Any welders?

[Rollinsqrbdy]

Hey guys im wanting to shave my side markers, and a couple of other things on the truck. My question is i dont have a mig so can i use an arc welder? As long as i use a small rod like a 6011? Thanks for any advice.

[dooce]

you can get pretty much any rod in a small size, but each rod has its own characteristics. I personally like to use the TIG, but I would recommend either using a MIG or TIG for a job like this. I just don't like using a stick welder for bodywork, but thats just me. someone else might like to use the stick welder and can give you better opionion about them.

[78chevstepside]

no even with 3/32 rod it would be a challenge. mig, flux core and tig would be a better choice. You may ask how do I know ,Well i do make a living as a welder. It could be done if one used a heavy patch as a heat sinc and avoided warpage .

[fast75]

you wont be able to get the welder cold enough to not stick on you. increasing the heat range is gonna warp the piss out of it. tig is best for body work, mig is good, just run it cool with low wire speed. if you cut the metal patches yourself and do the grinding afterward, a reputable shop shouldn't charge too much. going shop rate around here is 35 to 45 dollars an hour. that job shouldnt take much more than an hour................

[Restrorob]

I've been stick welding for many years and decided to try it on a old fender, My machine is variable rate (like a rheostat) and with a 1/16" 6011 I couldn't find a happy medium between sticking and over heating/blowing holes.

I couldn't justify the price of a tig so bought a mig and it paid for it's self within a couple weeks.

Invest in a mig and you won't regret it.....

[James McClure]

Rob is right, MIG is the way to go. I can't stick weld, it's an art and more aimed at heavier steel. Mig isn't easy to get right but it's easier to learn to get right. Fluxed wire is kind of messy with splater, so if you can, use the gas. Be aware that if your garage is drafty the gas will get blown away and you may have to use the fluxed wire. Also don't try to "run a bead" doing sheetmetal. I've had good luck tacking the piece in then weld an inch-skip an inch and cool with a wet rag. When your done, do the same thing to the skipped inches. It doesn't eliminate all wharpage but it keeps it to a minimum. Rememberto clean up and paint the back side of the weld. Good luck, jim

[James McClure]

Forgot to tell you something very important. If you are welding on any OEM parts on the floor or firewall be very careful and grind area to be welded very clean. The steel in this area and the entire bed floor is galvanized and the smoke from galvanize is deadly!! If you see lots of white powder being formed as you weld you need to grind more. Wear a GOOD respirator all the time when you weld anything, even mild steel. jim

[LONGHAIR]

Shaving small parts, which leave rather small holes is a perfect place for "panel adhesive". When you "glue" in these small patches you don't have any of the problems associated with welding heat.....and you don't need a welder at all. I have used this brand but there are others. You can find this type of thing at your local autobody supply place. http://www.lord.com/Home/ProductsSer...0/Default.aspx

[Rollinsqrbdy]

WELL EVERYBODY THANKS FOR THE ADVICE. I DONT HAVE A MIG. I GUESS I'LL BE BUYING ONE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. IVE ALWAYS WANTED ONE. I CAN ARC WELD PRETTY GOOD BUT AS FOR MIG, I AINT SURE. I AINT DONE IT SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. GUESS ITS TIME TO LEARN. THANKS EVERYBODY. KEEP TRUCKIN

[AusTx68]

Originally Posted by Rollinsqrbdy

WELL EVERYBODY THANKS FOR THE ADVICE. I DONT HAVE A MIG. I GUESS I'LL BE BUYING ONE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. IVE ALWAYS WANTED ONE. I CAN ARC WELD PRETTY GOOD BUT AS FOR MIG, I AINT SURE. I AINT DONE IT SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. GUESS ITS TIME TO LEARN. THANKS EVERYBODY. KEEP TRUCKIN

