Since I’ve owned my ‘76, it’s had a small crack at the bottom of the rear fender. It can be seen in the attached picture. I’m pretty sure this is being caused by vibration and unfortunately it seems the crack is growing longer. I’d like to stop this from spreading further, but at the same time I know that a proper repair would involve welding an a repaint and I’m not prepared to do that yet.
Here are a few ideas I’ve had and am looking for others’ opinions.
1. Drill a hole at the end of the crack. Fill it with a pliable material and stick a red vinyl dot over the repair (I have red vinyl that was used to make the stripe). Or I can go to Walmart and buy a vinyl “bullet hole” sticker. Lol
2. Reinforce the back of the fender, covering the crack with JB Weld or body panel adhesive, including a small reinforcement plate.
3. Since the crack was probably caused by vibration at a certain, unknown frequency, try to change the resonance frequency by altering the mass of the rear of the fender. May sound silly but I thought about sticking lead tire weights on the underside of age fender.
4. Perhaps the best “temporary” repair would be a combination of 1,2,3.
Any comments or ideas would be appreciated!
Here are a few ideas I’ve had and am looking for others’ opinions.
1. Drill a hole at the end of the crack. Fill it with a pliable material and stick a red vinyl dot over the repair (I have red vinyl that was used to make the stripe). Or I can go to Walmart and buy a vinyl “bullet hole” sticker. Lol
2. Reinforce the back of the fender, covering the crack with JB Weld or body panel adhesive, including a small reinforcement plate.
3. Since the crack was probably caused by vibration at a certain, unknown frequency, try to change the resonance frequency by altering the mass of the rear of the fender. May sound silly but I thought about sticking lead tire weights on the underside of age fender.
4. Perhaps the best “temporary” repair would be a combination of 1,2,3.
Any comments or ideas would be appreciated!