Constructive Criticism or Just Bash This Repair!

[offshores]

I had a pretty good size dent on my apron that ran between both exhaust cutouts. I tried using a hammer and dollie and there just was not enough room. I then went to HF and bought one of those stud welder dent repair kits and tried using a slide hammer with no luck. After thinking about it for a few I decided to just drill out the spot welds on the bottom and cut it out which would allow me full access to the back side for hammering out the dent. I'm a total newb at welding so I'm sure those with experience will cringe at the site of my series of spot welds. Anyways, here's what I've done so far. I still need to grind down the welds more and do some more filling, etc before I put on some USC Dura Glass and then finish with Rage Extreme as per Matt K's sticky. Basically, I just dug in today because I've been reading and reading and reading and I just really wanted to weld something today. Give it to me straight.

DSC_9270 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9319 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9321 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9323 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9325 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9326 by offshores, on Flickr[/img]

[ImAddicted]

Well, you didn't burn through the metal which is good. I think you need to up the AMPS though, it doesn't look like it's penetrating and instead is lumping up on top. Practice makes perfect and I won't knock you for getting out there and doing it instead of being afraid of trying.

[beetlenut]

That's really not that bad at all! In the fourth picture down, you just need to go back and fill-in the gaps. Sometimes you need to grind off the bead in order to see just what you got. Then just repeat the process. In the fifth picture down, you can see how the bead sits on top of the metal. You just need more heat to get a flatter bead and more penetration. Practicing on scrap will give you the confidence to weld at a hotter setting, and get the feel of varying the distance of the electrode to the work. It really is a feel kind of thing. I'm welding at two settings hotter than when I first started out. A lot less grinding too. Those flap disks on an angle grinder will make quick work of those beads. Good job starting out! Better than the rat turds I was making when I first started!
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scrapyards are for quitters
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[Matt K.]

I think it looks great! It takes awhile to master all of that, but, you are on the right track for sure.
_________________
This is my 21st year in the Auto Body/Paint Game!
*Take a look at some of my custom paint: http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n119/mrpaint_2006/ .

[offshores]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was wondering why these spot welds were so raised. I did turn it up to 2 and it seemed to help with next run. I had to call it quits for the night so I will pick up again tomorrow and do some grinding and welding. I should also have the wire feeding pretty quick, correct? What type of wire do you guys use? This has Hobart .024 solid welding wire in it now, is that good enough? It's going to be difficult the grind down the back side of seam so is that something that is left alone and just gets painted, por 15'ed etc...
Thanks again,
Jeff

[Derek Cobb]

Not perfect, but I've seen pro's do worse. Just make sure you've done all the gaps and seal it well on the backside 'cause that gets blasted with water when you drive in the rain.
I just love welding, even though I'm not great at it. My end-of-the-day welds are so much prettier than the ones done in the morning.

Also, I'm not sure the wirefeed needs to be so quick. Sometimes slowing the wire down gets the welds to lay flatter.

[gfw1985]

Wire feed is proportional to heat. If wire is burning back to tip, it's too slow. Contantly cutting off excess, feed is too fast. Heat setting is dictated by thickness of metal/penetration.

[gfw1985]

Wire feed is proportional to heat. If wire is burning back to tip, it's too slow. Contantly cutting off excess, feed is too fast. Heat setting is dictated by thickness of metal/penetration. Looking good. I've seen a lot worse.

[vpogv]

[bugger101]

it looks a lot better than my first time, I warped the hell out of it
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[offshores]

I did some more welding and grinding and got to a point where I just had to call it quits. There is only so much of the flapper disk that the thin sheet metal can take. It started getting to a point where I was blowing holes in it again so I decided to skim it with some USC Dura Glass. I pretty much got the whole seam welded in with the exception of a few small holes here and there. I still need to use more filler and block sand it to get it real nice, but I just went ahead and primed it and hit it with some Krylon paint. I think it's going pretty well so far. I still need to do some more body work to the fenders and a bit on the car before I paint it and I think doing this small section really gave me some confidence. Thanks again for the feedback.
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DSC_9399 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9402 by offshores, on Flickr
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DSC_9404 by offshores, on Flickr
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[Matt K.]

Great Job!
_________________
This is my 21st year in the Auto Body/Paint Game!
*Take a look at some of my custom paint: http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n119/mrpaint_2006/ .

[66buggie]

yup you did a great job...