Upper cowl install issues... ran into old lead work.

[Bulldog69RT]

So, I got the new upper cowl spot welded in place. I cut too much out of the old panel and had to fill in the gaps with small patch pieces I made. Well, my grandfather put lead down when he was helping me restore this beast 15 years ago and I ran into a bunch of it here at the back of the cowl. What do I do? Melt it all out? Fill the gap with a metal filler? Im stumped at the moment.

[Bulldog69RT]

I repaired the window pillar and I didn't run into any lead on the pillar, so the pillar bare metal is good.

[Bulldog69RT]

here is the driverside

[Charger-Bodie]

that is a place that the factory does lead do smooth that seam.

[Bulldog69RT]

Hmm. Didn't know that. I do know that my grandpa did use led on this car. I'm thinking I should just torch the stuff out and metal work it then.

[green69rt]

I melted and scraped on my cowl to get off as much as I could.  Then I tried a little more.  At the end I tried to gently sand the remaining off.  Wear a dust mask when you do this or do it outside in the wind so you don't breath it and take a shower afterwards to rinse off any dust, you don't want to carry the stuff into your house.   Then I put the new cowl on and just used several layers of weld metal to fill the spot instead of lead.  Look in this thread on page 5 about 2/3 of the way down.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,54582.100.html

[Bulldog69RT]

Nice build green69rt! I had to widen my cowl on the passenger side as well.

[Bulldog69RT]

Removed the lead. There was a lot.

[Pete in NH]

I think people tend to get overly concerned when they run into lead. Yes, it is toxic in some cases but it can be handled safely. It's best to melt it out. That way it remains in a soft semi-liquid state. The real problem comes from sanding it which produces a dust that it is best not to inhale. There are lots of things that are a health issue in doing auto body work, paints and solvents are more of an issue , I think, than lead if it's handled properly.

[green69rt]

I think people tend to get overly concerned when they run into lead. Yes, it is toxic in some cases but it can be handled safely. It's best to melt it out. That way it remains in a soft semi-liquid state. The real problem comes from sanding it which produces a dust that it is best not to inhale. There are lots of things that are a health issue in doing auto body work, paints and solvents are more of an issue , I think, than lead if it's handled properly.

Agreed, I didn't mean to sound like chicken little.  For us in the hobby, we will only run into these things very few times.  For those that see lead or other hazards on a frequent basis, they need the protection. Just be sensible and limit your exposure as much as you can.

[birdsandbees]

Yet we go fishing and use our teeth to clamp the sinkers on our line!1 

[alfaitalia]

I still do......never harmed me. The amounts of lead you ingest doing that must be minuscule, if anything. I was bought up in a house with lead water piping which I think would be more of an issue!!.....did not affect my brain......I'm a tree.....look- is that a dolphin up there???

[Mike DC]

 
Lead is bad sh*t around kids though.  You really gotta watch that.  A smaller & younger body means they get more easily affected. 

[Highbanked Hauler]

I think people tend to get overly concerned when they run into lead. Yes, it is toxic in some cases but it can be handled safely. It's best to melt it out. That way it remains in a soft semi-liquid state. The real problem comes from sanding it which produces a dust that it is best not to inhale. There are lots of things that are a health issue in doing auto body work, paints and solvents are more of an issue , I think, than lead if it's handled properly.

  With kids yes lead is a  serious problem but doing collision work you were far more to get it from old style paint. It would say right on the label "contains lead" and that was airborne not solid.  The worst stuff was isosynate (sp) hardener or activator that went into paint from the late 70'S to into the 90'S. Nothing like a thinner bath after a paint job.