Working on cars

[Freddy0309]

How many people on here use tig on cars? Pretty much all my welding these days is done with tig and the only thing I use mig for is for working on the Landy and was wondering if many people use tig?

 

[Jim Davey]

Not many, it's fundamentally wrong for most vehicle related jobs.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The only time I see TIG used on cars is when my work takes me to a classic car restoration place.
Then it is used on ally body cars and for brazing older cars.

Apart from that it is MIG all the way.

But, a blast from the past. The other day at my friends garage he was lending a ramp to some one, nice old chap who flashed up the gas kit and was gas welding a patch.

 

[Freddy0309]

I was thinking that was probably the case, I've done a couple of landrover panels with tig (ally) and was thinking getting the chassis etc clean enough for tig would be a ball ache

 

[the snooper]

I've never tried tig but I would imagine it to be slow for general car work and more expensive due to the pure argon needed

 

[Freddy0309]

Time doesn't really bother me as I have nothing but time and as for cost it's not like it's a day In day out sort of thing, only when I notice bad rust, (honestly even though it's a landrover it's not a daily thing lol) but the more and more I think about the more I think it may be a pain, which is a shame as I really do prefer tig welding

 

[langy]

I tig everything, better on panel work because it allows you to hammer the weld flat, chassis work all tig too, my customers don't want to see mig welds

 

[Freddy0309]

I've seen A lot of your work, does any of your work involve led on you back welding or is it all strip back ground up restos?

 

[langy]

I've seen A lot of your work, does any of your work involve led on you back welding or is it all strip back ground up restos?

Yes laid on back many times, roll cages for instance.
Obviously popping panels on dailys mig is good but it's horses for courses

 

[Freddy0309]

I'm guessing you don't use whole tig rods whilst doing that? How do you gauge how much to use or is it just trial and error? (If im asking for trade secrets feel free to tell me to b***** off)

 

[langy]

I'm guessing you don't use whole tig rods whilst doing that? How do you gauge how much to use or is it just trial and error? (If im asking for trade secrets feel free to tell me to b***** off)

Yes still use full rods, if it's really tight for room I ocassionally cut one in half but not normally.

 

[langy]

I'm guessing you don't use whole tig rods whilst doing that? How do you gauge how much to use or is it just trial and error? (If im asking for trade secrets feel free to tell me to b***** off)

No secrets in my shop if someone asks I give them the answer

 

[Freddy0309]

certainly food for thought,

 

[malcolm]

TIG and Gas share the advantage of being more malleable than MIG so you can knock them around more, but also share the disadvantage of putting more heat in so you need to knock them about more to sort distortion. Above all the choice is to do with preference, the detail you want to achieve, and how good you are at positional work with TIG.

For alloy bodywork it's got to be TIG all the time - MIG is a nightmare for thin alloy. For steel I'll almost always use MIG. Most of the time I'm dealing with 0.8mm and use a pulse technique - MIG is very much easier especially for positional work. I did once weld two halves of a floorpan together using TIG but that was in a good position sitting down and only really so I could practice TIG - worked out OK though. For chassis stuff on cars MIG definitely.

 

[Richard.]

Like Steve all I ever do is Tig weld and if you take time and care over the prep work it can easily perform as well as Mig on really thin metal out of position because that's all car body work is.
You won't get away with so well with out the prep work, cleanliness and thin panels fitted nicely. I avoid that type of work like the plague but I've done a few bits on the in laws transit. Last year with the tig. Its not easy but perfectly acceptable and does a lovely job.

 

[langy]

For me mig is to messy, tig maybe a bit slower but zero cleanup needed and it looks neat and tidy.
At the end of the day whichever process you use to do the job properly it should be with clean metal

 

[TigLad]

Hi guys my parents van has failed its mot and needs some welding on both sills. I have'nt welded any vehicles before and only have a tig/mma welder which i only bought last week, i can get some stainless steel from work but not mild.
My understanding is to cut out the corroded area and cut a sheet of steel just big enough to go over it to patch it up, do you think this will be fine to tig weld?

 

[Richard.]

Yes you can tig weld it and if you wanted to use stainless sheet I'm sure you could do that too.
Bear in mind for a proper joint it's best performed with a dissimilar filler like 309/312.
Also bear in mind stainless steel is much harder to work than Ms with regard to putting in the bends and forming it to fit.
It's also more of a pig for distorting and even more of a pig to pull out of distortion.
It wouldn't be my choice personally but it's doable if you have the gear and patients to work it.

 

[TigLad]

Ok thanks for the advice, the only rods i have are 316 though, do you think they will be ok?

 

[TigLad]

Also is HF ok to use on vehicles?