Lead in C Pillar...

[451 valiant]

Just wondering if everyone has left the lead in the C pillar when doing body work and repainting?  My dad's Dart was painted in the 80's and bubbled where the lead joint is from the quarter to the roof.  He had the lead removed and repainted the roof. Is this going to happen to me too -   Do I need to remove it while I'm doing the bodywork on the Valiant or can I primer over it?

[71 demon child]

I'm assuming that you have removed the paint and exposed the lead in the 1/4 panel?Or are you going by what your father had happen?Typically you won't have lead in your 1/4's unless thier originals or somone installed new ones and had an old timer fill it in again with lead.Oooorrrr,installed new 1/4's and chopped them at the sail below the original install,hence,still leaving the lead.The way i look at it that lead lasted 20 + years.Not too bad.Just as good in my opinion as any body filler.Strip it back and see what ya got.If it ain't bubbl'n you might not have too much problem.Although if you do remove it.It is a good precautionary measure and you won't have to take the risk of it maybe popping out on ya once you get it painted.Fresh is usually always good.Hope this helps

[451 valiant]

Thanks for the reply, they are the original quarters and  I have the paint stripped off to fix a dent in that area. I just didn't know if I should remove it while I was in there. It has bubbled yet and it's still the original paint, so I guess I'll paint over it. Thanks

[Duster440]

Lead can and will deteriorate. But if it's in good shape there's no need to remove it. Properly prepped, you should have no bubbling problems with lead. I did a car several years ago in which we removed the vinyl landau top. The material was removed from the joint and the seam welded solid - then refilled with plastic.