FIrst welding attempt

[diggs00]

Cut some rust out of drivers door pillar and welded a patch. Guys tell me what I did right and wrong. This is my first attempt at welding, so let me have it.

Here are the before and after pics.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5VaMsrMLRojLUgwWWMzdF90X00

Thanks

 

[Crawdad]

Looks good to me. Shoot some cavity coater in there to help protect the back side and run with it. I'd be proud of that patch! I hope mine come out half that good looking.

 

[langester]

I am no expert, but I have been welding for some time. I personally think that looks great. I am not sure what your procedure was. I would say that sheet metal is a different animal than thicker steel. Make sure you take your time when making patch repairs. Hit the area with a few tack welds and then let it cool. After it has cooled make a few more tacks and let it cool again. Sheet metal does weird things , so give it time to cool or it will warp and cause alot of problems for you down the road.
Trial and error as with everything! Good luck with your project!

 

[langester]

I should have added for a first attempt that looks great!

 

[Skiddy]

I am no expert, but I have been welding for some time. I personally think that looks great. I am not sure what your procedure was. I would say that sheet metal is a different animal than thicker steel. Make sure you take your time when making patch repairs. Hit the area with a few tack welds and then let it cool. After it has cooled make a few more tacks and let it cool again. Sheet metal does weird things , so give it time to cool or it will warp and cause alot of problems for you down the road.
Trial and error as with everything! Good luck with your project!

kind of looks like what process he used. the patch looks great. like they say just practice practice, when it starts sizzling like frying bacon you should be set

 

[langester]

As Skiddy said, frying bacon sound is your friend! Good luck and keep it up. An old welder told me once, " The only difference between a bad welder and a good one is 3 hours of grinding!"

 

[Bferrari]

Turn your heat up a bit on your welder, cool each weld with shop air. This will help when you get in larger areas keeping the metal from warping. Looks like you cleaned the area really good before welding, always do this as the cleaner the metal the easier to weld. Your end result looks fantastic! Keep at it!

 

[daves bronco]

looks pretty good you picked a good spot to start. lots of bends there hard to warp things. careful when you get to a flat area.

 

[Broncomt]

Wish my posts were going to be so easy. The total bottom is rusted and hinge plate retainer straps are gone so going to do just replace them. Along with inner fenders and the kick panels.

 

[hyghlndr]

Practice on some scraps, about the only way to really learn. Clean metal (and don't use brake fluid to clean it) is real important. There are too many skips if it was something structural but for the sheet metal it is fine.

 

[Galt72]

what I did was watch a bunch of videos on utube where guys are teaching welding techniques, discuss wire size, speed, heat, gas. Amazing what you can learn in a short period of time. BTW looks great for your first time.

 

[blubuckaroo]

Thanks for starting this!
I'm looking at replacing my big old buss box with a modern MIG. The issue I'm having is finding a one with decent capacity but in a home garage size.
Could I get some examples?

 

[RODRIG3911]

Looks good. I've only been doing it a few years, but little tack welds right along the seem with a couple seconds in between seem to help me with warping the metal and blow through. Doesn't look like you had either blow through or warp even with the short beads you did on the right side, so that worked too .

 

[Godwick]

Looks good to me. Shoot some cavity coater in there to help protect the back side and run with it. I'd be proud of that patch! I hope mine come out half that good looking.

X2. Good job. You running a Mig or Tig?


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[Pa PITT]

... I Too was going to ask what you welded that with.. Stick or wire. But I'm sure that's wire because there is no dingle berry s ... I welded a piece of 1 7/8 pipe & put a piece of 11/2 inside it. I used stick & I couldn't believe how many splatter there was.
... But yours cleaned up really well... I can't believe there are no Holidays. No GAPS ...
.... GREAT JOB FOR YOUR 1ST. . Too much heat & that metal will warp.

 

[diggs00]

X2. Good job. You running a Mig or Tig?


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A little Hobart 140 mig

 

[diggs00]

... I Too was going to ask what you welded that with.. Stick or wire. But I'm sure that's wire because there is no dingle berry s ... I welded a piece of 1 7/8 pipe & put a piece of 11/2 inside it. I used stick & I couldn't believe how many splatter there was.
... But yours cleaned up really well... I can't believe there are no Holidays. No GAPS ...
.... GREAT JOB FOR YOUR 1ST. . Too much heat & that metal will warp.

I used solid wire with gas. I spent about a month watching videos and listening to people on this site. Thank you for the kind words. I had no idea how I was doing, just kept zapping and hoping for the best. Glad I have this site to let me know what I was doin right and wrong.

 

[diggs00]

I intend on getting the body blasted later down the road. Should I prime the patches with something until then? If so what do you guys recommend?

 

[diggs00]

I am just about to finish up my floor pans. I intend on taking the body off to get blasted, until then what should i spray on the bare metal floor pans. Cheap krylon primer or is there another option?

Thanks guys

 

[bronconut73]

I'll let the paint guys chime in, but yea ya gotta do something. I love Krylon.