Cargo floor welding...

[vitwagen]

I'm restoring a 10/63 kombi...
After cargo floor removal (very hard job remove 670 factory spot welds)
is now the moment to replace the rusty pans.
Wich welder is most appropriate???
Spot welders are cheap??
Is possible weld the new floor with a mig-welder or is better a electrode-welder??
That's all folks!!
Thanx!

[Z]

A MIG can do a good imitation of a spot weld, if you play with it.

My advice - buy good original floors and clean them as much as necessary, or pay the $$$ for NOS if you can find them. I've not seen any good repro ones out there. I put repros on mine and wish I hadn't - fit was bad, flanges not in the right places, stampings for seat belt attachments not in the right place, etc. Plus, they are so thin that they're bent by the time you finish putting them in, and it's really hard to make a good spot weld when the floor is thin and the chassis thick.

This is a big job - use good stuff.

[billzer06]

I am about to weld in new floors in mine as well. I know about plug welding and such. I bought a spot welder, but there is no way that the arms of it would reach that far to spot weld it. how did they do it in the factory? I really want it to be authentic, and 500+plug welds would be a PITA. what are the routes you guys have taken?

[faster]

First buy a Mig welder,drill 5/16 or 3/8 bit and a good grinder. You will have to fit everything first mark your hole and drill 400+ holes. If your not very good at welding the first 50 may look like shit but the last 50 should look great. And also when you pull up that old floor you may find that you need jack points to. Good luck.
_________________
My 59 panel plus 36hp valve covers http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o265/faster50/59%20panel/

[57palm]

A few answers here. Yes there are great floors available from classic fab, not perfect but very good. Regarding factory spot welding the factory had many special custom spot welders and welder arms for this purpose, remember they made hundreds per day. Sadly the only reasonable way to do it is with plug welds, a mig and lots of time. There are no free rides in life, get to work.


Reuben

[Campy]

Remember to remove the paint that is on your aftermarket floors and condition the sheet metal, and use weldable primer (3m, not SEM).
I have a Miller spot welder with the tongs, but, as you noted, they only go in so far, so I have an old Marquette one-sided spot welder that I have reconditioned and will use on the other areas on my second set of cargo floor halves installation. I haven't tried it, yet, though. If you want to try one, check out the internet (ebay) under spot welders.
_________________
Don't worry; be happy. (Baba)

[sled]

I have found that if you have a good enough MIG welder (powerful enough) you can crank the heat up with a slower wire speed...this will burn right through the cargo floor and into the tophats/I beams and the slow feed of wire will add just enough rod to make a nice little flush puddle.

PLEASE practice this on scrap metal first, it takes very fine adjustment to get this technique right...BUT it will save you hours of drilling holes. Spend a couple short evenings on your knees with a MIG torch and youre done.
_________________
drive your split.

[camerod]

IF you have a TIG welder with a spot timer, this is the ultimate tool...

http://www.tectorch.com/tec%20spot%20gun.htm

you need a spot timer for it to work right...kinda works like a resistance (prong type) spot welder, so it uses no filler metal BUT you only need access to one side....
_________________
DON'T SHIT WHERE YOU EAT!

[pbenn]

[DUDE1125]

I'm a couple of months away from putting in my cargo floors and was wonder how to weld the rear lip of the cargo floor to rear part of the bus.

I'm not sure what the sheet metal above the torsion arm tube is called but it looks like it's going to be very hard to weld it to the lip on the cargo floor. I haven't gotten it apart yet to see how it's attached I've been trying to grind it away.

I was think of using this metal bonding adhesives

http://www.lord.com/Home/ProductsServices/Adhesive...fault.aspx

for that and maybe the lap joint for the two halves of the cargo floor meet. I think it would also help prevent water getting into the lap joint

[Gmiee5]

Have you used this metal bonding adhesive before?

[Campy]

You have to remove the engine and transaxle, then you will see that the lip at the rear of the cargo floor halves is spot welded to the sheet metal lip above it. I carefully cut through the rear of the cargo floor halves from the front using a disc cutter, just below the seam, so I could remove the floors; then I ground down the spot welded strip of metal so it would come off. I used a mig welder to tack weld the new cargo floor halves to the lip at the rear; now, I have an old Marquette spot welding gun with transformer and a Miller spot welder, so I will use them, next time.
Regarding using a mig welder to burn holes in sheet metal, I used that method on the lower lips of the inner rockers to weld them to the outer rockers.
_________________
Don't worry; be happy. (Baba)

[DUDE1125]

[Stocknazi]

i would'nt use any adhesive to bond your floors. that tig gun looks like the shit! the techinique sled suggested sounds interesting also. i would try doing it that way before using glue.
_________________
WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Thomas Jefferson

[SkooobaSteve]

I used the tech that sled was talking about for the part of the floor I did. First few sucked.. then I got the hang of it and it worked realy nice. Fast and effective, As far as the glue I have used it and seen it used it is REALY strong stuff. I used it to bond a few panels together on another car. It was just as strong as welding. I saw a demo of the stuff where they put a car together with it then wrecked it. Not one panel came loose that was glued. On the other hand its mainly used for where to flanges meet. Dont know how well it would work on cargo floors.
_________________
Jonathan
Romans 6:13
WTB 67 beetle rear seat belts.
59 Euro ragtop build with my dad
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493553&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
65 dlx Slow build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=391061

[Stocknazi]

sled,
can you post what type of welder you are using for this technique, as well as wire speed and heat setting?
_________________
WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Thomas Jefferson

[camerod]

[camerod]

I should also add that fusion should take place in 2-5 secconds with a properly set machine.
_________________
DON'T SHIT WHERE YOU EAT!

[sled]

Cameron is 100% right and has explained the method much more thoroughly. Thanks Cameron.

My machine is a Millermatic and I always plug it into the wall.
_________________
drive your split.

[camerod]

if you are not sure if you have adequate power to your welder, try to note if the lights surge, CD player skips or your welders internal fan slows down then Tim Taylor says, YOU NEED MORE POWER, this rings true for all welding situations on your bus.
_________________
DON'T SHIT WHERE YOU EAT!