adamzan Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) When my uncle welded up the holes in mine, he went all the way around (spot and fill) with no sealer, except for the undercoating I'll be putting on soon. We used floor bits cut from a wrecked 93 at the local yard (cut a bit bigger than the holes for overlap). He used the wirefeed he uses for everything from thin sheets to frame steel. The patch wasn't cheap, but it looks good. One thing to look out for, the old undercoating (unless yours has all fallen off) will try to catch fire from the weld heat. We put a hose underneath the truck with a sprinkler sort of thing on the end to keep it cool under there. (Luckily the seatbelt mounts and all were fine, so we left them alone. Since we were cutting bits from a wrecked Pathy anyway, we would've just taken the brackets out.) The only reason I put the sealer was to make sure no water came in and to make it look nice. And yeah I had some fires under there from the undercoating! I did end up getting the Millermatic 135 I mentioned above... I'm trying to practice, but it's hard to find time, and since I end up doing this outside, I need to be careful that no random people wandering around can get flashed. I also got a 20 cu ft bottle, because I have very little storage space, but I'll run through that really fast with a lot of practicing. It will be good in the long term though, since I won't really be doing all much welding (I figure it's 45-60 minutes worth). Not to sound like an ass but I weld in my driveway all the time without concern for others. There has only been one time someone has come up to me and it was a mother telling me to stop because her kids were staring. I then told her, this is private property, you don't let your kids stare into the sun do you? I may sound like an ass but I couldn't get anything done if I cared about the rest of the people around me. I would rather irritate some peoples eyes than have part of my truck come flying off the highway, killing me or someone else! Then again it is common sense to not stare at something like that. Edited June 17, 2011 by adamzan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 U ass Adam. Blinding the teenage mothers children... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 The only reason I put the sealer was to make sure no water came in and to make it look nice. And yeah I had some fires under there from the undercoating! Not to sound like an ass but I weld in my driveway all the time without concern for others. There has only been one time someone has come up to me and it was a mother telling me to stop because her kids were staring. I then told her, this is private property, you don't let your kids stare into the sun do you? I may sound like an ass but I couldn't get anything done if I cared about the rest of the people around me. I would rather irritate some peoples eyes than have part of my truck come flying off the highway, killing me or someone else! Then again it is common sense to not stare at something like that. Hehe, yeah, I can generally do it out of the average person's sight. I am actually mostly concerned about my landlord, who is kinda nozy, and probably thinks that having a welder even on her property is somehow a hazard to her well being. I just want to avoid the whole confrontation scenario. Anyway, glad to know what everyone out there isn't using a million special screens or anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Everything on my truck has been welded with my 90amp fcaw mig harbor freight welder. Even my 3/16" front bumper w/drings... HOWEVER, you must know when to consult a pro! I welded all the cosmetics (i.e. corners/bevels) and simply tacked the structural areas for a local fabricator friend to weld. He did it for either 10 or 20 bucks (can't remember) which wasn't bad atall, even gave me some tips for uphill welding, offroad jack options, and generally just great conversation/advice, aswell as stellar welds! gotta say, my HF flux core is pretty great for what I paid (70 some bucks?) and aslong as you take care of it, it will return the favor! I've done a little bit of sheet metal work, and it had no problem doing it, although for anything that I'd like show-room pretty, a true mig would be much nicer than flux core... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I am actually mostly concerned about my landlord, who is kinda nozy, and probably thinks that having a welder even on her property is somehow a hazard to her well being.Just show her what you're doing is actually very safe. Make sure she gets in close for a really good look. After that, she won't know when you're welding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Just show her what you're doing is actually very safe. Make sure she gets in close for a really good look. After that, she won't know when you're welding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schro Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yeah, I agree, I'm pretty sure that I'll get terrible starts to the weld if I have to do the starting blind, so I want auto darkening. However, the cheapest auto darkening helmets ($100-$150) just switch to shade 10. If you pay more ($200-$250?) then you can get a variable shade autodarkening, which goes from 8-13, allowing for proper vision during a wider variety of welding processes. But I don't need to have a helmet for welding the golden gate bridge, just something for using this small 115V mig. So maybe the cheaper one would be fine. I looked at a table and I think that maybe I can get away with shade 10, but I am a novice... In an ideal world I'd just get the $2000 helmet that comes with all the doodads, but, then I'd be spending more than $350 on a welder... KMS Tools has an autodarkening helmet for $49! