How am I doing?

[Andrew D]

I have been playing mainly with flux core, and have more recently stuck the cylinder of CO2 on the welder with 0.6mm wire, and the difference is amazing. I am using old computer cases, which I think are about 0.6 to 0.8mm thick, my long term goal is a chassis leg, so I hope I am practicing on like material. My beads have been neater than this overlap join (once I upped the gas a little from what it said in the manual), but as this is how I will be fixing the car, I thought I would put it up for criticism to gauge my progress.

Front

Back

 

[BrokenBiker]

Chassis legs are going to be a bit thicker than .8mm...if I were you I would start practicing on thicker material and then move to thinner stuff when you are competent at the thick. Thin stuff is a lot easier to weld when you have good puddle control and it's a lot easier to learn on thicker stuff

 

[Andrew D]

Chassis leg on what?

Nothing that exciting, my wife's 19yr old Corsa B face lift. It was going to be scrapped as it is more than the car is worth to have the work done, but I could not resist a challenge. The car has been replaced, so there is no rush to do the work and the estimated price we would get from the scrap yard it is £50, so even if I totally mess it up I can't hurt the value.

Also, I dont have the time, space, money, knowledge etc to truly restore a car as I would like, so this seems to be the perfect project to cut my teeth on with little to loose. This welding, a few surface rust patches underneath and on a door and boot (I have given them a good tap) and a few livable with faults, like a window that does not wind all the way down and she will be fully working again.

There is what has become a bit of a running commentary, though it started off asking if i could do the job using a stick welder I was given.

http://autoshite.com/topic/21254-corsa-b-welder-and-welding-advice/page-1

 

[atomant48]

Good on you for having a go and I understand attachment to a car!

That looks like a pretty complex job.

 

[Andrew D]

Good on you for having a go and I understand attachment to a car!

That looks like a pretty complex job.

A good friend of mine has done an Astra that he owned 10years or so ago, so advice is at hand. And it would seem to be a similar double skin set up to this Cavalier...

http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/weld...3-cavalier-rear-chassis-legs-repair-pics.html

Anybody got any pointers or advice on my welding from the bits of pc case I have stuck together above?

 

[BrokenBiker]

Anybody got any pointers or advice on my welding from the bits of pc case I have stuck together above?

yes, practice on some thicker stuff before attacking a structural part of a car...the welds above have penetration, but on material that thin it may be more down to the power of the machine than your technique...if you practice on thicker stuff you will be able to learn quicker as there is less chance of blowing through, its easier to see and control the puddle and its usually easier to set up on thicker stuff so you can get consistent results quicker and then move to the more complicated smaller stuff.

i say this becasue from the pictures above you appear to have an irregular travel speed, direction isnt the best and torch angle looks to be a bit off in some places, plus the few holes here and there suggest that either your machine is too powerful for that material to be done in a single run, or you are traveling too slow in parts causing heat build up

 

[Andrew D]

plus the few holes here and there suggest that either your machine is too powerful for that material to be done in a single run, or you are traveling too slow in parts causing heat build up

This is interesting, as the welder should be on it's lowest setting for this thickness, but i bumped it up one as I felt the welds stood quite proud and that they where perhaps too cold. I think by starting with flux core on sub 1mm I have become used to moving quickly. I will turn it back down and try again.

I think I do have some slightly thicker metal, so I will remove the paint and cut some off.

Thank you, all points taken on board. Some I was almost aware of as I was doing it, and you have confirmed my errors for me. Very helpful advice.

 

[p0689109]

On the link to the cavalier chassis repair how did he get the stainless steel repair patch to weld to the mild steel chassis?

 

[Andrew D]

On the link to the cavalier chassis repair how did he get the stainless steel repair patch to weld to the mild steel chassis?

Despite being a beginner, I thought that.

 

[p0689109]

I assume he migged it so what wire did he use? He might have stick welded it so what rod did he use or did he tig it and if so what filler rod would do it?

 

[chris y]

I cant see pics at work so just a couple of comments for now.

Welding with CO2 will usually need your machine to be at a higher setting that if you were using a mix gas.
If you think changing from flux core to gas made a big difference you should feel the same again if you change to something like Argoshield light.

I've done a lot of Vauxhall chassis work and I've used a lot of 409 stainless (because I can easily get it as well as being long lasting), it is no problem to weld with MIG and mild steel wire, I've done welding many years ago on a car that I recently did a big rebuild on and when I came across the old repairs they were in great condition.

 

[Andrew D]

I cant see pics at work so just a couple of comments for now.

Welding with CO2 will usually need your machine to be at a higher setting that if you were using a mix gas.
If you think changing from flux core to gas made a big difference you should feel the same again if you change to something like Argoshield light.

I've done a lot of Vauxhall chassis work and I've used a lot of 409 stainless (because I can easily get it as well as being long lasting), it is no problem to weld with MIG and mild steel wire, I've done welding many years ago on a car that I recently did a big rebuild on and when I came across the old repairs they were in great condition.

If it is that bigger difference again, that would be incredible (my thoughts on flux core vs co2 are on the autoshite above).

I have been having another play, with the thin stuff again as it is cut up ready and the thick is buried (sorry to ignore advice for the moment), and I did knock the welder back down to minimum. The back / penetration looks much the same as above and torch angle certainly made a difference, another photo to look at, it is a bit large, so sorry. These I have tacked and then welded between, penetration on some of the tacks was not great and they can be seen from the top still.

 

[evobilly666]

As said, you can easily weld mild steel to stainless using standard mig wire. Just the stainless is diluted and can loose its stainless properties. Not really an issue here as will need protection anyway. Not sure how it affects strength and brittleness though. You can also weld stainless to stainless with standard wire but same problem, the joint and surrounding metal will corrode ifnot protected.

 

[chris y]

That Cavalier repair is nice, have a look at the Carlton I have just been working on if you like, its a lot lot worse than that Cavalier, you might find it amusing.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/181044/scrapyard-dodger-24v-carlton-g624xme

 

[Andrew D]

That Cavalier repair is nice, have a look at the Carlton I have just been working on if you like, its a lot lot worse than that Cavalier, you might find it amusing.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/181044/scrapyard-dodger-24v-carlton-g624xme

That is amazing, I am envious of your ability. I do like the idea of a retro car, and now that I have a welder am somewhat gutted a friend of mine scraped an MG Metro a few years ago as it needed some welding.

I know it is off topic for here, but am intrigued by the electrolytic rust removal.

 

[p0689109]

Great read that Carlton. Brave man indeed. So I take it there is no dissimilar metal corrosion between stainless and mild steel. I always thought stainless needed particular feed material then mild steel.

 

[p0689109]

On another thread mentioning stainless welding they mention that it needs purging so does that come into welding it to mild steel?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I know it is off topic for here, but am intrigued by the electrolytic rust removal.

Big thread running on that very subject here, read all about it [supply your own news-vendor 'shouty voice' ]

 

[Andrew D]

Big thread running on that very subject here, read all about it [supply your own news-vendor 'shouty voice' ]

The link unfortunately does not seem to work.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

The link unfortunately does not seem to work.

Mhhh, don't know what happened, it worked yesterday. Anyway, here's a thread I started which segued into an electrolytic one [as threads do ] which gives some good reports/techniques.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/small-rotary-table.57597/

Can't find the BIG one I meant to link to now...... , maybe someone else will put it up.