Newbie needs advice

[JimmyCriswell]

Good Morning Everyone,
Just picked up a 68 original C-10 custom. No options. Truck needs a lot of work though it does run and drive. it has aftermarket 350 and a manual 5 speed that I have not been able to figure out where it came from yet.

Long story short. I have quite a few rust problems to take care of that will require a welder and something to cut the rust out with. Can anyone give me some pointers on what type of welder I will need for mostly sheet metal welds....new rocker panels, floor boards, etc.

Great to be here. I will get some pictures up shortly. Single income family so this build will take quite a while. I will probably leave it running as long as I can to drive around before I deal with anything under the truck unless some of you that have been here longer than me can convince me that this is not a good idea.

Jimmy

[chopnchaneled]

Jimmy,,,, Welcome to the board and congrats on your find.
Keep on the same track you are thinking now, Get her safe and reliable and
enjoy, Just remember one step at a time.
Lets see some pictures.

[Lokin4AReason]

welcome to the party =0)

[michael bustamante]

a 110 wire feed welder will work great for installing patch panals. just practice practice practice

[JimmyCriswell]

Originally Posted by michael bustamante

a 110 wire feed welder will work great for installing patch panals. just practice practice practice

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[JimmyCriswell]

Thank you for the advice. I plan to take care of all the rust first while keeping it in running order. What do you guys use to cut rust out? I imagine you just can't cut all angles with a sawzall.
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[57taskforce]

I like an air powered die grinder personally.

[Oregon 1967 GMC]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

I like an air powered die grinder personally.

Welcome aboard JimmyC and take advantage of all the knowledge and experience here. I like die grinder too. I'm considering a welder too and was looking at these. I can MIG a little but still a novice. I pile it on and grind like hell.
Are these overpriced? http://www.eastwood.com/welders/mig-...FZJffgodHAIA3Q

[the hippie mechanic]

In my experience a die grinder is best for cutting out the rust and a sawzall can be helpful sometimes. The same goes for cutting the replacement metal to fit. Depending on where the rust is you may need a power drill and spot weld bit to cut spot welds in the rocker panels and floors. If you get an air powered cut off wheel make sure you have a pretty powerful air compressor to run it. If you have a small air compressor you will likely get frustrated because it doesn't work as well. Milwaukee makes great electric cut off tools if you don't have an air compressor. Whether you go with air or electric, make sure you get a good quality tool and save yourself some frustration.

For a welder MIG is fine for sheet metal. If you're new to welding MIG is great. Miller has good resources for starting out with MIG as well, and just use the internet to learn. If you're not new to welding you know what you're doing.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...ur-skills/mig/

[JimmyCriswell]

Thank you all for the advice. I am struggling with what kind of tools to buy first to start with my work. My brother has a flux core welder that he said I could use but I have read that those are not great for sheet metal. I do not have a die grinder at my home where my truck currently is.

However, we have a dirt track car at my grandmother's shop which I have access to. We have a welder, torches and just about any air tool you can think of. I was trying to do some work at home but I might have to tackle some of it at the shop. There is just not enough room there to leave the truck overnight.

Thoughts on flux core welding? There is quite a bit more rust than I originally thought so I will be doing a lot of it.

Jimmy

[57taskforce]

Don't do it!!! You will cuss and scream when your done with it all. I tried it once when I was a teenager and couldn't afford gas for the mig. BIG MISTAKE! It's so hard to get a nice weld on sheet metal with the solid core and I noticed it seemed to be a little more difficult to control the heat, thus more warpage. Use a decent mig and you'll be miles ahead.

[Tree-50]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Don't do it!!! You will cuss and scream when your done with it all. I tried it once when I was a teenager and couldn't afford gas for the mig. BIG MISTAKE! It's so hard to get a nice weld on sheet metal with the solid core and I noticed it seemed to be a little more difficult to control the heat, thus more warpage. Use a decent mig and you'll be miles ahead.

Flux core is not solid wire, it's hollow...Mig makes prettier welds but if penetration is all you need flux will be fine, since it's going to be ground flush anyways. Flux is cheaper for the setup, electrode it's more expensive but machine nah. Flux is more forgiving for contaminants though from what I hear. Flux can be used in windier conditions where mig gas would blow away from pool. I built my truck with a flux core lincoln. I still want a mig, but that will come later. I've got an acetylene torch I want to learn how to braze with also.