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 KMS Tools has an autodarkening helmet for $49! Yep, I went there. I actually "splurged" on the $80 one with 4 sensors and the bigger window. So far so good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schro Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I still need to figure out if I'm less likely to punch through with 24 thou wire and shielding gas or if I could use 30 thou flux core. Use the .024 wire and gas. When on MIG you can work thinner stock than with flux cored. You will be more likely to punch through if you use flux cored. . Do I need to unplug the battery or anything? Yes. and put your grounding clamp as close to your work area as reasonably possible so as to not setup any stray current in wiring etc. It may also be a good idea to unplug the ECCS computer. My plan is to cut away the rust, prep the metal with a grinder (maybe flap wheel), For light prep try one of those 'brillo pad' style flap wheels, or the 120 grit sand ing ones. they remove less metal, and as long as they are adequate to clean the surface to shiny metal it's enough. I use those 2 and a wire wheel on the angle grinder. If you use a grinding wheel you will likely thin the sheetmetal too much and be more likely to punch through. Before ou start (assuming that you are using a floorpan cut from a wreck) practice a few butt joints and lap joints on the extra stock that you cut from the wreck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schro Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yep, I went there. I actually "splurged" on the $80 one with 4 sensors and the bigger window. So far so good... Yea, I saw that one too. I wanted it but instead I spent the money on the welding jackets that they had on sale for $24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) Instead of grinding down the rust, I just cut it out about an inch all the way around with a zip disc on the grinder. Rust gone in less than a minute! Then again I am really really impatient. Edited June 24, 2011 by adamzan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 My friend actually was telling me that I should either leave the battery connected or disconnect both terminals and connect them together. I need to figure out where to put the ground clamp... I'm not sure exactly where will be best. I was thinking of just welding a filler rod onto the plate and clamping to that and the cutting it off when done. I have 23 thou wire and C25 gas so should be good to go there. Definitely need to do more practice before I actually hit the truck. My plan is to use a cutting wheel to cut away to as regular a shape as possible (like a rectangle) of good metal, then flap wheel down the edges to get to bare metal (no paint left etc.). Then I will cut up some scrap steel (using a muffler I exploded at the moment, the steel is in perfect shape, muffler was only on the truck like a day) to shape. Then I will tack it in place with the mig, then heat with the oxy-acetylene torch and hammer it into shape. Hopefully I will end up with only a slight overlap at the joints. Then I can lap weld the edges. I will start by doing more tacks all the way around. If it works I will lap weld the whole thing, otherwise just keep adding more tacks until it is well stitched then use filler. Hopefully the lap welds with minimal overlap will fully melt so there is no "flap" on the bottom. I figure that would be a rust magnet. I could try to grind if underneath afterwards, but I'd probably need a dremel to be able to fit in there easily, which I don't have. Most complicated thing will be dealing with the seat belt attachment. It is reinforced, and not sure if I can re-use that metal, or exactly what to put in place instead. Obviously I don't want the seatbelt falling off, but realistically it doesn't have to be THAT strong. I might replace the belt itself, because it's been sitting next to a hole in the floor which is there because it gets hot due to the muffler being below... dunno how much nylon gets heat damaged (I assume it's nylon). It seems fine, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I've never disconnected my battery and my whole rear frame and floor have been repaired without any issues. But I may have just been lucky. Also for a ground what we usually did was weld a bolt to the floor or frame or whatever for the ground clamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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