fall-apart-dave
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Newby here! Hows my welding?
Well, I bought a mig welder a while ago and I'm getting mixed results! I'll get used to it eventually I think, but here's some pic of my efforts... The work is on a VW Baja Beetle that now has an 8" widened front beam to widen the front track, a Splitty Bus gearbox in the back to allow greater ground clearance and lower gear ratios, a Porsch 914 engine to push her along and lots and lots of customisations including custom build brake disc conversion, widened wheel arches, uprated suspension and a whole lot more besides! A LOT of hard work has gone into this project, and it is with a hint of pride that I can can say I did every shred of work on this car myself!
These picture are honest represenations of my work on the front beam. The Beetle is intended for offroad use, in case you didn't guess. I bought a custom made 8" widened front beam from a friend, then welded the pressed steel joints on the shock towers (far left and right of the beam, latter pictures) as these are weak points for rust (which is what killed my last front beam). I also welded box section from the towers to the top of the beam, to support the shock towers with the stiffer coilover suspnsion that I'm building and to handle the abuse it'll get offroad, and vertical box section support from the top half of the beam to the bottom to eliminate beam flex in the vertical plane. Both sides are done now! I am also making beam supports out of tubular steel and old piston con rods, to prevent the beam from flexing back and forth with offroad use. The con rod will attach to the beam, then the steel tube will be welded to a steel base plate which will be bolted to the front bulkhead of the Bug.
I would like honest oppinions please! Some of my welds are messy, some are better but none are perfect, I understand that! I'm still getting to grips with the welder, but honest criticism and pointers are always a help!
Well, I bought a mig welder a while ago and I'm getting mixed results! I'll get used to it eventually I think, but here's some pic of my efforts... The work is on a VW Baja Beetle that now has an 8" widened front beam to widen the front track, a Splitty Bus gearbox in the back to allow greater ground clearance and lower gear ratios, a Porsch 914 engine to push her along and lots and lots of customisations including custom build brake disc conversion, widened wheel arches, uprated suspension and a whole lot more besides! A LOT of hard work has gone into this project, and it is with a hint of pride that I can can say I did every shred of work on this car myself!
These picture are honest represenations of my work on the front beam. The Beetle is intended for offroad use, in case you didn't guess. I bought a custom made 8" widened front beam from a friend, then welded the pressed steel joints on the shock towers (far left and right of the beam, latter pictures) as these are weak points for rust (which is what killed my last front beam). I also welded box section from the towers to the top of the beam, to support the shock towers with the stiffer coilover suspnsion that I'm building and to handle the abuse it'll get offroad, and vertical box section support from the top half of the beam to the bottom to eliminate beam flex in the vertical plane. Both sides are done now! I am also making beam supports out of tubular steel and old piston con rods, to prevent the beam from flexing back and forth with offroad use. The con rod will attach to the beam, then the steel tube will be welded to a steel base plate which will be bolted to the front bulkhead of the Bug.
I would like honest oppinions please! Some of my welds are messy, some are better but none are perfect, I understand that! I'm still getting to grips with the welder, but honest criticism and pointers are always a help!