Below are a couple pics of the spider cracks I just discovered in my driver's side long. I gather the strategy is to drill at the ends of the cracks and then weld the new hole and the rest of the crack. But mine seems to be worse than the ones I've seen posted here.

Think mine is fixable?

Should I weld on a small plate over the fix to add some rigidity?

Wasn't planning on a reinfocing kit, since this car is 99% for street, but maybe that's a sesible move anyway?

Drilling cracks is only usefull if you do NOT weld the crack back up. The holes simply redistributes the cracks stress to the hole, thus preventing the crack from spreading.You need to

a: cut the section out and replace it

or

b: clean what you have and weld the cracks back together.

I personally would opt for a: that way you can see insdie and make certain there is ont another issue that needs to be addressed

Once you open that up, the damage will be a lot deeper than just the cracks. But, it all can be repaired.

If it were me, I would weld the crack and get a reinforcement kit.. However I would also go under and look at the long from the outside to make sure there is no rust going on..

I think long reinforcements are needed on all our cars...

I've welded a few of them. It's a stress crack that forms due to the way the metal was stamped in that area. For a street car just weld it up.

Almost every car I see has some amount of cracking there. Clean all the paint off the metal there with a wire wheel and/or sandpaper, flatten the metal as much as possible, the weld it up with a nice strong bead.

The cracking does not indicate further rust or accident damage. They all crack there eventually.

I'm just really glad it wasn't Z who wrote the title of this thread.

I agree that the long is narrower there and it makes that spot the weakest and the flexing is done more in that spot. Actually making that side as wide as the rest would be the best repair if the stiffeners aren't used. Move the emergency brake to the center. I think welding the cracks up only heats the metal up and it is more brittle and it will encourage it to crack right beside the welds at a later date.

I wonder if the weight of the driver might have had something to do with why some cars are worse than others.

For the record, I hope your wife knows you are asking people to look at your crack!

Thanks for the replies. I'll weld it up.

Do I need to be concerned about burning the heater tube inside the long or warping anything? I'm hoping to avoid both by welding in small spurts and letting things cool, but it would be a drag if I lost drivers side heat by destroying that tube.

nah, wont burn. common repair. not a big deal