Got MAJOR stress....... cracks that is...

[mardak at cogeco.ca (Mark)]

For the last week I noticed a slight "vague" feeling when I turned right.
Today there was an obvious cluncking - I figured one of my front suspension
bolts was loose or something.  I was wrong...  There are HUGE rips in the
driver side strut tower.  I mean HUGE!  The stut tower looks like it'll rip
from the car if I were to hit a bump...

The previous owner had an off at highway speed and sideswiped the driver
side, so I'm thinking that stress cracks developed then, and over the last
few years have slowly ripped open...

Anyone have any experience repairing (even temporarily) this problem?  I'm
going to remove the fender today to get a better look at the damage.  My
plan so far is to try to get the "rip" closed, weld it together at the
crack, grind down to bare metal 2" on either side of the crack and weld in
an overlapping piece of sheetmetal.  Sound like a good plan?  What gauge
metal should I weld in?  This is my winter beater, so it doesn't have to be
pretty! :)

Thanks!

Mark
80 S - resto in progress
81 S - 2.0L ABA/JH/4K and a bigass rip in the strut tower...