Mortman,
Most of my info is based on Miller equipment....gotta love blue! In my shop we have Millermatic 210's 250X's 252's 350P's and XMT's with a Deltaweld 450 for good measure. I do have a couple of those red things (they are good machines too) and even an old green Lindy CV machine with an inductance dial. I really haven't used the Millermatic 140 or the Sidekick but assume that they would have less ooomph to them. My times were based on .035" wire at 19 volts and 200-250 ipm wire speed. I have a Millermatic 185 at home that does all the Mustang repairs. You are spot on about the Harbor Freight equipment. People buy those things without realizing they are a flux cored welding machine that use innershield wires on DCEN and will make a mess out of a body panel. They sell a boatload (pun intended) of them though!
Gordon

 

true66gt,
Everybody is a beginner at some point.........
I have been involved with the welding industry since 1978 when I took my first welding class in high school and I still learn new things all the time
Regards,
Gordon

 

Do I sticky it or does the forum mom/administrator do that?

 

thats the admins job, i would inform him but i dont know who it is

 

mortman is right youll never stop learning.

They are always coming out with something new. i remember 5 yrs ago lincolns big thing they were pushing at the place i worked was a self pulsing power supply for welding aluminum.

Oh and if you guys think some of the hand held power supplies are nice, you should check out some of the ones ive worked with on robots and programming them for welding. 1 to 1.5 meters per minute weld speed on 308L that about 0.090" thick zero spatter nice flat even weld.

it spoils you with the seam tracking & touch sensing to auto detect where the seam & parts are, granted it takes a while to get the initial set up good so you are actually welding where you want to be each and every part.

actually the welding eng. at work is in the process of getting all the machines switched over from millers to lincoln powerwave 355 power supplies. nice unit that you can give an IP address so i can watch the real time amps/volts from your desk as well as set up to send emails when it is faulted, getting low on wire etc.

 

68 Coupe:
sounds like you have i killer shop, keep that old Lindy running they dont make them like that any more. There is equipment that i would buy and others i would use as a chalk block. I used the 110v machines for an example because some of us don't have access to shops full of equipment and deep pockets for any thing larger. Unfortunately theses units don't show real time wire feed speeds and volts to obtain real peramiters. I am with you on the fluxcored wires, but .035 on a body pannel? .023/.025 is useless (IMO), .030 is my personal choice and .035 on everything else on the car. You also mention "Glass" or "brown deposits" thats from running premium S6 wire such as L56 or HB28 (now quantum arc), there silicone deposits and theses wires are high in silicon to give you a smother, cleaner finish and help protect the weld as well as a smother arc, the rest of the import wires (cheaper) wont have this effect.

if your are considering a red, blue, gray, yellow or even purple machine there all good, its all a matter of application and affordability. (forgot to mention availability of consumables).
recently i purchased the lincoln140 used it for a few weeks good machine, tried the mm140.......OMG what a differance from the 135, sold the red at a loss and got the blue (besides the auto set feature it killer). each generation gets better and some take one step back (like the MM250 to the 250x), so ask for a demo and compair your flavers before you buy.

You had to bring out the sidekick That definatly shows our age.

 

Wow, what a great thread. This made me join the forum today!

I need to replace the rear tail light panel on our '66 and the section between the trunk lid and the convertible top. It's been a while since I used my Lincoln MIG - I better practice a bit first. Both doors also have small rust holes, about the size of a quarter, in the front corners.

I'm planning on using an old '66 hood for the door patch pieces. I have new Scott Drake patch replacement pieces for rear tail light panel and trunk filler piece. Hope Scott Drake makes good stuff...

I'm thinking I should remove the gas tank before doing this work in/around the trunk. Is that the obvious right answer?

Thanks,
Chris

 

The original post was very good, but left out some very important information. The post described a spot weld (I would call it a tack, but the result is the same.) followed by another right next to it. If you do that on sheet metal you run a high risk of warpage.

Bounce around with your welds so as not to build heat in any one location. If you are putting in a patch, criss cross, getting the sides in the middle, then the corners, then halfway between the corners and the side centers and then halfway between those tacks and so on.

I've been welding for awhile also and that's my sheet metal method to prevent warpage.

Good luck and get some practice.

 

One question I have always had, maybe stupid but i'm asking anyways. Is it safe to touch the area around the weld during welding. Like say you are welding a floor pan, is it ok to support your self by leaning on the panel with a hand, with welding gloves of course.

I have always had the mindset that I will be electrocuted.

 

you wont be shocked.