I just found out that I can rent a 100amp mig wire welder from home depot for $36 a day.. So I just may have to do this myself.. Im worried though, being that I have never welded before.. are there any tips that you guys can give me?? And do you think that the mig welder will work for me?

 

Get a scrap piece of metal of similar thickness and practice on it before you begin on the car....

You will want it to sound like bacon frying when you weld.

There is a wire speed adjustment, you will want the wire to melt away at the same speed as it is being fed.

You will want the weld to be hot enough to penetrate, but you do not want to burn holes in the metal. You will want to be hot enough that the metal on the opposite side of the weld turns red... (I think about 30 Amps would be a good place to start)

Do not try to weld in a continuous line, spot weld and then move to a different area, skipping back and forth, once your spot welds are "connected" you will be done. This will help you to not burn holes in the steel and will help curb warpage.

You will want the spot welds to be kind of flat, and not look like bird droppings. Get one side done, and then go to the other side and weld just a little hotter.. if you do this you will have good penetration. I do not recommend that you grind a "V" in the crack because the metal is so thin anyway, justweld it from both sides. Do drill the "stop crack" holes though.

 

Make certain that the welder can go down to below 30 amps and accomodate .023 wire. Anything more and you will blow holes in the thinner metals such as where the fender aprons attach to the shock towers. You can use the thicker wire and heat settings on the shock tower to the frame because the metal is thicker.

Also consider whether or not you will be welding on the car anymore in the future. This is because you can purchase a 110v welder for under $400. We bought a Lincoln Pro MIG welder for $375 via craigslist. We have not found anything it cannot handle on the car.

 

The first timeI picked up my welder and practiced, you would of thoughtI was making holes instead of welding. Turn the power down and the feed at a rate where you are welding about 1/16 of an inch per second or so. Also a hand held grinder is a good investment to clean up the over weld cause, it usually just ain't too pretty after its done..

 

Make sure that your ground clamp has sound contact to bare metal, as close to where you're welding as practical.

Your practice welds should include some (many?) in the same orientations as the welds that you'll have to make on the car, but start with some simple flat position beads to get a little sense for the "feel" and the sound.

Grind/file/scrape everything off where you're going to weld. As in down to bare metal. You'll get better welds, not to mention that it'll be much easier to get the arc started. Keep the chipping hammer and a wire brush handy - slag and smoke deposits don't help things on restarting the arc either.

Make any vertical welds going 'up'. Welding 'down' lets the molten slag right above drool down into the weld puddle (not good). Tack it first in several places. Then stitch weld it - a little bit here, a little bit there, maybe some in a third place if there's a lot to do, then come back to #1- rather than trying to run the whole bead as a non-stop process from one end to the other.


Norm

 

Do I have to weld both sides? Or will one side suffice? I will put up pics tonight,, I know I said that beofore, but I want to let you see what Im dealing with.. Im at work right now but I dont know how easy it will be to get to the inner shock tower to weld that side.. Being that the suspension is still all together and i didnt plan on taking it apart. I did call a couple of places and they are saying that they would charge me $250 to come to my house and weld, or about 75 if I brought it to them. But like I said earlier I could do it myself for 40 if I rent.. So it looks like Im going to rent, and maybe get a couple of the guys I know that can weld to come over and help me out..

 

You do not need to get it from both sides, but if it is convenient.....

 

If you don't know how to weld you may wanna seriously consider hiring a welder. The last thing you want are welds that break or burned metal that fatigues

 

I actually have a buddy that lives in my neighborhood (our kids play together at the park),, well he teaches the advanced welding class on my Naval base.. So as soon as I see that guy,, or his kids,, I should be in good.. Either that, or i will go to the school house and see if anyone would do some welding in trade for a 6 pack..

 

Go to your local community college or ROP (regional occupational program) usually ran by the county, and take a welding class. You will get exposed tomig, tig, gas, and plasma cutters, and then you can make a smarter decision regarding your limitations. I haven't touched a welder in 20 yrs, and I'm currently taking a class to bring me up to speed on the equip and technology as well as somehands-on before I buy one. Welding is a skill that needs to be learned. The last thing you want to do is use your mustang as a test.