll go down the road again.

And,...(judging by that pic) if there are supposedly torque box reinforcements done to that car,....they forgot to do the uppers,.............entirely.

redneck15431 · May 11, 2014

I have upper reinforcements welded in. So should I have everything welded with a solid bead underneath? Or just weld up the crack and call it good? I have been underneath the car and I haven't seen any damage to the frame or anything else. I really don't know which direction to go with it. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but limited on resources such lifts, etc. And welding. Anything else I should be on the lookout for? I would really like to find somebody who is familiar with the structural aspects of these cars to work on it.

7991LXnSHO · May 11, 2014

This is not a crack you want. Just leaving it was BAD idea. I would have it welded from any and all sides then reinforce the areas as much as possible.

Unless you like things falling off the car and water coming in to rust the rest of the floor and structure.

rbohm · May 11, 2014

weld teh crack, since it is sheet metal you will need to do it with tack welds to avoid warping the metal. then reinforce the cracked area by welding new metal over the crack, preferably on both sides so the crack is sandwiched.

mikestang63 · May 11, 2014

As others have said, you need to get that welded and reinforced ASAP. I wouldn't want to see your control arm get ripped out.

redneck15431 · May 11, 2014

Well, fortunately I don't think the crack has gotten any bigger in the last 5 years. It appears the same as it did back then. It was dumb of me to leave the crack go, but at the time I was not concerned with the preservation of the car as I am now. I am more than willing to tackle this job myself, but I just need to know what to do and what to look out for. You gotta learn somehow, right? Structural repairs are probably not the best way to learn for a beginner, but as I have grown out of my wild teenage and early twenties ways, I am more detail oriented. I know what a good weld and bad weld looks like, I have just never done any welding myself. So is this something that is very fixable, or am I just wasting my time on this car? Does it really appear that bad? Money is not an issue, however, I do not want to dump money and time into it and not be able to "enjoy" it, you know what I mean?

Thank you guys for your input so far. I don't necessarily have a trained eye for this kind of thing. So any more help is greatly appreciated!

redneck15431 · May 11, 2014

What would be the permanent fix for this issue? As I'm doing research, it seems as if welding/plating would result it cracking in another spot.

CarMichael Angelo · May 11, 2014

redneck15431 said:
Well, fortunately I don't think the crack has gotten any bigger in the last 5 years. It appears the same as it did back then. It was dumb of me to leave the crack go, but at the time I was not concerned with the preservation of the car as I am now. I am more than willing to tackle this job myself, but I just need to know what to do and what to look out for. You gotta learn somehow, right? Structural repairs are probably not the best way to learn for a beginner, but as I have grown out of my wild teenage and early twenties ways, I am more detail oriented. I know what a good weld and bad weld looks like, I have just never done any welding myself. So is this something that is very fixable, or am I just wasting my time on this car? Does it really appear that bad? Money is not an issue, however, I do not want to dump money and time into it and not be able to "enjoy" it, you know what I mean?

Thank you guys for your input so far. I don't necessarily have a trained eye for this kind of thing. So any more help is greatly appreciated!

redneck15431 said:
What would be the permanent fix for this issue? As I'm doing research, it seems as if welding/plating would result it cracking in another spot.

The fact that you cannot weld is not relevant here. You need to get it done though. The uppers cannot be reinforced or there would be evidence of it look at this pic:

Look at the floor where your cracks are . Had your torque boxes been reinforced, there would either be a plate bolted there, or (as in this case) evidence of the welding burn through from the bottom.
Plating and welding is the permanent solution. As Rbohm has detailed, welding the crack closed, (which will be a giant pain in the ass on rusted galvanized steel) then welding a plate over that is the ONLY solution. It will take somebody w/ a pretty good wire welder, with gas instead of flux core, and the welder himself will have to be pretty competent.

gearheadboy · May 11, 2014

If you look close in his pic you can see he does have the top control arm reinforcements welded in already. His pics are more center of the car above that big bracket that runs side to side. The torque box reinforcements have "fixed" the problem however you still need to weld the cracks shut. You will only be able to reach them topside. The bottom is blocked by a brace. I think it is ok to drive till you have it done. The reinforcements are sandwiching it together now.

gearheadboy · May 11, 2014

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-for...ead-i-was-hoping-to-post.861248/#post-8658982

nothwoods · May 11, 2014

Just welding up the actual crack is not a good repair, I would cut out that area and either buy a replacement panel or make up some plates to weld in. Goes without saying that step one is to get the fuel tank and lines out of the way.

gearheadboy · May 11, 2014

nothwoods said:
Just welding up the actual crack is not a good repair, I would cut out that area and either buy a replacement panel or make up some plates to weld in. Goes without saying that step one is to get the fuel tank and lines out of the way.

Did you notice that he DID make the repair? The cracks are mostly cosmetic at this point.

redneck15431 · May 11, 2014

Thanks again for the replies and info guys. I really appreciate it. I will provide additional pictures tomorrow to give you the entire view behind the seat. Those pics are close up and it is hard to tell exactly what everything looks like. The guy I took it to bolted them and then welded them in. He also did the lowers, and welded up a very small crack in one of them. I don't understand why he didn't do this one. But I will absolutely get it all fixed up. I don't really rip on the car anymore, it has a lot of sentimental value. I've turned just about every bolt on the car at some point. I have had it since I was 18 and I'll be 27 next month...it's my baby . I am becoming a perfectionist in my old age. The car will not move until I get the floor pan surface rust taken care of anyways. This car has no rust anywhere except there and a small spot under the hatch, where it will also be fixed before it sees any kind of precipitation. (NEVER any snow/salt though!!)

tannerc91gt · May 11, 2014

Killa · May 11, 2014

tannerc91gt said:

lol I was about to say the samething.

What Do You Guys Think About This Crack?

redneck15431

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CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,

redneck15431

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7991LXnSHO

wanna catch the space herp

rbohm

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redneck15431

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redneck15431

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CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,

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nothwoods

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tannerc91gt

This last 25% is foreign territory at this point

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