Shell Prep Q's

SteveL Wrote:
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> The Emglo I described would fit in the same space
> as the one
> you have now, You can hold a blower nozzle open
> and the damn
> thing will cycle off and on...

The space I made under my bench? It can't be the same physical size.

Mine will cycle on and off with a blower nozzle open Was pretty damn happy when I did that the first time!

> You can't have too much air...

Nope! Same with duty cycle on the ol welder! Mines only got a 20% duty cycle tho..

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

heymagic Wrote:
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> john vanlandingham Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > And ya can't have too much hair.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > John Vanlandingham
> > Sleezattle, WA, USA
> >
> > Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
> >
> > www.jvab.f4.ca
>
> Hair is highly over rated , you bohemian
> troglodite...
>
>

John has less hair than me... And I'm no troglodite,
just imagine the guy you don't want your daughter to
bring home...

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SteveL
This is the point in the killing spree when you really should turn the gun on yourself

Allright... I am totaly new to welding. That being said, I have lots of scraps to practice on - including a legacy front clip.

In my couple of attempts to seam weld this past weekend, I ended up forming a bead on only one of the two sheets of metal. I'm talking specifically about the seams with a 1-2mm gap. What do I do to fill the gap and join the two pieces?

When the sheets are pressed together, I seem to be fine.

Any tips or tricks would be great. By the way, I am using a Lincoln MIG Pak 15 with Autoweld gas.

Thanks

Daniel Buehler Wrote:
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> Allright... I am totaly new to welding. That being
> said, I have lots of scraps to practice on -
> including a legacy front clip.
>
> In my couple of attempts to seam weld this past
> weekend, I ended up forming a bead on only one of
> the two sheets of metal. I'm talking specifically
> about the seams with a 1-2mm gap. What do I do to
> fill the gap and join the two pieces?
>
> When the sheets are pressed together, I seem to be
> fine.
>
> Any tips or tricks would be great. By the way, I
> am using a Lincoln MIG Pak 15 with Autoweld gas.
>
> Thanks
>
> First rally car, a '94 Subarat is in progress...

I'm interested to hear from the experts on this too.

I found that if I hold it there just a little bit longer, let the weld pool get bigger, it will fill it in, then you can keep moving forward. Don't ever 'stop' moving, keep going back and fourth in a criss-cross motion, just move slower until the gaps are filled.

you can tell if you're going too fast, it'll start popping as if you're using the wrong wire speed.

At least that's what's been working for me and my toy mig.

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Jon Burke - KI6LSW
Blog: http://psgrallywrx.blogspot.com/

I have the same welder here.

Use .030" wire.

I can't remember the settings i used..i would probably use "b-4". I tend to use a little bit more heat than needed when seam welding, and "pulse" weld the panels. I find it lets the little bit of contaminants left in the seam burn out easier, i don't burn though, and i'm able to fill gaps better, because i can leave the pool in one spot longer, then stop for 1 second to cool, and go again.


Movement is key...

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Chris

Do It Sidewayz Wrote:
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> I have the same welder here.
>
> Use .030" wire.
>
> I can't remember the settings i used..i would
> probably use "b-4". I tend to use a little bit
> more heat than needed when seam welding, and
> "pulse" weld the panels.

pulse as in trigger on, trigger of, repeat?

I find it lets the
> little bit of contaminants left in the seam burn
> out easier, i don't burn though, and i'm able to
> fill gaps better, because i can leave the pool in
> one spot longer, then stop for 1 second to cool,
> and go again.

so, do you stop in the middle of the 'stich', let it cool for a second and continue the same stich? Because I was just trying to weld the stich in a single pass...

>
>
> Movement is key...
>
> Chris

Good job! you figured it out; the key to good welds is proper joint set up. (Or so I have heard) If you can't get clamps or vice grips in there, sometimes you can draw lapped pieces together with a little self tapping screw. After welding, take out the screw and weld up the hole. If you want to get fancy, airplane people use "Cleos", which are basically temporary rivets.

-Al

oh yeah, keep a ball-peen handy and just hammer those gaps tight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2009 08:28PM by alkun.

alkun Wrote:
airplane people use "Cleos", which
> are basically temporary rivets.
>
> -Al
>
> oh yeah, keep a ball-peen handy and just hammer
> those gaps tight.
>
>

ahh, that's what cleos are used for...seen them....knew what they did....didn't know what for.

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Jon Burke - KI6LSW
Blog: http://psgrallywrx.blogspot.com/

> If you want
> to get fancy, airplane people use "Cleos", which
> are basically temporary rivets.

Al, thanks for turning me onto Clecos.. very cool!

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

Yes.. Pull trigger...Zap....let it go....Pull Trigger...Zap....

You'll get the "rythm" down pretty quick.

In the end it looks better, is every bit as "strong", and you won't burn through as much.

Look at the pictures of the subie subframes on this forum..you'll get the idea.

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Chris

Do It Sidewayz Wrote:
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> Yes.. Pull trigger...Zap....let it go....Pull
> Trigger...Zap....
>
> You'll get the "rythm" down pretty quick.
>
> In the end it looks better, is every bit as
> "strong", and you won't burn through as much.
>
> Look at the pictures of the subie subframes on
> this forum..you'll get the idea.
>
> Chris

Sorry, but that's not quite right. While you can manually pulse the MIG gun and get away with it on thin sheet metal it's not every bit as strong. The welds on that subframe are a classic way to get welds that have cold laps in them. Strong MIG welds happen when the wire feeds into the leading edge of the weld puddle. Excessive weaving or pulsing make cold laps.

-Tim

ok.. not every bit as strong.

But in the application it's not "structural" it's "supplemental" and i find it works much better, especially on the Subaru tin

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Chris

Chris, what did you do for prep befor you painted under the car?

And, Thanks for the tips on the seam welds. I'm finally getting results I'm comfortable with.

I'm re-thinking seam-welding the hole shell. I don't think my welding skills (two week old skills) are up to any difficult to reach or difficult angle welds... First car... we'll see.

Nothing reaally. Just rough it up and make sure it's clean.

I did have my car outside in the driveway on it's side and powerwashed the crap out of it with some pretty serious chemicals.

I think they recommend a "sandblasted" finish

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Chris

Okay, You have to explain that... On its side? Like no rotissary, just on it's side?