1962 Bus for fun

[vwuguy]

It was now its a wall hanger for someone..
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[Major Woody]

Why would you squirt primer on a frame repair where there are still voids visible in what is supposed to be a continuous weld?

There are plenty of pictures here of what an acceptable MIG weld looks like. You cannot do the work you desire to do with that flux core welder. A flux core welder is for welding 1/8"-3/8" thick steel, not sheet metal.

[vwuguy]

Majorwoody-the welders instructions say otherwise and the welds are holding the frame up. On the bonus side it is actually fairly impressive. It actually has a frame now before there was some wood beams and a few bolts holding the whole thing.. Its gonna be a fine storage shed../

as I showed i did weld in some 1/4" support pieces gonna add more later on.. to go with what you said the welder definately works better on larger steel..

If it was a restoration project I'd probably buy the new frame pieces outriggers and have my body guy weld them em. Something that has ben shown done many times before with the bus completed. At the moment though just trying to make it useful again for farm use.. without spending to much on it..
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[ryans65]

You can absolutely weld sheetmetal with a flux core but its more for industrial uses where bringing a shielding gas tank is not reasonable or possible or perhaps up in an unfinished building where the wind is whipping you at 45mph. That being said the work here is questionable at best.

[vwuguy]

todays progress welded in several side frame supports then proceeded to start on front crossmember did get the top hat on then was halfway to finishing the crossmember and ran out of welding wire.. darn.. that primer didn't go on very well.. although red seems more suiting then grey on this section..
besides that the snow was intense today and the ice outside was beautiful the gust of the trees and wind n the the breeze in the bush was nice a calming effect while welding..as long as i kept welding i was warm -15 out when welding was about 10 degrees in the bus
-did these first several inside frame supports only a couple shown here

-welded the top hat on

-got about halfway here then had to quit for now out of weld wire

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[hazetguy]

simply frightening.

red primer doesn't make the welds stronger. or better.

[vwuguy]

the reds just temporary reminder to give that section more attention and getting a response from you hazetguy is a major compliment your so honest! thanks
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[livingskies]

Definitely an interesting thread, and I have to admire the ambition of the current owner. Good luck with that.

[vwuguy]

got that front crossmember welded in and after a month started on feb 3rd now march 2nd of everyday working on it about 4-6 hours I have this progress..

before pic frame was gone.. feb3rd

After pic march 2nd
it is in good conditon almost ready for use as a storage shed again..

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[vwuguy]

on top of that front crossmember welded in this jack support..

those dansk parts fit pretty snug
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[vwuguy]

March 4th progress
left outrigger installed

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[vwuguy]

It was a beautiful day outside in ontario today with a warming spring temperature of -20 degrees celcius and gusts of 80km freezing winds and yet 25 degrees celcius in the sun.. I got a laugh as today I put on so many layers of clothes i could barely move in my coveralls lol..I was a like a penguin. lol having a wobling good time! what a great time! you ever been there?
So i attempted to weld on several pieces here with success.
got both the rear outriggers on, and the passenger side jack points. things are starting to take shape.,,. a great 7 hour day outside in the bush lot.
march 5th progresss

Jack points it has Jack points i can't believe it!
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[aa390392]

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.
getting grumpy & less tolerant!


55 ragtop
56 delux sedan
56 Kabriolet

[skills@eurocarsplus]

wow Erb thank you so much for sharing such quality work with the split forum. it just wouldn't be fair to keep all of your skills in the bay forum

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[sled]

You drink WAY too much twisted tea when your working on your bus. If you could call it working..
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drive your split.

[apexxn]

You keep stating it's ok for lawn art or a storage shed.

If that's all you are going to use this Bus for no problem.....but if you actually want to drive this vehicle.....HUGE problem.

[livingskies]

Regarding your welding, it does seem better than when you started. Strength is more important than beauty in welds. Way back when, our welding instructor strength tested our welds; that told the tale.

I have seen people use flux core welders and obtain decent results, but using a flux core welder means that you are doing this the hard way and your results likely never will be as good as they could be. Mig welding with argon/CO2 gas is so much easier and more effective at obtaining good results. An inexpensive Lincoln MIG pak welder, such as those sold at C. Tire, is all you need for sheet metal work. A tank from the nearest welding gas dealer will add to the cost; but buy one of the smaller ones so that you aren't tied into a contract.

In a project like yours, it can be hard to know how far to go with metal replacement. While you are replacing a lot, you may have to replace considerably more. It looks as if you might be trying to fasten solid new metal to rotting old metal. The end result of that won't be great and will just frustrate you.

If you could take an evening class or find someone experienced to work with you for at least part of this, that might help a lot too. We were all inexperienced at one time, and you will learn a lot from this, if you stick with it. You do seem to be a determined fellow - good for you.

[easy e]

[vwuguy]

If you could keep to positive comments and suggestions as it states in the thread those are appreciated thanks..
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[j.pickens]