You are a lot further along than me! I picked up a Hobart Handler 210 yesterday. Found it on Craigslist for a cool $500 new in the box. I'll be using it to repair my rockers and floor pans. Only I have never welded in my life! Been doing a lot of reading and planned to have an experienced friend give me some pointers. Unfortunately my garage doesn't have a 220v plug. I do have a laundry room that shares a wall with my garage. I was wondering if I can run a plug off the line going to the Washer/Dryer connection. Looks like it has a 20 amp fuse. I'm guessing I would need to pu it to 25 amp. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea or do I have to run a dedicated 220v from the fuse box.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by AusTx68

Unfortunately my garage doesn't have a 220v plug. I do have a laundry room that shares a wall with my garage. I was wondering if I can run a plug off the line going to the Washer/Dryer connection. Looks like it has a 20 amp fuse. I'm guessing I would need to pu it to 25 amp. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea or do I have to run a dedicated 220v from the fuse box.

You really need to get in thouch with an electrician about this. You don't want problems like fires or shocks.
The thing is, you can just go swapping breakers around to change the amperage w/o changing to the correct recepticle and plug to match. So then you have to change the one on the dryer too....it gets complicated.
If you have the power and space in the box, you would be better off in the long run to just drop a new dedicated line to the garage.

[87Bob]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Shaving small parts, which leave rather small holes is a perfect place for "panel adhesive". When you "glue" in these small patches you don't have any of the problems associated with welding heat.....and you don't need a welder at all. I have used this brand but there are others. You can find this type of thing at your local autobody supply place. http://www.lord.com/Home/ProductsSer...0/Default.aspx

I worked on my 87 Corvette that used pannel adhesive on a metal suport under a fiberglass panel. I could brake the bond between the fibergllass and the adhesive but I had to grind the panel adhesive of the metal support THAT PANEL ADHESIVE STUFF IS TUFF STUFF!!! If the mating surfaces are clean I would not hesitate to use it.

[Rollinsqrbdy]

Originally Posted by longhair

shaving small parts, which leave rather small holes is a perfect place for "panel adhesive". When you "glue" in these small patches you don't have any of the problems associated with welding heat.....and you don't need a welder at all. I have used this brand but there are others. You can find this type of thing at your local autobody supply place. http://www.lord.com/home/productsser...0/default.aspx

ok so what ur saying is i can just glue my panels on rite? As long as the surface whice im glueing to is clean? No welder needed? And also its strong and will last years rite? It sounds kind of weird. Dont take me wrong i appreciate the advice its just i aint ever heard of gluing metal. Im gonna look into this. Thanx

[87Bob]

Originally Posted by Rollinsqrbdy

ok so what ur saying is i can just glue my panels on rite? As long as the surface whice im glueing to is clean? No welder needed? And also its strong and will last years rite? It sounds kind of weird. Dont take me wrong i appreciate the advice its just i aint ever heard of gluing metal. Im gonna look into this. Thanx

The Lumina vans body panels were glued on.

[heavychevy79]

Originally Posted by James McClure

Forgot to tell you something very important. If you are welding on any OEM parts on the floor or firewall be very careful and grind area to be welded very clean. The steel in this area and the entire bed floor is galvanized and the smoke from galvanize is deadly!! If you see lots of white powder being formed as you weld you need to grind more. Wear a GOOD respirator all the time when you weld anything, even mild steel. jim

Huh I've never herd of anyone wearing a resperator for bodywork, but I think someone told me that for welding galv pipe, something about "welders flu"
I've herd it's deadly but I've herd you will get over the sickness in a day or two. I don't hear about it that often, so I haven't worried about it that much.
should I?

I just hold my breath when I weld on galvanized pipe, and I'm ok so far.



I guess my little bit of advice for this topic is to not buy a Chinese welder,
I repaired my brother's HF wire welder and tryed it out, well those dang
things are live all the time, the trigger only works the feed!
I got tired of blinding myself real quick, plus the shock hazard.
Don't buy one.
I have a 120V Clark mig and I love it.

