[canela27]

O.K. Im not a welder, but I have done some arch welding (thick metal) in the past and tons of reading on mig welding already and some practice with the mig of course. I like to do things my self when possible and I am also a very fast learner. But Im welding a body panel on my mustang right now, and Im afraid it will crack when its all painted and done. Also, do I spot weld the hole thing little by little? I can't run a bead it burns a whole right away! How do I know the welds will hold and not crack later. they are pretty thin once I grind them down and some do crack. Sometimes when I make a mistake on panel aligment or something and try to undo the spot welds, they are pretty hard and tight to remove which is good right? Is it just me or is this the way its done I have a very cheap mig welder, no gas. I use it on the lowest setting with 30 wire. Any help will be greatly appriciated thanks, Abel

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

You don't want to use it in highly visible areas if avoidable... But the weld will hold fine for lower quarters and whatnot. You will need some filler to make everything flat and smoothe. The Mig and sheetmetal are very tedius when mixed together... Short strokes, short bursts, medium wire speed, plenty of time to cool in between, use a wet rag to keep the metal all one temp, and a low one at that! So Keep doing what youre doing, but do it evenly and not for more than a couple seconds at a time.

FE

 

[canela27]

Thanks FE. I just read some more online stuff and it says not to weld sheetmetal but to tack weld it! Thats what I wanted to do but was unsure if it was correct. Short strokes, short bursts, and yes tedius, but if thats what it takes, no problem! thanks, abel

 

[ujt389]

yep just lots of little tacks, then lots of grinding, sanding, sanding , and more sanding.

 

[coosbaylumber]

A good fifteen years ago, my Mustang got sideswiped, and instead of fixing the old body, I went and invested into a whole new "Hulk" of a body shell. The MIG wire welding I did then was based upon what the shop said to use. What I initially got sold was totally wrong. So soon trusted their information.

But most of the body was placed back on using .025 wire, and wire which the welding supply said was quite flexible. Not big on strength, but the local auto body shop began switching over to it. It worked with CO2 mix gas, and the two parts had to be free of most rust and dirt for a nice connection.

The welder was turned down to about 1/3 power and the wire speed adjusted such that it only flowed a fraction of an inch slower than possible. And thus it cut me off from going too far in making a bead, and getting the metal too hot so that it would warp. Took me a full week of welding to attach the whole body. Little at a time.

The wire welder was stolen one month after completion of the job, and the replacement was too fast and too hot. So can't help beyond memory here. Talk to you local welding shop as to correct wire and gas. Usually they are pretty smart.

Wm.

 

[canela27]

thanks guys I realy mean it. I love this forum

 

[JoeBag]

I used a hobart 130 mig 110volt to restor my mustang. It worked great and was the best investment of the whole project. As far as welding the sheet metal you just 'tack" it. That's what I did to weld on the quarter skins. Make sure you have clean metal and get the wire feed and heat right before starting. When I welded the quarter i just tack then cooled with wet rag and mived up about 4" or so and tacked again. I did that the whole length of the quater and waited a few minutes and went back and did it again inbetween each weld "tack" and just kept repeating the process. The quarter came out perfect. Always remember make sure it's right and then recheck it again cuz it's a pain to redo it over!! Good luck!!

 

[canela27]

thanks joe you are absolutely right!

 

[63Kcode]

I used to do alot of panel replacement. Here are some tips I found helpfull. Use .023 wire with gas. The best gas for me was stright Co2. Stright Argon and Argon/ Co2 mix give you a cleaner weld but you should only be welding clean metal any way. Argon and mix have a green halo that is hard to see thru. Co2 has no halo. If you can't see the weld puddle, it's hard to know whats happening. Buy the best helmet you can aford. If you can't get a self darking one with ajustable darkness then buy a gold shield for the one you have. You will be suprized how much better you can see with a gold shield. Be sure to weld with the gun almost perpendicular to the panels. Above all if you are going to spend the day welding. Were long sleave shirt and gloves. Cover all parts of your body. Welding will give you a bad sunburn before you think.

 

[canela27]

see thats why I like this place. Very helpful info. I did'nt know this, thanks 63K.

 

[bonfire]

emphasis on allow plenty of time to cool. hit 4 or 5 spots jumoing around on the panel and lets it cool for a long time. I tend to 'get in a groove' when I weld and think to myself 'awwww...a couple of more will be ok' then you hear the metal ping as it shrinks. You will still ned to do plenty of bodywork afterwards but not as mush as if you get the panel too hot.