53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That lays right down Marc...looking good.

How close is the steering wheel to the seat? In the picture it looks very close.

Thanks Doug...Optical illusion with the wheel. It is not in the tilt position and there is still plenty of room when sliding in. I think I have more room in this than my 48...

Marc

[lower50's]

That looks so cool!!! Are you running those black rims? The whole steering setup looks good.

[oldman3]

Marc, looking sweet, I like it a lot...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

That looks so cool!!! Are you running those black rims? The whole steering setup looks good.

The steering is getting there. I have had to reorder one of my universal joints 3 times to get the right one. No, the rims are junk 18" rollers. The offset is all wrong. I'm trying to figure out my wheel size. It will probably be 20's but I'm trying to layout over 22's.

Originally Posted by oldman3

Marc, looking sweet, I like it a lot...Jim

Thanks Jim

[reaper71]

Looking good Marc, glad to see to see you back on it.

Oh and...GO BLUE!!

Mark...

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Looking good Marc, glad to see to see you back on it.

Oh and...GO BLUE!!

Mark...

Yes, it was little progress but it felt great. I'm trying to buy a welder. I have always borrowed one in the past. Once I get my hands on one I plan to tackle the rear floor structure and inner tubs.

You got that right.. Go Blue!!

Marc

[99 to Life]

looks sweet.

[69CST-V]

Looks great!!

[Advanced Design]

Hopefully you will get a welder. What are you going to do with your rear inner wheel tubs?

[reaper71]

If your looking for a mig the Miller Matic series are really awesome!
You set the welder to "auto" select the size wire (I use .023) so it does not ball up on you and leaves flatter welds. select the metal gauge and your welding!
They also have the option to go manual so you can play around with your own settings.
Just one Man's opinion!
As for a welding Helmet if your looking for one the Optrel Helmet is a really nice hood I bought one awhile back they are the lightest in the industry and have an HD viewing lens the grind mode is on the outside so you dont have to take the hood off to change.

Again just my Opinion, I do a ton of welding and have used numerous hoods over the years and wouldn't go back to a different kind.

Mark...

[reaper71]

The Optrel.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

looks sweet.

Thanks 99

Originally Posted by 69CST-V

Looks great!!

Thank you

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Hopefully you will get a welder. What are you going to do with your rear inner wheel tubs?

Doug - I'm planning on trimming off where they mount to the sides and add metal back to reshape. this will allow me to raise them up as well to create more room for 22's. I have an idea on the body wheel wheel how to create more room to layout over 22's but more planning is needed to determine if this will work before I share with you. 😁

Originally Posted by reaper71

If your looking for a mig the Miller Matic series are really awesome!
You set the welder to "auto" select the size wire (I use .023) so it does not ball up on you and leaves flatter welds. select the metal gauge and your welding!
They also have the option to go manual so you can play around with your own settings.
Just one Man's opinion!
As for a welding Helmet if your looking for one the Optrel Helmet is a really nice hood I bought one awhile back they are the lightest in the industry and have an HD viewing lens the grind mode is on the outside so you dont have to take the hood off to change.

Again just my Opinion, I do a ton of welding and have used numerous hoods over the years and wouldn't go back to a different kind.

Mark...

Thanks Mark, opinions are always welcome. I borrowed a Millermatic for years from a friend. I'm not the best at welding so any tools that help would be great.. which size would you recommend for a home shop. I have 220. I will use it for body work and light frame work but I want one to handle bigger stuff as my skills improve but nothing too crazy....

Originally Posted by reaper71

The Optrel.

I have a decent helmet. The one pictured looks cool, like something from Starwars....

Thanks everyone!!

[reaper71]

The Miller I use here is just the 140 (now called the 141) It is more than enough for what a small home shop will use it can weld up to 1/2"
The downside to a 220 is it is a bit harder to weld the 20-22 gauge sheet metal as it gets to hot and will blow through and 18g takes some getting used to.
The 140 I use here has built numerous frames,suspensions etc and 0 problems and the price is much lower.

