moontang

a buddy and me are about to take on a project 64 falcon and build a 289 and go with a c4 and as far as i know when we were going over the car today (its still sitting in the field its been in since mid-late 80's 86 was the last inspection on it) and the floor pans need replacing and a few of the lower rear body panels need patching although the car is very solid you can just tell by shutting the doors no sag no noises or misalignment and the interior is excellent and original my question is what is the best method for repairing these body panels we dont want to get whole new fenders and what not. i am a welder but have never done anybody work im used to welding things 3/8" to 2" so big difference and figured you guys could help me give me pointers and such

hopefully we are going to get it out of the field to the shop this comming week and start pulling it apart if anyone is interested i can get some pics?

racin66coupe

pics would be awesome! and would help a lot

Joe67

Welding panels is nothing like welding 2" steel,
i assume you are accustomed to arc welding? not gonna cut it for panels =/
for panels there are a few options,
Mig w/ gas =D
Mig with flux core and no gas
And brazing.
all fo which need to be executed with caution not to warp anything,

Yes pics, we are all pic junkies here.
289 is a great engine, mine sat in a barn for 26 years and all i needed to start it was a coil wire...
Would suggest a rebuild though

moontang

shutup minijoo

i told you already maybe monday or early next week

but im not sure about it would it be best to just do a series of tacks as to not warp to panels since im going to be doing this MIG and not TIG (i wish i had one)

moontang

and actually i MIG 2" panels ;-) stick is rarely used just in windy outside projects for me and actually i can tig also but am accoustom to CU and alum not steel

and the car as it sits now has a straight six i believe his dad has a 289 sitting in the shop right now

and as for pics here is his 73 maverick (with mildly built 289 and c4) i dont have any pics of his comet with the nasty 393 (thanks 66) in it

racin66coupe

when you weld panels on. you want to jump around with the tacks. to keep from warping the metal anymore. as far as floors go, you want to weld a full bead around the whole thing. you wont warp them IMO.

moontang

thats what i figured does this sound acceptable to every one? i dont want to mess up we are going to do AS MUCH of this as we can possibly do

Joe67

you can warp pans, put that's different than warping a body line,

yes, tack welds every 1 to 1.5 inches then go back and do the center of those tack welds....
then again and again until you have a nice clean line.

THUMPIN455

You can move the metal around a bit with quenching if you need to, might want to avoid it unless you have been working with thin gauge metal for a while. I have a Hobart 140 for light body work, I use heat #2 and 38-40 feed. Keep the blued area as small as possible, but still get a good tack. Always butt weld rather than flange or overlap, it makes filler easier and thinner. I use a couple old speaker magnets to hold patches in place, just dont get them hot since the magnet will break or shatter with heat.

It should look quite similar to this, and when its all done you shouldnt be able to tell its there. This patch has at most 1/8" of filler on it, it isnt difficult to do if you take your time. If you buy patch panels it makes it much easier, I usually have to make them since some of my cars dont have an aftermarket like Mustangs do. Do the floor pans the same way, go slow and allow some cooling time between welds.

Tony R

I use my MIG on most of my car. I have a TIG as well but find it too hard to get the metal clean enough for a good weld. I usually tack weld around the panel and find something else to do to let it cool a while and come back and do it again. It also helps to use a hammer and dolly on the welds to minimize your warp-age.