New Welding equipment advice

[SP2]

Hello all,
I am working on the restoration of my 69 interior. I made it down to the painted metal of the floor pans. I noticed there are two random small holes in the front of the pan. I think I created them with too much scraping with an impact chisel in the corner of the pan. It isn't a rust spot.

I also noticed the floor pan isn't really attached very well at the front left corner under the steering wheel. When I was pounding out some dents the pan can be seen moving where it shouldn't.

I was thinking of trying to learn to weld these holes shut, and maybe attach the floor pan a little better. I am lucky there is no rust.

What would be a good first welder and from what store? I live in Seattle. What other accessories would I need? Is this a bad idea? I think I might be too fired up after reading speedo's restoration last night!

[rusnak]

James, people get really fired up over welding for some reason. Be prepared for some pretty passionate answers. I think the starting point is to enroll in a welding class at your local community college or vocational night school. It is the best money and time that you can spend if you want to weld anything. Next, buy the Welder's Handbook. I'd save buying stuff until you enroll in the class, and get some advice on protective gear. Last, take your time and poke around on Craigslist or the local newspaper. Look into getting a pro quality used welder. I saved my money so that I could buy a custom made long high voltage cord and rewire the garage for the necessary amps to run the welder. I also have a nice fine quality gas regulator that I don't regret buying.

[berettafan]

IF you go out, buy a welder then go to town immediately after you will make a bigger mess than you started with.

IF you go out, buy a decent 110 mig (w/ gas) from Hobart, Miller or Lincoln (not via home depot) and practice on sheet metal for a while THEN go buy some shears and other associated equipment you may come out fine. I did it that way (actually took a class first but that really just familiarized me with the equipment and taught me that it's harder than it looks) and ended up doing a fair amount of welding on my car. it's a skill i am very proud to posess a tiny amount of.

[berettafan]

btw, welding offers a lot in the way of temptation to half-ass jobs. be sure you're not the type to fall victim to such temptation w/ a car like a '69E.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by rusnak

James, people get really fired up over welding for some reason. Be prepared for some pretty passionate answers. I think the starting point is to enroll in a welding class at your local community college or vocational night school. It is the best money and time that you can spend if you want to weld anything. Next, buy the Welder's Handbook. I'd save buying stuff until you enroll in the class, and get some advice on protective gear. Last, take your time and poke around on Craigslist or the local newspaper. Look into getting a pro quality used welder. I saved my money so that I could buy a custom made long high voltage cord and rewire the garage for the necessary amps to run the welder. I also have a nice fine quality gas regulator that I don't regret buying.

Sage Advise! Quite an investment to fix some holes. With welding equipment you get exactly what you pay for. You don't what to learn to weld on your 69.

[Crashly]

A lot of good advice here. Welding the thin sheet metal on a porsche is not that hard. Doing a good job does take some pratice. Most welders come in either a 220v or a 110v. I own both in the Miller brand. Hobart is made by miller as well, they just use a few cheaper parts in the machines, however the parts will probably outlive the home user, and if they dont they can easily be purchased at a local welding shop. Do yourself a favor and buy a welder that uses shielding gas vs shield wire. The mess that shielded wire makes takes a fair amount of time to clean up and it does not look as tidy. Lincoln is also a good brand. But dont buy their Home Depot version as it is quite a bit cheaper. Which ever welder you buy make sure that it can be fine tuned to weld thin metal. My 220 machine does a great job on the thicker stuff but is a real chore on the thin stuff and it is just to heavy to roll around the car. My 110v miller is on a nice rolling welding cart with a bottle at the rear. It quick adjusts to different thickness of metal and fits really nice into tighter spaces, and the porsche has plenty of tight spaces. What ever you do dont buy one of the cheap import units, there are a few parts on these machine that are considered as "consumables" and finding those parts will be nearly impossible as time goes on.

[Zeke]

Sounds to me like you don't need a welding machine for that little work. Why not prep everything and have someone do it? They won't even cost the price of a marginal welding machine.

[john70t]

If there have been holes created in the chassis, there is probably rust creeping around inside. Before filling the holes, use them to spray some rust converter/sealant in there.
Stitch in time.

[SP2]

Thanks for the responses. The idea behind the welding was really for the fun of it, not the cost. I guess I will just pass on this idea. In the meantime, taking a class sounds like a good idea. I actually had been looking but hard to find one that fits my job's schedule.

[alexARC]

Most important thing when you want to weld thin metal, intensity must be very low.
Buy a MAG welding equipment which can deliver as low as 25A MAG (lower is even better).

It's quite expensive so be sure it's a kind of long-term fun for you

[Shaun @ Tru6]

James, just get some fiberglass and a little epoxy, you'll be fine.

[YTNUKLR]

welding is fun and certainly useful...probably a necessary skill if you play with cars long enough...but, learn how to weld on crap metal, not a nice car. i ended up with a very rusty and bent spare hood when i bought my car. let's just say it looks a lot different now that i've had some welding practice by the way i bought a lincoln 135 Plus I think it's called, a nice ~$450 MIG type good for most smaller jobs (ie., not putting together the Golden Gate bridge)

[aigel]

Lincoln Weld Pack 100 wire feed MIG
Buy the gas kit and a bottle
110V - compact and welds anything you need to weld on a car.

George

[euro911sc]

go here and lurk for a while...

http://weldingweb.com/

Then get some books and read all the web pages on welding. After that, deside if you need to buy a welder or just hire someone.

I got my old hobart 100 off eBay (pickup only). Has worked well for the little I have had to do. The welder is only part of the package. expect another $500-750 for consumables, setup tools, and safety gear depending on how fancy you want to get. Add more if you need to wire in 220 to where you think you will be working.

+1 on Craig's list for finding older, completely usable, welders. It will take a while, but you will find one and they usually come with some of the extra stuff.

practice practice practice.... and a really good grinder make good welds also, powder coating hides a multitude of welding sin

Best regards,

Michael

[Zef]

There is my advice...
New toy just arrived

[ljowdy]

More opinions.

I own a Lincoln 125 Plus. (new version is 135 Plus) It operates on 120v and the advantage of this machine versus a Home Depot machine is that the adjustments are infinite. For instance. Amperage is controlled by a dial that is alphabetical and the wire feed by a dial that is numerical. Each dial turns to any position between letters or numbers. The Home Depot version clicks on each letter and number. So, if wire speed 5 is to low and wire speed 6 is to fast, I can dial in 5.1, 5.2 5.3 and so on. The Home Depot version only allows 5 or 6 etc. Same goes for the amperage. I've experimented with various thicknesses of wire and have settled on .030 It works great on sheet metal and 1/4" steel. I've also experimented with various types of shielding gas to include tri-ox and co2 and have settled on a mix of Co2 and Argon.

I have my welder on a 2 tier cart that holds my argon/co2 bottle and also holds my plasma cutter so, it's easy to roll round. If you need to use the welder in locations that are not convienent to a power outlet, then do go to Home Depot or to Camping World and purchase a 10 gauge extension cord. Most extension cords are 14 gauge and don't carry the current anywhere near as well as the 10 gauge cord.