Wife's 48

[dsraven]

ok, got it.
one hint that has worked for me for welding to the edge of the panel is to start on the edge and work inwards, small welds, spaced apart. that way it doesn't overheat as easily and not complete the weld to the edge of the part. if you weld from the inside towards the outside then the metal is already hot and the edge falls off so that part becomes a void. I start by tack welding the pieces together and moving around with the tacks until I have the part well secured and fitting well. tacks can be 3/4" apart when done this job, then weld a bead 1/4-3/4" long at a time between the tacks, depending on how the metal reacts, then allow to cool.hammer on dolly each weld when still smokin hot. move to another cold part so things don't warp. sometimes, for thin stuff, I weld 1/16-1/8" long bursts but leave the wire in the puddle, wait a couple of secs and pull the trigger again for a short burst, wait a couple secs, and on and on. do a 1/2-3/4" piece then pull away, hammer on dolly the weld and cool the part. go somewhere else and do the same thing.
when done a flap disc on a mini grinder works well to flatten the beads out. better than a grinding disc. 40 or 60 grit works well for starters but be careful not to use a really floppy one or the disc flexes and starts to take away the metal next to the weld as well. don't flap disc too much without upping the grit of the flap disc, too many big scratches otherwise.
having a cut out of the contour it is supposed to be is also helpfull because you can see right away if the metal is distorting from the weld or if you are getting a valley where the weld is. better to fix that before continuing because it is easier than doing it after. when all done if you have some gigh spots they can be shrunk down with your clothes iron, set on super hot, laid flat against the high spots. when you take the iron off run a cold wet sponge over the area and watch the high spots shrink. the area only needs to get hot enough to make the water steam a bit. cool the entire panel before doing too much at a time. less bondo required this way. a shrinking disc is another option but more spendy. there are videos on youtube that show how they work.
hope that was usefull info for somebody. it's just what works for me.