[LONGHAIR]

I got a few PMs asking about filling after "gluing" in a patch. One person was concerned about patching around an indented area like a door handle or lock hole. The concern was about filler thickness, if filling the indented area.
My answer is probably better used by more poeple if posted here, so...

In the case of an indented area, like a lock hole, I would cut the indention away. This would make for a bigger patch, but it would be "flat"....well, as flat as the panel itself. Shape the patch to follow the contour of the body panel and 1/2" or so larger all of the way around. Clean up the inside of the panel and glue the patch from the inside. If the hole is bigger than a lock, it would be good to fill in the hole with another patch, glued in from the outside. This further reduces the thickness of the surface filler.

[Restrorob]

Thanks LH,

With the thickness of glue holding the inside patch along with the thickness of glue holding the outer filler patch make it flush with the rest of the panel ?

If not would the glue hold up to the amount of heat from grinding this outer filler patch back down smooth with the panel surface ?

I'm not trying to be a smart 'a' here, Just trying to learn alternative ways for shaving. I've found the welding/stitching/cooling and worrying about panel warp-age time consuming.

[LONGHAIR]

Yeah, leveling is not a problem. You just have to pay attention to it as you go. It will take a little heat, but I have never tested it to failure, so I'm not sure how much.

[68K20 x Drill]

My grandfather was a shipwelder in WWII...as a consequence of the fumes he inhaled, while he was still sound of mind, all of his organs failed one at a time, and he had a long miserable hospitalization before he passed away. be sure you at least have good ventilation.
A dryer plug will work fine, but you need a beefy extension cord, as short as possible.
here is a nice video on getting started with a MIG

YouTube - Advanced MIG Welding

[James McClure]

Austin. It is very easy to install your own 220 volt line, but even if you do it, it's not cheap. You'll need a 30 amp 220 volt breaker that fits your service box. Then you'll need wire. minimum guage is 10. Then you'll need a 4"square box junction box to mount the outlet in. Then the ouitlet itself and box cover to fit the outlet. Red wire to brass colored screw, black wire to silver colored screw, green or white wire to the green screw. In the service box black and red will go to the breaker and the green or white wire will go to the ground buss bar with a bunch of white wires on it. It will still cost ya over $100. I use mine for compressors and welder and as an imput to feed the house from an emergency generator, but my breaker is 60 amp not 30. jim

[fast75]

for 220 in my shop i used double 50 amp breakers and 10-3 wire, i can run my stick welder, mig and compressor all at the same time without throwing a breaker..............so far anyway............lol.

[James McClure]

Fast, your setup, while it works, presents a danger. Both breakers may be rated at 50A, they may not trip at the same instant in time. This causes equipment to draw from only 1 leg of the circut and will damage equipment. Get yourself a double breaker rated for 60 amps and you'll be fine. I use my setup for everything in the shop (welders and 2 5 horse air compressors) AND I use it to feed everything in the house with a generator in the event the power goes out. Breaker doesn't care which way power flows, it looks for excessive draw which= heat. I have never tripped it or the generator breakers. jim

[fast75]

thanks James, i thought double 50 would be enough, i'll take your advice and go to a double 60 amp. dont want to be burning my shop down, my truck and tools would be homeless, lol. hey bud, i like the motto under your name, i have that tattooed on my arm....former Marine here.....ok, back to the thread. later and thanks again for the advice....................

[James McClure]

Fast, unless you have a generator and feed your house thru this breaker 50 amp will probably work fine. How old are you and where did you serve? USN here 60 y\o. jim

[fast75]

no generator here, the shop is on a separate meter in to a 200 amp breaker box. 50 y/o, Parris Island, Camp Pendleton @ San Onofre for infantry training, then to Charleston Naval Weapons Station @ Goose Creek South Carolina. spent the majority of my time on the sub base. some pretty impressive stuff they pack into those subs, huh?......later, Lee