Upside down welding

[truckdoctor]

Hi, anyone had any experience of welding car bodies upside down, looking for tips and help with the technicalities.The "chassis" rail by the leaf spring is rotten Its not realy worth rotating the car as the repair is only the size of an envelope. Help please.

 

[Windy Miller]

Just lay down and do it!
It's dirty and uncomfortable and generally nasty, particularly when the sparks go down your neck but that's the name of the game I'm afraid! Try to get as comfy as you can and it may help if you can arrange some sort of bright light down there as its normally too dark and the light from behind you will reflect in the back of the glass in your welding helmet.
I gave all that stuff up years ago and I really miss it. Like a toothache!

 

[shenion]

Try and stay off to the side when welding. Most DIY masks are not rated for overhead as they are just plastic.

Use a higher wire speed for the voltage setting and a faster torch speed. Keep moving or you will get a big glob that drops. Best to have another set of eyes around to look out for fires.

 

[cresad67]

Hi

I do a lot of welding on car bodies , theres 4 1970's toyota's in the family. As mentioned you'r best welding from the side , I've put a cover on the back of my helmet ( that comes about a foot and a half down my back ) to block out the light shining from behind. I made it out of an old leather cover off a softop beetle , when the roofs down.

I also make use of a fire blanket as a cover , as well as my jacket , to stop some of the splatter. Try to get it as clean as poss , it will make it easier.

Don't forget to have someone fire watching for you.

Adam

 

[pedrobedro]

Get the car as high as possible, there's nothing worse than being cramped. I find using a steeper angle on the gun helps and cleaning the metal as above.

 

[the snooper]

Get the car as high as possible, there's nothing worse than being cramped. I find using a steeper angle on the gun helps and cleaning the metal as above.

but not too high as your arm will ache like mad if you over reach

 

[spaffmonkey]

When i welded up the underside of my transit i laid on my back with my welding apron laid over my chest and war a hoody with the hood up which stopped the spark's burning my head And the same on my brothers mrk 3 golf aka rust bucket

And if you haven't got one already i would really recommend a auto darkening mask! as it can be very awkward under the car with a standard one i ended up booting mine across the garden

make sure all surfaces are free of muck before you start as it make for a lot of sparks if the weld pool gets contaminated and that aint fun when its landing on you

 

[truckdoctor]

Thanks for the replies, very helpfull.
Am i right in thinking that welding repairs around structural parts on a car need to be seam welded, Ive heared this has to be a continueose weld but can't see that is possible in my case.

 

[penfold]

Earplugs are good for stopping spatter flying in your ear; it makes you dance like your dad at a wedding and might even make you go deaf.

 

[rkde]

earplugs and an apron should be worn as it can go everywhere.

being on fire under a low car is not fun

 

[Sparkey]

makes you dance like your dad at a wedding

Hehe, yeah that's the monkey dance! Oe oe oe oe!!
And Richard is right....trying to hurry out under a car when your on fire would be very awkward...You would win a big prize on "most funny homevideo's" but...

 

[rkde]

From experience is very difficult to get from under the car when your on fire

I generally have learnt my lessons by doing the wrong thing

 

[Sparkey]

Oh yeah, and those shiny soccer t shirts are a no-no!!! Even with a spark they will melt and stick to your skin!!!

 

[chris y]

If its anything structural (which near a leaf spring hanger it is) it needs to be welded all of the way round.
The MOT tester can only check what he can see but you should do it regardless of this for safety and a longer lasting repair.

I agree with all of the other advice, especially earplugs or some kind of head cover, if you are over to one side as wisely suggested your ear will be pointing upwards like a spatter magnet. It really hurts.

Welding cars upside down isnt nice and the weld wont look as good as other work but clean surfaces will make a huge difference, its worth spending some time thoroughly cleaning.

I can speak from foolish experience about fire watch, just last week I was welding underneath a wheelarch and managed to light up the boot carpet.
Luckily I noticed before it got too bad and had an extinguisher to hand.
It could have been a lot worse.

Only myself to blame

 

[BillJ]

Am i right in thinking that welding repairs around structural parts on a car need to be seam welded, Ive heared this has to be a continueose weld but can't see that is possible in my case.

Yes, if the original part had no joins in it, the welded repair needs to be continuous in order to be as strong as the original. i.e. not tacked, spot-welded or plug-welded. Nor a few seams with gaps in between.

However, a continuous weld does not necessarily need to be welded in one continuous operation, if that's what you mean.

 

[truckdoctor]

Yes , I can't understant " a continueous weld" virtualy impossible upside down. However a series of welds joined together must be the meaning.
Managed to do this

Ground off the excess weld,and intend to add seam sealer and paint, hopefully this should be OK for the MOT, (fingers crossed) what do you think ?

 

[spaffmonkey]

When i was doing the chassis on my van i spoke to the mot guy and he said as long as there is a weld all around the plate it was fine so i spot welded all the way around joining the spots together i started by tacking every inch and then infilling. got the mot guy to check and he was more than happy with it.

I did the same on the back wing pictured hear.(only used this picture as you can see it better) o and this was how i did the hole underside of my brothers car. it does take time but it was worth it.

hope that helps>

 

[truckdoctor]

Hey spaffmonkey thats looks very good, did you grind off the excess weld .

 

[spaffmonkey]

Hey spaffmonkey thats looks very good, did you grind off the excess weld .

Hi truckdoctor

On the chassis i flattered the welds down but didn't competently flatten then so the mot guy could see the weld was fully sealed. but on the wheel arch i did completely flatten it using a flap disk.

 

[chris y]

The MOT man will be more than happy with that chassis work

I didnt realise you were wondering whether it meant one continuous weld, as said it just means all welded, no gaps left.

Very nice wheelarch work spaffmonkey.
Ive put a few wheelarches in (2 in the last 2 weeks) but always had replacements available so not had to do what you have done, its good to see.