Gas welding panels

[Zeke]

Current project:

Tacked up with the MIG.



Slow going. Hammer and dolly each segment.



This is a Meco torch with a tee-tiny tip.



I will follow up with other comments as I straighten out the metal and finish it. I have some new tools coming.

[rw7810]

Milt - if you have a mig to tack it, why go to the gas ?? Mig would be much easier and quicker.

Here's my baby:

[962porsche]

and make for a better weld ,less mud work, better penetration of weld so it will not crack down the road . and so on and on !!

[robmog]

classic teaching says mig is hotter so more distortion and harder so more difficult to rework and grind.
milt, it looks good to me. i wish i had torch skills, (and a torch at that!).

[962porsche]

well 30 plus years in the body biz and owner of a high end only shop . says if you know how to use a mig and for that matters a tig you will get better weld penetration and no war page with a mig . i could weld that very ez and get no distortion at all . with a torch the flame spreads out in a much bigger distants there for it harder to control the heat . also using a mig you put one spot weld then move to the other side of the panel and put an other spot weld and so on . by the time you get back to the other side of the panel it cooled down so you can put an other spot weld and so on . that way you get NO distortion at all and proper weld penetration . there is no way i would torch weld that and then have to hammer and dolly it to . and then when it comes to the plastic work i would only have to do two coats . looking at that as it sits now it 4 plus coats of plastic work . so not only have i just saved the time on not having to hammer an dolly the panel i also have saved the time of not putting more plastic on the car then needed . if you knotted i never used the word BONDO ! bondo is a brand name not a product . the real name is plastic body filler . calling plastic body filler bondo is the same as calling all cars fords . i'm not putting this persons work down at all ! but there is a much better way to do it . farter better and cheaper ! this is way no shops i know of . do it the way this person is . it will probably look good when he is finished ! BUT there are down falls to the way its being doen !

[sc_rufctr]

Just as a side note... How hard is lead filling instead of plastic filler?

I saw it recently on American Hotrod... Looked kinda messy but it was forever.

[962porsche]

at times we have to use lead on some things . its the same learing crave on knowing how to use lead . as it is to use plastic filler . but lead is a HAZ.MAT. material and then there is the cost .

[BReyes]

Going to look mean! It is all about being able to hammer and dolly it a little!

[DW SD]

how did this turn out?
What's the latest?

Doug

[super rat]

welding on a radiused area like that helps alot in reducing the likelehood of warping as opposed to flat wide open panels...i would be licken my chops to get to tig weld that thing!

[Zeke]

962, thanks (I guess) for your comments. Here's where it stands as of today.



Regardless of what you think you see, the area shown is perfectly flat with no waves thanks in part to a shrinking disc. The fenders came with some pretty good waves in them from the shaping in the die. You can see the former waves where the metal is more shiny. Not the grinding marks. The grinding marks make the work look uneven in the camera's eye, but this area will need the barest of skim coats of filler. The galvanized coating was sanded off on the high spots as the smoothing took place. The different colors of metal show that.

I don't plan on using 4 coats of anything unless you count the primer.

[962porsche]

milt i'm not putting your work down at all ! and i'm very sorry if it sounds that way . there are many ways to do things but thats just not the way i would do it in my shop . i would tig or mig and not have all the pin holes in the weld . i have NO doudt that it will look SWEET when your finished ! its just the long way around the barn .

[Zeke]

I've had more trouble in the past using a MIG and the stitching method, jumping around. Lots of starts and stops. I did learn, though, that if you cut the tip of the wire before each weld, it starts up faster and cleaner and introduces less heat as a result of the quick puddling. I still got "misses" between welds and had to go over them. I use a light at night to find any holes that go through.



I thought I had a pic of them tacked up. I had a MIG spot at each inch to 1 1/2".

[3.2 CAB]

milt, the mig-tacked pic is in the first post. That spot/tack weld on that flare looks really nice. Tony.

[Zeke]

thanks, I lose track. I need to clarify what I said about MIG trouble. What I meant was having pin holes at the overlaps.

[962porsche]

milt you have pin holes in the weld in post #11 . i would just practise with the mig some more . maybe turn up the heat just alittle to get a little more penetration on the spot weld that you did before and is now cooled down?what i do is weld 1-3rd on the old weld and 2-3rds on the seam of the panels .

[Zeke]

There were no holes in that section pictured in post 11. There were minor depressions that showed up dark after grinding. All I can say at this point is I don't care for your method and you don't care for mine.

Ce la vie.

[Willem Fick]

Good going Milt! Looking at the width of the "blueing" effect around the weld, I think your choice of a small tip was the way to go. Penetration is also fine if I look at how well the welding flowed into the surrounding metal.

I too did mine with gas, and had no issues with warpage whatsoever. I would love to have MIG'd or TIG'd it instead, but I felt it best to use the method I had most experience at. (Of course arcwelding was a no-no... :-) ).

[kconway]

Milt,
Couldn't get out there this week, been swamped at work. Any new progress, teaser photos?

Kevin

[Zeke]