Seperating Metal

[Car'n'Guitars]

I need to know how you get the metal apart that is I think tacted together like the front cab supports to the floor? Maybe a picture or video with an explanation?

[ray_mcavoy]

You'll have to drill out the factory spot welds. If you use a regular drill bit it'll obviously leave the underlying piece (like the cab floor support) full of holes that'll have to be welded up. So a better approach is to use a spot weld cutter like this one from Summit (part #BRC-13224)



It's basically a tiny hole saw that cuts around the spot weld. To use it, just center punch the spot weld so the tool's pilot point won't walk around and carefully drill through just the top layer of metal. Once all the spot welds are drilled out, the panels should separate fairly easily. Sometimes they need a little persuasion in the form of a cold chisel driven in between the two panels ... especially if you didn't quite hit the center of a spot weld and the edge of it is still holding a little. Just be careful not to bend or gouge into the underlying panel that you're trying to save.

Since the spot weld cutter cuts around the spot welds, you end up with raised bumps on the underlying panel where all the spot welds used to be. Use a grinder to level those off. A flap wheel (instead of a regular grinding wheel) works good to avoid gouging the surrounding metal.

[hatzie]

Cobalt Pilot Point drill bits work for this purpose too. They are a bit like an end mill with a small drill bit in the center.

They require a bit more care and slower speed than a spot weld cutter but they leave no, or almost no, metal to be ground or removed.