Welding method

[SuperStock]

Hi all,

After months searching body shop to repair rust in my car, Im give up and decide to-do-it-myself !

The question is: Which welding method is best? like Mig Weld or Arc Weld..etc?

Thank so much.

 

[CanadianGT]

mig, I'm not sure how you'd arc weld body panels?

 

[oldcarnut]

mig is ideal for the hobby,get a hold of an old fender & go to town on it.get use to the machine youll be using.youll definetly want to use a mig with a gas setup.depending on what the scope of the work you need done,you may want to look into a body work class at a tech school so you can use their stuff, otherwise its a good chunk of change to tool up.by the time you buy the machine,gas tank,cords,helmet ,wire,clamps,etc. you can be into it $1200 on the conservative side.definetly do your homework on this one & have fun with it.john

 

[caferacerx]

tig is best but expensive
mig is cheap and easy and gives good results
flux core wire weld is even cheaper but doesn't give very good results
stick or arc is for thick heavy metal

 

[toplscuda]

Mig is the way to go. Spend the extra couple of bucks and get a machine that has infinite control on both the wire speed and heat setting. Use a small wire-.023 or .025 with a 75/25 argon co2 mix and as others have said- practice. Don't think you are saving a buck getting a welder set up without the gas solenoid built in because adding it later will run the price up to what yu would have spent on a good one to start with. Also get yourself an autodarkening helmet. You will never want to use anything else.

 

[SuperStock]

Thank all. I will post pics when I start the bodywork project.

I have another question,the upper control arm's mounting tab(where it connect to front frame rail) has a hole in it(rust), I plan to use arc weld machine to patch it, is that a good idea?

 

[Badart]

I love tig welding, but when it comes to sheet metal you can't beat a good mig.

 

[thanson_mopar]

Tig is always stronger, and is more flexible (compared to Mig), so you can easily pound out sheet metal if it sinks after welding. Tig is also the most expensive and hardest to learn. Mig is cheaper and easier to learn, once you get good with it you dont have to worry about welds breaking (when pounding on it later trying to get the panel straight). I really like the Lincoln 140's for sheet metal work, has both heat and wire feed settings and uses shielding gas.

 

[berlins]

Hope your welding turns out better than mine. I borrowed a friends little 110v Licoln mig welder that you can buy for a couple of hundred bucks, used the
0.30 flux wire, welded in some sheet metal to replace a couple of small rusted out floor boards, looks like crap to me. I used to be a welder many years ago and back then the company I worked for had expensive Mig welders with Argon gas and I could lay down a really nice weld. Now I'm in the process of
trying to cover up the welds with this stuff call Lab-Metal that's made to put
over welded joints.

 

[805moparkid]

Hope your welding turns out better than mine. I borrowed a friends little 110v Licoln mig welder that you can buy for a couple of hundred bucks, used the
0.30 flux wire, welded in some sheet metal to replace a couple of small rusted out floor boards, looks like crap to me. I used to be a welder many years ago and back then the company I worked for had expensive Mig welders with Argon gas and I could lay down a really nice weld. Now I'm in the process of
trying to cover up the welds with this stuff call Lab-Metal that's made to put
over welded joints.

the reason they look so bad is because ur using flux core on rust... well on anything.

 

[JR]

Neither! I use mig for thicker stuff like brackets and frame work. For thin sheet metal I like to use the torches and gas weld.

 

[crackedback]

Mig with 75/25 gas and solid core .023 wire is the easiest.

 

[toplscuda]

Thank all. I will post pics when I start the bodywork project.

I have another question,the upper control arm's mounting tab(where it connect to front frame rail) has a hole in it(rust), I plan to use arc weld machine to patch it, is that a good idea?

Again the mig would be the best choice. Amazingly he frame rails are not that much thicket than the other steel in the car. You will really need to cut out the rusted area in the rail there and weld in a new piece. You will find the area around the hole thin due to the dirt and crap that has built up and sat on that area of the frame all these years. Don't let it overwhelm you , the repair really isn't that difficult as long as you take your time.