stress cracks or rips in metal right behind door near roof???

[bryguy]

The car I am buying an 86 GN with slight mods has one crack on the drivers side....is this common or does it mean it has been hotrodded to death? Thanks, Bryan

 

[Intercooler]

God I hope so!! It is what they were made for so it happens often.

 

[Brian Mc]

It's normal but can mean rust problems in some cases.

 

[blackbuick87]

Its from body twist. This is why I have every extra brace known to man on my car so it does not happen to mine

 

[Darth Vader]

My car has the same crack in the same place that you described. The way the whole thing creaks and groans I'm positive it's body flexing. I'm eventually going to put on every extra body mount and brace I can find.

 

[BEATAV8]

My car is in the body shop and we were just mulling over what to do to fix them stupid cracks. It's actually the lead filler in the joint that cracked. We ground out all the lead and brazing, then welded and reinforced the corner. It should not crack again....hopefully.

my 77 T/A has the same cracks and will likely get the same welding treatment.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

A buddy of mine cut away that corner on both sides and put in and bent a 1/8" thick piece of steel. I think he said the piece was about 5"x5"

 

[1ARUNEM]

"Nearly" every hardtop TR i have ever looked at has this problem..

Nothing to really worry about imo..

And yes, I'm sure some of you have cars that don't have this flaw.

 

[mycarsucks]

Mine doesn't but thats because I'm a hotair and dont make enough power to do much other than run a hairdryer.

 

[d0n_3d]

i have TONS of cracking going on on my passenger side back window area between the back window and side window...i was getting those STOCK

now they have multiplied drastically with more mods and more power...i am installing a seat brace kit to fix this hopefully...

i actually like to brag about those cracks to some people...i tell them "yeah my car has so much power, it twists the body and causes the paint to crack"

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

mine has plenty of stress cracks and I dont care ....LOL

 

[granitestategn]

CRACKS!

Mine's had 'em since it was a week old. I'm not kidding. That was the first body flaw I noticed. Unfortunately it was not the last. Piss poor fit and finish. I think mine was made on Friday afternoon or Monday morning.

 

[grnnatmu]

This is a common problem and it really sucks!

I have an 87' GN I had the whole thing stripped to metal and repainted in December of 02. It was a friend who did it for me with 20+ years of body work under his belt. He was once a Buick GN owner and was aware of the flaw. He removed all the lead he could at the joint and Welded it smooth. The paint job was done beautifully with no complaints. My GN is a weekend driver and roughly a year later, the crack has reappeared! The paint job was 3 coats base black 2 coats clear so now the crack is quite thick right to the frame. It won't be long before it rusts and starts eating away from under the paint job. But like I (and so many others) said, it is a flaw that seems to have no real solution.

 

[JoeNational]

When the car was stock i had on both sides, infact it looked like on the passanger side that the metal started to buckle up, looked weird and really bad on some days, did the body work and fixed looked great, barely drove it put a bigger turbo and intercooler in and hit it once, next time i looked they were there again couldn't believe it, but Ii like don_3rd like to brage about them , my friend with a 71 chevelle crinkled his quarter panel from launching, so when he was telling me about that i was telling him about my cracks

 

[Gary Wells]

FWIW & IMHO:
I can almost see the dollar signs in Dennis Kirban's eyes right now as he starts taking orders for the rear seat brace kit from this thread alone.
From what I have learned from my past Turbo Buick experiences, even putting your foot in it occasionally will lead to those unsightly cracks without the rear seat brace kit in the car.
Which reminds me..............

 

[Mightysix]

Cracks????? What cracks
Dam, It seems that every time i drive the car, there is a new crack

All part of the game!!!!!

 

[mybuick]

i have a 84 gn and i have the same cracks i have the rear seat brace and just got all of the under hood braces.

 

[MistaScott]

I got them. I call em "beauty marks"