53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[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.

[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

[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...

[lower50's]

Congrats nice looking unit!!!

[BIGglaSS]

Nice welder! I have the same one. So far, I have only run .023 er70s-2 wire in it. I'm really liking the TIG for sheetmetal. If you haven't bought the TIG kit yet, you can put together better stuff for about the same price.

There is nothing wrong with the ground clamp. It has heavy duty copper jaws with plenty of contact area.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 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...

Mark

I appreciate all of your tips. I'm using .030. If I drop down to .023 do I need to get .023 tips for my gun? it only came with .030 wire and tips.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by BIGglaSS

Nice welder! I have the same one. So far, I have only run .023 er70s-2 wire in it. I'm really liking the TIG for sheetmetal. If you haven't bought the TIG kit yet, you can put together better stuff for about the same price.

There is nothing wrong with the ground clamp. It has heavy duty copper jaws with plenty of contact area.

Yes, I need to buy the TIG stuff. I have never TIG welded but I do want to learn.

Marc

[reaper71]

You can still use the 030 tips it wont really effect the weld at all. I use the same tips.
The ER70-s wire is a great all around wire it welds nice and grinds easy.

When you get ready to get your tig setup let me know, I can give you some websites to go through that I use and the Torch,cups etc to go with

Mark...

[mongocanfly]

Your stinger should be fine..I've used mine about 20 years..had a little trouble here and there..I just replaced mine with a upgraded heavy duty version and wow...what a difference...like i said..your ground looks better made than mine was..before I changed it out if I did much continuous welding it would get extremely hot and wouldn't clamp tight..I think you'll be fine..I used the tweco clamp on mine now and it works great..

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Congrats nice looking unit!!!

Thanks. I also picked up a welding cart today.

Originally Posted by reaper71

You can still use the 030 tips it wont really effect the weld at all. I use the same tips.
The ER70-s wire is a great all around wire it welds nice and grinds easy.

When you get ready to get your tig setup let me know, I can give you some websites to go through that I use and the Torch,cups etc to go with

Mark...

Thanks Mark I appreciate the help..

Marc

[youngrodder]

I got back out in the garage Saturday. I picked up a welding cart since my last one caught on fire....(jk). While Doug is busy shucking peanuts, I'm going to try to catch up...

I have quite a bit of the rear floor structure cut to length. I started to fab up the front section of floor. The plan is a strong structure that will provide support and added structure. I plan to use some type of wood over the top of the structure. If you look closely at the top of the photo you can see where I used some of the old flooring to space out the structure so the same thickness of wood will fit between the flange and support bracing. I'm kicking around a couple different ideas in my head for the wood.

I will use this same 1" x 2" tubing to go over the notch all the way to the rear. This will also provide a nice strong tie in for body mounts.

I tried to take a few pics....the lighting is not the best.

Marc

[reaper71]

Looking good Marc

[Advanced Design]

Yep, I paused my peanut shucking and see you are making good progress. Good idea and direction.

[nebdrummer]

Soooo cool. Can't wait to see this done. I also wanna see your pickup in person. One of my favorites for sure. I'm glad to see another person with the multimatic. I'm eyeing that one myself. They still have some pretty good deals on them right now.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Looking good Marc

Thanks Mark

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Yep, I paused my peanut shucking and see you are making good progress. Good idea and direction.

Thanks Doug

Originally Posted by nebdrummer

Soooo cool. Can't wait to see this done. I also wanna see your pickup in person. One of my favorites for sure. I'm glad to see another person with the multimatic. I'm eyeing that one myself. They still have some pretty good deals on them right now.

Yes, you and me both. I need to figure out the floor and rear tub situation before I pull the body back off and paint the frame. Thanks, you welcome to check out my 48 anytime...Yes, I dig my Multimatic. Rebates good until the end of the year.

Marc

[youngrodder]

I have been busy working on the floor structure. I added more supports as well as the structure that goes up and over the large notch. I paid close attention to place one of the support structures over the body mounting tabs. I will drill through the support to that I can bolt the body through the floor and structure to the frame like it was from the factory. In one of the pictures you will also see I placed a small piece of the rear floor to get an idea of how it will look.

everything is spot welded at this point. This is a good thing because I had to change around one piece I welded in because I used the wrong measurement...that's what the mock up process is for.

I also added one piece across the notch. I might add another one above the gas tank.

The vision I have for the floor is some type of cool looking wood in the front and rear sections of the floor and a metal notch cover.

[youngrodder]

Another pic.....The next step will be to trim down the stock inner fenders and raise them up slightly...I saw a guy on Facebook that did something similar with his build. I'm following his lead and putting my spin on it.

Marc

[lower50's]

Looking good!! How do you like your welder? Are you accessing your compressor and tanks from underneath or hatch?

[69CST-V]

Looking good!!!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Looking good!! How do you like your welder? Are you accessing your compressor and tanks from underneath or hatch?

Lovin the welder...you have no idea. I kick myself for not pulling the trigger sooner. Yes probably. I will have a wood floor that I can remove from above if need be. I can also remove them from the bottom. Not sure the failure rate constitutes the extra work.

Originally Posted by 69CST-V

Looking good!!!

Thanks

Marc