A8skyhawk

Not sure if there is anything I can do. It's interesting its happening on both sides in nearly the same spot? Is there something possibly messed up with how the body is sitting on the frame - or perhaps the front nose support?

It's tough to see in the pictures, but there is some bowing occurring. The driver side looks the same but hasn't started cracking.

zwede

Any chance the tires are touching/rubbing the fender when turning?

Rescue Rogers

i would check the bottom of the fender where you are pointing to in the picture. my tires get close down there

firstgenaddict

How consistent is the thickness of of your wheel lips...

I just repaired some which were horrible, built out of panel bond, bondo and fiberglass cloth... ...





If it's not currently damaged in the area underneath AND you haven't run into anything then the area was not repaired correctly when the car was painted, they may have used flex agent in the paint as well, which will keep a faulty repair from showing for years!

A8skyhawk

So I checked the tires - they are not rubbing. It is interesting to see the varying thicknesses behind the cracks but they don’t look overly thin. It’s really interesting that both sides are doing it in nearly the same place at the same time. Frustrating.

Gold Dragon

Just a thought.. I would check the rear body mounts. Could be they are deteriorating and allowing the body to flex and crack. Other than that, could be a poor repair as some have said. Hope you find the cause.

60 SHARK

Check to see if ALL the bracing pieces are present, and properly connected, in the front around the lights and bumper area??? That front end is a lot of weight that could cause cracking if not property supported, ,,
Just a thought worth investigating, ,,,, ,

A8skyhawk

So, the body mounts were all replaced during (prior to) the painting - and I’ve checked them. Interestingly, the nose supports were not installed properly (long story) - but I reattached everything correctly prior to ever starting to drive her (but after the paint job was finished). I wonder if this is a symptom of the car “settling” after being raised and lowered to change the mounts and/or the nose support (frame extension) brackets being installed correctly after the paint job.

doorgunner

Rookie suggestion here: The nose is stress/in a bind/slightly high causing the arches to crack...…...

BUT......loosening braces/brackets at the nose to relieve the stress could cause the hood alignment to go way out of wack.

Replacing body mounts on my project caused the same cracks over a two year period.

"Catch 22"...…...

Jstan2014

As mentioned above regarding nose supports and such, how about your radiator core support? I understand a bad/rotted one can cause issues with the clip bending etc...

A8skyhawk

I was also considering that (loosening and tightening) - of note, the radiator core support was also newly installed after the paint job (before driving). I’m wondering wether it would be better to not loosen everything and just repair the damage as is - body work, etc... or loosen everything, tighten everything, and then have the damage repaired.

70Yellowbird

I don't know how many year C3s this applies to, and it is hard for me to describe, but I'll do my best ...

If you run your fingers above the tires along the inner side of the wheel well lip, you may find 2 locations on each fender where the width of the lip is narrower. These are in the same location on both fenders. If this is where your cracks are located, it could explain why they are in the same location on both fenders, because I believe these narrowed locations are weaker.

I've seen threads here on the Forum about these, but my searches didn't find anything. Other members hopefully will chime in.

Hope this helps.

chadronvette

I know when I replaced the quarters on my 72, they came in a box with no support. They were cracked the way yours are showing. I did not do anything to "fix" them as I thought they would be securely glued in place. Once I had them in place, I sanded and put a skim coat of body filler over them. About 3 years after being painted, all the little cracks are showing up. I don't know if thats whats going on with you, wish I would have ground and filled each crack prior to painting.

A8skyhawk

Well I got the car to a new shop today - seemed like real knowledgeable awesome guys. Needless to say they surmised the previous shop cracked the fenders while raising the body off... and then did a crappy job of repairing the damage. Best news, they said they could have it fixed in a week. I’ll keep you all updated.