[tech69]

At the end of the day I got to see the hood and deck lid of the Chrysler 300 I've been working on. Tomorrow I get more pics up close.

[Dave57210]

Spent another couple of hours in the shop attempting to teach myself to weld.

I took some evening courses about a zillion years ago at a local tech college (the old "one night a week for 15 weeks" thing).

Anyway, I scored a used big ol' Lincoln 110V mig a while ago, and last week I finally got around to getting a 40 foot bottle of co2/AR and some nice new wire for it and decided to go through every welding "how to" I could find on the web and see what's up.

After all it seems that EVERY guy on here can do it, right?

So following the advice on the web, I start off by finding a combination of wire speed and power that gives me a nice-sounding "BzzzzzzzzT on a nice clean piece of steel. OK - now we have amps & speed. Now we practice on a flat piece and try to get a nice looking bead. two hours, and a pound or two of wire later, its starting to look good. Nice penetration, nice looking "stack of dimes" bead.

So, lets see if I can put two pieces of metal together.

Well, yes, If I use crazy glue, or "the handy man's secret weapon"

Otherwise - not looking so good. That was Monday.

Tuesday, ditto

Today, I start again with some fresh pieces of steel, hit them with angle grinder, get nice shiny surfaces, clamp them together in the form of a cross, and have at it.

And lay down some nice beads, undo the clamp and "clank, rattle" as the top one hits the floor while the bottom one stays on the table.

So - another couple of pieces of steel, all cleaned and scuffed, turn the power up some more, add a bit more gas. Weave the puddle between the two pieces of steel at the join. Ensure that puddle is well into BOTH pieces.

shut welder off, release the clamp.

Clank, rattle.

Sigh. Pass the duct tape, please. Red Green was right.

[deadbodyman]

Red Green
If you cant be handsome ,you can always be handy????

[327 / 350 hp]

Originally Posted by bigdog7373

What year is the t/a?
Nice find on the vortec.

Hi dog,, I don't know the year of the car, the nephew said he needs a engine for it. It was either a 4blt 350 or a newer roller.. jim

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Dave57210

Spent another couple of hours in the shop attempting to teach myself to weld.

I took some evening courses about a zillion years ago at a local tech college (the old "one night a week for 15 weeks" thing).

Anyway, I scored a used big ol' Lincoln 110V mig a while ago, and last week I finally got around to getting a 40 foot bottle of co2/AR and some nice new wire for it and decided to go through every welding "how to" I could find on the web and see what's up.

After all it seems that EVERY guy on here can do it, right?

So following the advice on the web, I start off by finding a combination of wire speed and power that gives me a nice-sounding "BzzzzzzzzT on a nice clean piece of steel. OK - now we have amps & speed. Now we practice on a flat piece and try to get a nice looking bead. two hours, and a pound or two of wire later, its starting to look good. Nice penetration, nice looking "stack of dimes" bead.

So, lets see if I can put two pieces of metal together.

Well, yes, If I use crazy glue, or "the handy man's secret weapon"

Otherwise - not looking so good. That was Monday.

Tuesday, ditto

Today, I start again with some fresh pieces of steel, hit them with angle grinder, get nice shiny surfaces, clamp them together in the form of a cross, and have at it.

And lay down some nice beads, undo the clamp and "clank, rattle" as the top one hits the floor while the bottom one stays on the table.

So - another couple of pieces of steel, all cleaned and scuffed, turn the power up some more, add a bit more gas. Weave the puddle between the two pieces of steel at the join. Ensure that puddle is well into BOTH pieces.

shut welder off, release the clamp.

Clank, rattle.

Sigh. Pass the duct tape, please. Red Green was right.

Have you read the "Basics of Basics"? (Click here)

Don't be turning up the gas anymore than where it is suppose to be, read the basics. Having the voltage and wire speed up high enough is the number one mistake. You can't be afraid of this, CRANK IT UP, you can always turn it back down if you find you are blowing holes or something. CRANK IT UP, you may need to move a lot faster, but CRANK IT UP and find out where your limitations are.

Brian

[tech69]

Originally Posted by Dave57210

Spent another couple of hours in the shop attempting to teach myself to weld.

I took some evening courses about a zillion years ago at a local tech college (the old "one night a week for 15 weeks" thing).

Anyway, I scored a used big ol' Lincoln 110V mig a while ago, and last week I finally got around to getting a 40 foot bottle of co2/AR and some nice new wire for it and decided to go through every welding "how to" I could find on the web and see what's up.

After all it seems that EVERY guy on here can do it, right?

So following the advice on the web, I start off by finding a combination of wire speed and power that gives me a nice-sounding "BzzzzzzzzT on a nice clean piece of steel. OK - now we have amps & speed. Now we practice on a flat piece and try to get a nice looking bead. two hours, and a pound or two of wire later, its starting to look good. Nice penetration, nice looking "stack of dimes" bead.

So, lets see if I can put two pieces of metal together.

