Automotive welding, mig vs tig

[Burdekin]

A good video to show the different techniques and discuss the pros and cons.

Also it’s a really good channel for restoration folk.

 

[Robbie260]

Cheers burdekin been looking for something like that.

 

[tom2207]

Thats bench welding ,,, on automotive parts ,,

lets see him under a wheel arch trying to tig a new out rigger onto a rusty land rover chassis ,,,

horses for courses , a lot of trendy videos and tv stuff is all tig , Ive posted before and Ill say the same thing again , I personally have never used tig actually on a car yet , and thats in over forty years .

 

[Morrisman]

I'm curious, would Tig welding steel on AC setting clean the material the same it does on aluminium?

 

[GRW]

My Mig welding on my old LDV I still find difficult enough.... & I freely confess to being OK with the weld being solid but not pretty (for sure no-one would want my welds on anything nice).
I shan't be thinking about Tig unless or until I can be halfway decent with mig.

 

[Richiew]

I can't imagine Tig welding on a car.

To me it is for new components with fresh metal that's never seen British roads, salt, filth etc.

 

[Roger440]

I can't imagine Tig welding on a car.

To me it is for new components with fresh metal that's never seen British roads, salt, filth etc.

I tig weld most stuff on a car wherever i can. But sometimes i still have to break out the mig.

 

[Richiew]

Rog. What are you welding? Is it clean?

I just find mig a bit more tolerant of filth in the material that might affect gas shielding.

 

[Roger440]

Rog. What are you welding? Is it clean?

I just find mig a bit more tolerant of filth in the material that might affect gas shielding.

Mig is more tolerant yes. But i wouldnt weld with either until it was clean.

Not going to be a very good weld with dirt in it. I doubt it would hold up well if you actually tested it.

But i know its what is done, using the heat of the weld to burn away the crap as you go!

 

[Morrisman]

Mig is more tolerant yes. But i wouldnt weld with either until it was clean.

Not going to be a very good weld with dirt in it. I doubt it would hold up well if you actually tested it.

But i know its what is done, using the heat of the weld to burn away the crap as you go!

I've found that with mig, the cleaner the metal the better the weld. And a good earth too. It took me a while to realise the earth connection has to be as good as the welding end connection.

 

[Burdekin]

Thats bench welding ,,, on automotive parts ,,

lets see him under a wheel arch trying to tig a new out rigger onto a rusty land rover chassis ,,,

horses for courses , a lot of trendy videos and tv stuff is all tig , Ive posted before and Ill say the same thing again , I personally have never used tig actually on a car yet , and thats in over forty years .

I think he's at a different level to using mig to weld on rust to be fair.

So a guy who's never used tig says it's no good, very helpful.

All the decent restorers and panel fabricators will use tig/oxy and mig depending on which is the best choice for the particular job.

 

[Burdekin]

I can't imagine Tig welding on a car.

To me it is for new components with fresh metal that's never seen British roads, salt, filth etc.

Lying under a car doing a MOT patch mig all day long is your best choice. Welding in a repair section on the outer A surface and wanting a quality repair then tig or oxy are the best choice for a quality repair. You limit distortion with mig, you can remove it if you use tig, that's the difference.

 

[premmington]

I mostly MIG on cars in situ - I will TIG repair bits of cars on the bench.

Only real TIG I do in situ on cars - is TIG brazing on exhausts.

The real benefit of MIG is you only need access with one hand - TIG you need to get into position with both hands - not easy sometimes.

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Truthfully I do more MMA welding in situ on cars/vans for bolt extraction. Which is a bit off subject.

I can get a bent MMA rod where I can't get a MIG torch - heat from the welding normally hits just where you want it.

Any high voltage OCV inverter easy to strike cheap inverter and some 312 rods - have "saved the day" - countless times.

 

[tom2207]

I think he's at a different level to using mig to weld on rust to be fair.

So a guy who's never used tig says it's no good, very helpful.

All the decent restorers and panel fabricators will use tig/oxy and mig depending on which is the best choice for the particular job.

I didnt say Ive never used tig before , I said Ive never actually used it on anything thats actually still on a car ,,, I have two EWM tigs , and they certainly do get used.

 

[Burdekin]

I didnt say Ive never used tig before , I said Ive never actually used it on anything thats actually still on a car ,,, I have two EWM tigs , and they certainly do get used.

You've never used tig on a car, so you have no experience of tig welding on a car.

 

[tom2207]

Lying under a car doing a MOT patch mig all day long is your best choice. Welding in a repair section on the outer A surface and wanting a quality repair then tig or oxy are the best choice for a quality repair. You limit distortion with mig, you can remove it if you use tig, that's the difference.

I personally dont lay under anything to repair it ,,, if it wont fit on the ramp or the bench its time to get someone cheaper to stick a patch on it.

 

[Burdekin]

I personally dont lay under anything to repair it ,,, if it wont fit on the ramp or the bench its time to get someone cheaper to stick a patch on it.

That's my point exactly. And if you want a metal finished grade repair then you chose the best technique and that's tig or oxy for body panels. Mig is perfect for stuff like chassis rails, plug welding, sills etc.

 

[tom2207]

You've never used tig on a car, so you have no experience of tig welding on a car.

I can see no reason what so ever to use tig on a car ,,,, why would you even want to ?

My next jobs an Aston Martin and it wont see a tig at all ,,, the job does not warrant it ,, it will be better all round done with mig , so it will be , if it was an alloy panel I would have it on the bench and do the job properly with either gas or tig , but I tend not to be sticking mot patches on , thats for other people round here and most of them dont speak english but they are fast and cheap ............ and the work reflects that .

 

[Burdekin]

I can see no reason what so ever to use tig on a car ,,,, why would you even want to ?

My next jobs an Aston Martin and it wont see a tig at all ,,, the job does not warrant it ,, it will be better all round done with mig , so it will be , if it was an alloy panel I would have it on the bench and do the job properly with either gas or tig , but I tend not to be sticking mot patches on , thats for other people round here and most of them dont speak english but they are fast and cheap ............ and the work reflects that .

You still miss the point, you've never even tried it so you don't have any experience so your opinion of tig welding car panels is of no value as you have 0 experience.

Please do a thread on the Aston, would love to see it.

 

[tom2207]

That's my point exactly. And if you want a metal finished grade repair then you chose the best technique and that's tig or oxy for body panels. Mig is perfect for stuff like chassis rails, plug welding, sills etc.

If you can get results that please you working that way , fill your boots , but I cant . So with that in mind I dont even try , its panel off and start on the bench, then again I dont own a tin of body filler either as I dont see the need for it.