Mark...

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by reaper71

The Miller I use here is just the 140 (now called the 141) It is more than enough for what a small home shop will use it can weld up to 1/2"
The downside to a 220 is it is a bit harder to weld the 20-22 gauge sheet metal as it gets to hot and will blow through and 18g takes some getting used to.
The 140 I use here has built numerous frames,suspensions etc and 0 problems and the price is much lower.

Mark...

Thanks Mark, that's why I was asking. I was thinking I needed a bigger machine like a 252. I was looking for a used one, but I bet a new 141 would be in my budget..And yes, blowing/burning through is an issue.

Thanks for your input.

Marc

[reaper71]

Cyberweld has them right now for $755.00 with upto $ 250.00 rebate from miller (mail in to miller)

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Cyberweld has them right now for $755.00 with upto $ 250.00 rebate from miller (mail in to miller)

I've been very happy with my Miller machines. This sounds like a really good deal.

[99 to Life]

helmet seems nice, been wanting a better one esp with the grinding feature. Welder note, I bought a used hobart 175 and it is awesome. I paid 350 for it. Equivalent to the 190 of today which is about a grand or less. I too agree a 140ish welder would suite all your needs and very affordable too. I been in your shoes and got so sick of CL not throwing me a bone when I needed one, so I put bought an EWood 175 onsale. Didn't want to but I had no choice. I wouldn't recommend them even though it is a good welder. I'd go with hobart, miller, licoln and I'm personally thinking of trying esab next.

[lower50's]

All the welders sound good I have used my Lincoln mig pak 15 240V for 14 years not a single problem. 30A-175A I normally run .035 solid wire but welding sheet metal I run .025 solid wire. Just some more info for you to chew on.

[youngrodder]

I decided on a welder and since I have wanted one for soooo long I drove an hr each way to go grab one this morning. I bought a Miller Multimatic 215. It is a slick little compact unit. You can mig,tig and stick weld with this machine. Yes, I even got Miller to throw in a cardboard welding cart for FREE....I will swing by Harbor Freight and pick one up thats not as combustable.

I finished installing my steering. I also finished mounting the column with a 2" drop. Since I had my welder I decided to play with it and fill the hold where the original column stuck through. I will mount my inner fenders too see what changes I need to make to those.

Thanks
Marc

[mongocanfly]

That's a nice welder..love the miller welding cart to...I'd change that ground clamp out pronto..get a good ground clamp and you won't regret it..your clamp looks a little different than mine did..mine looked like a clamp for jumper cables...

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

That's a nice welder..love the miller welding cart to...I'd change that ground clamp out pronto..get a good ground clamp and you won't regret it..your clamp looks a little different than mine did..mine looked like a clamp for jumper cables...

Thanks..I'm happy with the the ground clamp. It has great grip and large brass contacts. It seems very heavy duty. The mig gun on the other hand looks a little on the cheap side. I would see changing that out at some point, but I'm not getting carried away. This purchase was WAY over due.

Marc

[BIGglaSS]

'burb looks killer laid out. No worries on 220v, just turn it down. You can't pull a long bead with 20 guage anyway. Lots of us use 220v MIG for sheetmetal. I have the new Miller 215 multi. Love it. I mostly TIG sheetmetal now.

[Advanced Design]

Hey Marc congrat's on the welder. Looks like you quickly put it to good use!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Hey Marc congrat's on the welder. Looks like you quickly put it to good use!

Yes, I plan to tackle the rear floor structure next...I hope this helps to speed things along.

Marc

[reaper71]

Don't even sweat the gun...I have the same one and it works perfect (going on 4 yrs) what size wire did you go with and also make sure you get a separate tank for Argon for the tig

The reason I ask about the wire .023 will lay smoother and you will have less material for cleanup, If I get into heavy wall stuff to weld ill go upto the .030

Mark...