[Longhornss]

If you have rockers at ab corners and floor work to fix you will need a good set of spot weld cutters, some sort of cut off wheel weather it is on a good quality angle grinder or air cut off. I personally like a good "body saw" if you have air. I use a CP saw with Lenox blades daily for sheet metal removal and patch trimming. You will of course need something to take down the welds you make when you are done with the patch panels. So a good hard stone grinding disc is a good place to start. Then switch to a flap disc to finish dressing the weld.
Flux core........ NO. A good 110 miller or Lincoln with a bottle or even an eastwood welder will do. If you get much larger than that some machines can be tough to dial in for sheet metal. The wire gets to be too big and the heat range is out the window. If you are new to welding practice on similar thicknesses of material so you will know how they well react and how to set up your machine.
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[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by Tree-50

Flux core is not solid wire, it's hollow...Mig makes prettier welds but if penetration is all you need flux will be fine, since it's going to be ground flush anyways. Flux is cheaper for the setup, electrode it's more expensive but machine nah. Flux is more forgiving for contaminants though from what I hear. Flux can be used in windier conditions where mig gas would blow away from pool. I built my truck with a flux core lincoln. I still want a mig, but that will come later. I've got an acetylene torch I want to learn how to braze with also.

Forgive me I misspoke. I intened to say flux core and typed solid.

[elf w/capital T]

Welcome! Post photos while your build goes on! I learned how to weld with stick a long time ago and doing the thin body panels via stick was well... too much imo... I learned the Flux core 110 welder from harbor freight. .. all the panels are together and rust free now! Good luck and if you happen to do the inner rocker piece, rear floor and all the supports and floor panels...make sure to put a nice 3/4 square tube holding the area where the door would go for support.... that was my huge headache. .. I didnt!

Good luck and make the best of the truck

[the hippie mechanic]

In my humble opinion flux throws off too much heat for sheet metal. Lots of holes burned through the panels

Elf has a really good point - when you cut out the rockers or any other major load bearing section of a truck make sure you tack in some square tube or angle bracket before cutting to make sure your cab doesn't flex and screw up the door gaps.

[elf w/capital T]

Hippie, yes it sure does but as long as you have patience (I didnt) when doing the panels....and work in other spots and not focus on one solid line at a time it turns out fine... but there are many other people and they can and will chime in too

[cooperhw]

Mig welder with gas = lobster.
Mig welder with flux cored wire = dog crap.

Dip em both in enough garlic butter and they both will taste good (or at least that's what I believe is true).

Not saying you can't get the job done with flux cored wire but it sux. It'll look like a turkey flew by and sh*t on your truck.

[davepl]

Save up for MIG. You'll hate welding if you start out with flux core, unless you're working on a pipeline or something.

I wound up with a Lincoln. All the major brands are fine (my TIG is a Miller). While I went 220V to allow for frame welding, 110V is plenty for sheet metal of course.

Some of the newer ones (at least on the Miller) come with a 220V end and a 110V adapter so you can use it anywhere. That'd be the best.

Whatever you do, it's a learned skill. I didn't want to take a year's course at the community college, so I watched a lot of videos, read a lot of books, and practiced forever. I should have found a mentor, but I'm shy.

Scour cragislist and pawn shops. It'd be nice to be able to test it, but I think treadmills and guitars and welders are some of the first things to get pawned or sold...

[elf w/capital T]

Cooper. Hahahaha yesss it it ugly and welds are soft but the great thing about grinders ha :shrugs:

[hugger6933]

Once you get a welder go to a body shop and ask the manager there if you could get an old bent hood or fender or something like that. If they are like me they have tons of the scrap laying around and should be happy to give you a piece to practice on. Take that fender and your die grinder and cut out some strips and then weld them together.
On the welder if you can the one with the plasma cutter would be good to have. I have a plasma cutter that has a TIG set up as well as a stick set up as well. I've never taken either out of the bag as I have a welder I love. I bought it in 1987 and it is a Big Snap-On and I haven't had hardly any problems with it.
One other thing that hasn't been addressed is wire size. While most use .023 wire it is the best I have used [for a long time] wire as big as .035. It is just harder to work with and lots more to grind so get some .023 and the tips and stuff just for it.
Welding is not that hard to pick up, I taught a member this week how to do it and use a plasma cutter and die grinder and he even learned some fill work and priming as he spent the whole week with me. Jim