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Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:44 am

I was hoping somebody might be able to answer some welding questions.

I spent the better part of this past weekend putting in a right rear lower corner.
The welder I am using is a Lincoln 135-Plus 120 volt with gas bottle attached.

I've included a couple of URL's to some pictures of my result.
1st 2 are of my weld thru holes.
3rd one is where the gap is too large.
It came out far from great but not too bad for my first attempt.
I practiced for about and hour or so but since I wasent getting any better
I figure I would just dive in.
Welding so far to me definetly seems like an art form to be mastered.

1st issue I have is with a couple of burn thru holes.
How do I fill them with the welder?
My thought was to put a tiny little patch behind it and weld that in.
But I figure somebody out there has the correct way to fix it.

2nd issue is even though I measured and remeasured everything I came up about 1/8 inch short on one side.
So I tried to put the welder setting a little lower so as not to burn through and join the sides.
Unfortunatly it seems the gap is just too big and all I am getting is splatter joins which arent working out too well.
So how do I fill in the gap without making it bigger by burning through the metal?

The setting I am using on the welder are D-3.
If I go higher on the amps I just burn through.
Lower and all I get are splatter puddles.

I've got the gas coming out at 25 as I am working outside.

http://www.jr-n-r.com/images/kevin/westy/weld1.jpg
http://www.jr-n-r.com/images/kevin/westy/weld2.jpg
http://www.jr-n-r.com/images/kevin/westy/weld3.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated on these issues.

My last questions are about what do I put over and behind the welds?
What I mean is I grinded the welds down fairly flush but as you look along the weld the body
is not perfect so I'm going to have to smooth it out with something and I'm not sure if filler is what I should use
or if there is something else.
And finally on the inside should I seal it with anything along the weld line?

Thanks Much
Kevin

Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:41 am

d-3 is what I use... Are you useing a straight bead technique.. (big no no...) I sugest you try a trigger on/off tech. You do this buy pulling the trigger hold it.. about a seaco or so enought to get a lil puddle and release. move to another area you wish to weld and do the same.... TIME CONSUMING you say.. ya.. but well worth it....

Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:29 pm

Good for you. You got your feet wet welding. You will get better by asking a lot of questions and practice. Here is a good read on mig welding: http://www.autobodystore.com/new_page_11.htm .

One of the tricks to the mig process is selecting the right heat (voltage) and fine tuning the wire feed speed to match the thickness of the metal(s). When you get the correct combo, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. There is a good paragraph in this artlcle about welding patches. Good luck. richard

Wed Jul 07, 2004 8:39 am

I use 25lbs at the regulator indoors. Try 35+ for outdoors with a breeze. You shouldn't have any splatter at the lowest setting of the machine.

Use only the lowest setting for body metal. Too easy to burn through with too much juice. Use short bursts as Chillkoot suggests. Skip around and use tiny "spot" welds to minimize heat and warpage. Alternating stitch welds are ok, never use long beads on body metal.

I try fill any holes prior to grinding. You can use a patch for the backside to help fill the hole. Also, you can use copper temporarily on the backside, the weld won't adhere to it. If you can't get to the back of the panel, add material to the outer edge of the hole with the welder to build up the area prior to final welding.

If still getting blow through, try a longer stick out on the gun. Hold the gun at a more exagerated angle to the area that you're trying to weld. This will help dissapate(sp?) some the energy of the welder.

On larger panels, I sometimes plug weld a backing strip to the area prior to butt welding the panel. It will help if your fitting skills are a little off, and it is easier to fill any gaps. Still, gaps of 1/8" shouldn't be a problem without a backing strip. Work slowly on each side of the gap until you can get the weld to "jump" across. Greater angle on the gun helps with this as well.