Car panel/thin sheet fitting technique

[Wightsparks]

Just came across this, I've never seen or heard of it before, but what a great method for letting in a repair panel.

Summary
Prep, cut the new to size with straight edges, tack the new to the surface of the old, cut round the new with a grinder at 45degs a few cm at a time so you have a much smaller gap and it naturally sits flush. re-tack as you go.

 

[johnik]

seems a bit long winded, i just use my joggler

 

[Agroshield]

...I just use my joggler

Could you please describe how use of a joggler assists in BUTT welds. Thanks everso.

 

[rtcosic]

Might even have got shouted at for his lack of PPE:

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/45-deg-cuts.100308/#post-1547578

 

[Sean]

what he does is quite cool, just a plain hammer and an offcut of RSJ, but Christ only knows why hes not deaf and blind!

The 45* grinder only works on thicker body work Ive been melting 0.5ishmm and unless the but is perfect you end up chasing holes.

 

[Ruffian]

Could you please describe how use of a joggler assists in BUTT welds. Thanks everso.

Mark the edge.
Joggle over that edge and will give you the return flange under the panel.
Weld the edge to the upper edge of the joggle.
Then belt sand the un needed flange off to give you the butt weld.

 

[Wightsparks]

Might even have got shouted at for his lack of PPE:

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/45-deg-cuts.100308/#post-1547578

So good it got posted twice !

 

[Craig-SM]

I’d seen this last week and thought it was a a great way getting perfect fit with a uniform gap all round.

 

[willie.macleod]

I like it. Joggler always seems to be the wrong size of step and a potential water trap to encourage rust.

 

[Wightsparks]

As I have 2 Jags i have some bodywork coming up shortly so I thought I would give this a try - along with his other vid about using the technique on curves and patches

Flat practice to start - Took a bit of spare 1mm and made some virtual rust to replace



Tacked on an oversize patch (and forgot pics).
Cut through both bits a bit at a time at 45degs then pushed it down flush and re-tacked as per video.







Joins came out pretty flush - From my welder set up I had expected the tacks to be a little flatter - only when i finished did I realise that I have forgotten to remove the "rusty" bit and it was still behind! Took a bit of chiselling to get it off..



Flap disc'd the welds



Chuffed with that as a first go.
Curves next

 

[daedalusminos]

All that trouble and he's welded the flap on upside down

 

[Wightsparks]

Forgot the end result

 

[Wightsparks]

Did the same thing with a curved panel



Bent and cut an oversize patch


only tacked one end then let it in at 45deg cuts on the straight and straight cut on the curves.



Remembered to lever out the old metal this time!



Tacked it up vertically this time, had to adjust the heat down and up the ws to stop blowthrough



I rushed it a bit and got a bit more warping than I would if I went a bit slower and let it cool - but that's why it's practice!



I had a light right behind which made it easy to see where to tack next and it is 95% pinhole free.

 

[Parm]

As I have 2 Jags

Is your other name John Prescott?

 

[tom2207]

i do a lot of this work , and use the edge of a 1mm cutting disk to level welds , never a flap disc ,,, takes practice , but a lot less heat and a lot more accurate ,,, but it does take practice ,, and patience , the results are worth it though.

 

[Wightsparks]

i do a lot of this work , and use the edge of a 1mm cutting disk to level welds , never a flap disc ,,, takes practice , but a lot less heat and a lot more accurate ,,, but it does take practice ,, and patience , the results are worth it though.

Sounds interesting - what sort of orientation disk to weld blob, can you describe the action?

 

[Shedendman]

Jogglers are ok,they have their uses,but,on a long piece say 400mm long you have to be careful as you'll end up warping it.
You're also not going to get a jogged edge on some pre-pressed repair panels esp if theres a swage line
I tend to butt weld all panel work as best i can,but some of these after market repair panels are like fag paper,measured one for some citroen berlingo
it was 0.5mm thick with the protective coating ,took ages to nurse a weld on it

 

[Craig-SM]

I found the most crucial part of welding thin panels is to minimise the gap so careful cutting. Once tacked in place just do a series of 4-5 spot welds then move to the opposite end and repeat. Allow to cool to so you can touch it, use an airline if you have one and then repeat. You get into a rhythm and get near identical spot welds. It takes a bit longer but the clean up is much quicker. This was 4 pieces of 0.9mm sheet bent to right angles then welded together to make a squarish tube.

 

[tom2207]

Sounds interesting - what sort of orientation disk to weld blob, can you describe the action?

hi , yes , you work very close to right angles , as thin cutting discs dont like to be used on their flat , so you are basically holding the disc as if you want to chop through the weld spot , but you dont , and move side to side very very gently about half a mil or as the spot starts to flatten you can drop the angle to about 75 or 80 degrees and gently pull back over the welded area ,,, only do about three or four mm at a time , then off to another location , to prevent heat build up ,,, stick with it ,,, then once the whole weld seam is down flat , i buff over the area with the cutting disc at about 10 degrees and pull back over the whole area , very gently , you get a finish way finer than a flap disc , and lots less metal removal... it is slow , but the results make it well worth the bother ,,, fine body work restoration , not land rover chassis as an example.
hth

 

[Paul.]

You could mig that vertical down, much quicker and far less heat in the job than all those spots, and will give a nice flat weld profile so less cleaning up.