Welding Help Please

[HawkRod]

Hsorman, thanks for documenting your learning curve! Tomorrow is the day for me to weld in the rocker on my Ram. Good, bad, or ugly. Do you mind if I add some of this learning to your post? Maybe some pics? I'm running a Hobart 175 Handler rig on 240, with gas (Co2-argon), and .024 Hobart solid core wire. Nirvana would be infinite heat control. This welder only has 4 positions of heat, but since good weldors have been doing great jobs with this for years, I'm not worried. Just another skill that I have to learn.
Just to throw a curve in here, the new panel has been coated with SEM Coppershield, and the substrate has been coated with Permatex Rust Convertor. I will be punching 3/16" holes in the new panel, and once fitted, I will try to scrape some of the other coating off my base materiel through the holes. The mating points at the front and back of the rocker will be filled with spot welds.
This is the biggest thing I have ever tried with welding. So, once again, do you mind if I add this to your thread?

By all means brother - add on!

The whole purpose of this thread is to help ALL of us who are learning to weld, so anyone who has anything to add, especially lessons learned from the perspective of an inexperienced welder, is welcome.

Good luck with the Ram project. One final thought I have is that I was surprised how quickly panels started to warp, so be very careful with the heat.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[joshb1983]

really glad to see this thread...learning alot by reading the posts..my floors in 70 belvy are rusted in center of each pan and my trunk pan is rusted right in the middle...the outside off every pan is ok and solid..looks like water leaked in and sat in the centers of each pan..so i should have plenty of good metal to weld to..

 

[747mopar]

Hsorman, thanks for documenting your learning curve! Tomorrow is the day for me to weld in the rocker on my Ram. Good, bad, or ugly. Do you mind if I add some of this learning to your post? Maybe some pics? I'm running a Hobart 175 Handler rig on 240, with gas (Co2-argon), and .024 Hobart solid core wire. Nirvana would be infinite heat control. This welder only has 4 positions of heat, but since good weldors have been doing great jobs with this for years, I'm not worried. Just another skill that I have to learn.
Just to throw a curve in here, the new panel has been coated with SEM Coppershield, and the substrate has been coated with Permatex Rust Convertor. I will be punching 3/16" holes in the new panel, and once fitted, I will try to scrape some of the other coating off my base materiel through the holes. The mating points at the front and back of the rocker will be filled with spot welds.
This is the biggest thing I have ever tried with welding. So, once again, do you mind if I add this to your thread?

Thought I'd throw in something I learned on my Charger when using "weld threw primer" I think that's what coppersheild is. I used two different weld threw primers on my car (one of which was copper) and was very disappointed, once applied my welds went to @#&* (porosity), try it on clean metal "worked fine". I wanted the metal surfaces protected so what I ended up doing was coat the joints with it but take a drill and clean it away from the weld area prior to welding this worked out well for me. Hopefully whatever you use works better.

 

[HawkRod]

So one additional question for the welding experts:

Looks like my first "real" welding project will be welding my exhaust. I purchased a 2 1/2" system from Pypes that is 409 Stainless steel. Now I need to make the down pipes that connect my exhaust manifolds to the area where the exhaust components that came with the Pypes kit start.

Looks like I have to make this out of some pre-bent 409 stainless steel pipe sections.

So my question is: Can I buy stainless wire and weld with my current gas (argon/Co2)? Or do I need to change the gas too?

In this case, the welds do not need to look perfect, just function well.

As always, I appreciate the help!

Hawk

 

[snakeoil24]

Use standard Combo gas and regualr wire. The Stainless on Pypes is low grade does not need any special materials. After you weld. Grind the welds clean. Additional suggestion get a pair of V clamps between Mufflers and pipes it will make it easier to brake system down when you need to remove.

 

[Photon440]

I'd ask your welding supplier for advice on this. It might not cost much more to get the right wire. Also, here's a link specifically about welding 409 stainless from weldingweb.com:

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=23438

 

[scotts74birds]

Wow! Talk about swinging for the fence your first time out! Stainless? From some of the books I've read, they talk about "back-gassing" stainless. That means having an inert 100% argon gas shield around, or blowing at the rear of your weld. You might want to read more on this.
BTW, the Ram rocker is welded in and I'm starting to finish it. I learned many things. I coated the substrate with Permatex rust convertor. The new rocker panel (I had pre-punched holes in it) was coated with SEM Coppershield. This worked MUCH better than coating the substrate with SEM. The 3/16 holes were too small, 1/4" were better for plug welding. I had some awful starts until I got the machine, and myself, dialed-in. First, have a pair of dikes handy, and cut that glob of **** off the tip every time. Don't pull away as you weld like I do! Have a good supply of 50 grit disks for your grinder. You will only be using the outer 1", so they wear quick. A set of "plug-welding" vise-grips are the greatest tool ever. Buy them and use them.
"I've cut it TWICE, and it's STILL too short!" This is about the gaps between panels. Yes, some of mine were too big to weld. In advance of this job I had bought a Kett electric shear, used for $40 on Craigs. Very handy tool. I bought this to cut metal for some of my other patches. But I used it for this job to trim a 1/16 filler piece to fill the area that I cut too large. Just lay it in the groove, and start tacking! Worked great! I know some of the good weldors here are wincing at that, but at least its just sheetmetal, not structural. I also tried my friends suggestion of using a mild steel TIG rod to fill some of my larger gaps. This also worked very well for some of the larger gaps, and my "blow-thrus".
Hope some of this helps.