Well, yes, If I use crazy glue, or "the handy man's secret weapon"

Otherwise - not looking so good. That was Monday.

Tuesday, ditto

Today, I start again with some fresh pieces of steel, hit them with angle grinder, get nice shiny surfaces, clamp them together in the form of a cross, and have at it.

And lay down some nice beads, undo the clamp and "clank, rattle" as the top one hits the floor while the bottom one stays on the table.

So - another couple of pieces of steel, all cleaned and scuffed, turn the power up some more, add a bit more gas. Weave the puddle between the two pieces of steel at the join. Ensure that puddle is well into BOTH pieces.

shut welder off, release the clamp.

Clank, rattle.

Sigh. Pass the duct tape, please. Red Green was right.

try 23 psi with the trigger pulled. Also note that you will discover combinations of wire speeds and amps that will give you the desired frying bacon sound even if it's not the right penetration. So if you got the sizzle but not the penetration you know that the amps need to go up but so does the wire speed, but since the problem is in penetration then you can guess that it's the amps that need to move up a tad more. As Martin said, experiment with this and you'll find your limits where you get the sizzle and a fast burn thru. This means quick trigger it or turn it down a tad. you'll find your zone and write it down for what it's for. I have written down settings for open butt welds, flanged panels, plug welds, 3 layered plug welds, etc-etc. I do this to every welder I touch and for the first month it will change a few times til I find a comfort zone. Once you're in the ball park of what's written down it's a matter of sound and how the wire looks when done welding. It will tell me if it's too fast or slow. In other words, the rough settings make it so it's just a matter of turning one knob barely to the left or right or straightening out a kink in the line.

[Bad Rat]

surely you can do better than my 9 yearold grandson,, these are his first welds he's building a x-mas tree stand,, at least it held the tree up,,,,

[Dave57210]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

Red Green
If you cant be handsome ,you can always be handy????

I guess I'm doomed!

[tech69]

Hey Dave, get an old fender of a classic car and start cutting and welding. You are on the right track! You can learn only so much from a book or from theory. The bottom line is, you need to get out there and experience it for yourself. Welders require that you know that welder, and since they can vary due to tension adjustments and how old the thing is they kind of have their own personality.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Dave57210

turn the power up some more, add a bit more gas. Weave the puddle between the two pieces of steel at the join.

Note that there are different gas gauges on these welders some read PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) which should be set at 3-4 lbs while others have CFH (Cubic Feet Per Hour) which should be set at 25-30.

Brian

[mikesnyhere]

im finally able to post pics woohoo ! put some new tires on the 57 . I think it needs about a 4 "drop in front and a 2" in back

[mikesnyhere]

driving way better now . she probably needs a complete front end rebuild , but the radials helped a lot

[Dave57210]

Originally Posted by mikesnyhere

im finally able to post pics woohoo ! put some new tires on the 57 . I think it needs about a 4 "drop in front and a 2" in back

Everyone's tastes are different. I'd set the front ride height so that the fender opening to tire appearance is about the same as what is at the back right now and for my taste the back is perfect as is. However - it isn't my truck, so it's not my place to say....

Beautiful truck! Love it!

[Dave57210]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Note that there are different gas gauges on these welders some read PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) which should be set at 3-4 lbs while others have CFH (Cubic Feet Per Hour) which should be set at 25-30.

Brian

Mine reads cubic feet per (something). The guy at the welder shop said that if you can feel the gas coming outta the nozzle, you have the flow too high (unless you are outdoors) and that I should have it between 6 and 10. He pointed out that even at 10, a 40 foot bottle would only be good for 4 hours so up to now I've been following his advice. And yes, I had read the "basics of basics" - Excellently written by the way - now if I was even remotely normal instead of being in the World Book of Records under "klutz"......

Gonna try some thinner metal tomorrow - picked up some scrap sheet-metal (couple of hoods) at the boneyard today, see if I can do something with that. I've been trying to weld 3/16 and 1/8 stuff up to now as that is my next project (window framing for burglar bars!) We'll see what happens with 16 and 14 ga stuff tomorrow if I can do THAT or if that needs duct tape as well...... (And yes, I'll change to the .023 wire instead of the .035 I've been using)

Don't recall having this much trouble using flux core .035 or even using a stick on my ol Sears Buzz Box!

As it is, I'll ask my neighbor (a millwright) to assemble my burglar bars for me (or maybe I'll just ask Penn & Teller since this is clearly pure magic and not do-able by mere mortals?)

[MARTINSR]

Dave, if it says CFH it needs to be at 25 or so. Some gauges have both readings, but if it is CFH 6 or 10 is way too low.

Today I got my bracket all done for the transfer seat. I have to assemble it tomorrow and it is good to go. Looking at the car even with the door open you would never know it was set up for the handicapped. I had an extra threshold moulding that I was second choice when I went thru them for the car. So it got sacrificed for Steve.

Brian