welding up engine bay

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no_slo_5.0

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Dec 22, 2007

#1

• Dec 22, 2007

• #1

Well guys im getting ready to start welding up my enginebay on my 91 coupe. Ive never welded before but got a brand new welder for christmas(not sure what kind my mom bought it for me). I just looking for any tips that you guys can give me im gonna start tomarrow. im welding up all the holes and boxing that fram rails in the front. any advice helps. thanks in advance

 

Blown331LX

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Dec 22, 2007

#2

• Dec 22, 2007

• #2

You need to prep the metal. Sand it down so its bare. Use a thin gauge wire with low heat. Those depend on what type of welder you have. Dont practice or learn how to on your car. Practice on some scrap metal. Sheet metal welding can be very difficult even for the best welders out there. Im a metal fabricator, built lots of roll cages and bumpers, and I did about 1/3 of mine, and it was a SOB. Time and patience, welding well welding properly is alot harder than you think. If someone tells you its easy as cake and takes no time to learn they are wrong and prolly suck at it themselves. Good Luck.

 

NKau

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Dec 22, 2007

#3

• Dec 22, 2007

• #3

fabfordtech said:

Dont practice or learn how to on your car. Practice on some scrap metal.

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+1 Try to find some similar gauge material, drill some holes in it, and practice. You don't want to be burning holes through the sheetmetal on your car.

 

4G-KDMP

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Jul 23, 2005

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Dec 22, 2007

#4

• Dec 22, 2007

• #4

i think the metal in the engine bay is 22 ga. thats what i'd practice on.

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

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Dec 22, 2007

#5

• Dec 22, 2007

• #5

My buddy just took a wire wheel to it to take the paint off. When you go to do it, don't get too crazy with the welding...like don't make huge clumps and thin oh i'll just grind them down and it'll be cool....that's just extra crap that you'll spend time trying to get smooth and flat when it comes time to add body filler. Also the body filler he used i think was called All Metal or something....it was a 2 part mixture like an epoxy and it was silver....supposed to bond to metal and it dried hard as a rock.

 

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Fox8950

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Jun 29, 2007

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Dec 22, 2007

#6

• Dec 22, 2007

• #6

One thing I've always done to make welding up small holes very easily is find a good size chunk of aluminum (square stock works great) and hold it on one side of the hole and weld from the other. It will plug the hole nice and won't stick to the aluminum. Also when you go to grind it down if you get the flap sander disks they work great for smoothing things out and are a little easier to work with since they are not as aggressive as just a grinding wheel.

 

SuperStang83

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Dec 22, 2007

#7

• Dec 22, 2007

• #7

Yeah I agree practice on some scrap metal. You'll appreciate it later!

 

N

no_slo_5.0

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Dec 22, 2007

#8

• Dec 22, 2007

• #8

thanks for the info guys. I said above that i have never welded b4 i have but only tacked a few for friends. i understand how and all just havent done much of it and ive got a roof from another car that some one cut off that i am gonna practice on. i will keep you udated and pics as sonn as i get some progress.

 

T

Tstang90

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Dec 22, 2007

#9

• Dec 22, 2007

• #9

Fox8950 said:

One thing I've always done to make welding up small holes very easily is find a good size chunk of aluminum (square stock works great) and hold it on one side of the hole and weld from the other. It will plug the hole nice and won't stick to the aluminum. Also when you go to grind it down if you get the flap sander disks they work great for smoothing things out and are a little easier to work with since they are not as aggressive as just a grinding wheel.

Click to expand...

I also used this method..

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

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Dec 22, 2007

#10

• Dec 22, 2007

• #10

For what it's worth you really don't have to know how to weld very good....since all your work is gonna get ground down smooth and filled over. As long as you can do good enough to fill a hole then you're golden. I've never had any teaching on how to weld but i helped my buddy do his and i did fine.

 

86turbo

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Dec 22, 2007

#11

• Dec 22, 2007

• #11

i personally wouldnt weld it, ever heard of using jb weld???????

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

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#12

• Dec 22, 2007

• #12

86turbo said:

i personally wouldnt weld it, ever heard of using jb weld???????

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As ghetto as it sounds i've known some guys who did just that. The only real problem is filling larger holes but it'll do ok for the smaller ones. The problem is if you ever decide to drill holes to mount something and you hit that JB, it has a tendency to chip and be brittle and if you've got nice paint over top then it's gonna crack and look like crap.

 

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no_slo_5.0

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Jan 6, 2008

#13

• Jan 6, 2008

• #13

well guys i finally got started. i will post pics as soon as i find my cord for my camera. its not as bad as i thought it would be.

 

5.0Droptop

...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??

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#14

• Jan 6, 2008

• #14

is it a wire feed welder or a tig welder? Wire feed is easy just zap t and grind it.
Tig is harder for a novice welder.

Stick welder is easy.


No matter what it is start out with as low a setting as posible and work your way up to a comfortable setting for you.

 

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no_slo_5.0

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#15

• Jan 6, 2008

• #15

im using a mig welder i got almost one side welded up yesterday. next weekend im going to do the other side and box the feame rail then start the body work

 

5.0Droptop

...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??

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#16

• Jan 6, 2008

• #16

Nice. Hard to belive how many holes are in the bay isnt it.

 

N

no_slo_5.0

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#17

• Jan 6, 2008

• #17

ya me and a buddy were looking at it last week and I said there isnt that many hole there it wont take too long. ha ha ha ha ha i welded for about 2 hours yesterday and it dont look like i got much done.

 

5.0Droptop

...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??

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#18

• Jan 6, 2008

• #18

hahaa.. My buddy painted his bay bright silver in his drag car. He didnt want to weld up the holes due to the extra weight and time etc etc.

The holes really stood out with the silver.

 

Shakerhood

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#19

• Jan 7, 2008

• #19

no_slo_5.0 said:

im using a mig welder i got almost one side welded up yesterday. next weekend im going to do the other side and box the feame rail then start the body work

Click to expand...

What kind of Welder did you get?

 

91 HATCH

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#20

• Jan 7, 2008

• #20

5.0Droptop said:

hahaa.. My buddy painted his bay bright silver in his drag car. He didnt want to weld up the holes due to the extra weight and time etc etc.

The holes really stood out with the silver.

Click to expand...

does he race at terre haute in