Sail panel lead

In the never ending process of taking my car down to bare metal for a repaint, I ran across some interesting body work from the Cougar’s last repaint.

I stripped away 1/8 inch thick body filler that was applied from the top of the roof skin half way down the sail panel on both sides over the original lead seam. Seems like this was the method used to create a smooth transition between the two panels as the lead seam was bulging out creating a high spot. Question is, is it okay to just sand down the lead flat as possible between the roof skin and sail and use as little filler as possible? Or is a bunch of filler over that area common? (This is on a vinyl top car)

Most shops melt the lead out & replace w/ modern type filler w/ some sort of reinforced additive.

Lead dust is dangerous to you & others, so don’t sand it. Ventilation & a good mask is mandatory.

Bill

You could use a sheet rock plane , it’s like a cheese grader, it would remove the high spots of lead

The issue is the lead degrades and causes surface issues. It must be removed, or your paint job will suffer (and your wallet)!