Offroad-Express

well i had nothing i could do today so i thought i should finish off my samurai cut down doors. i didnt cut them i just plated them. was wondering what people thought about the welds, its my first time doing bodywork so any tips to get better welds are welcome:)

What gear are you using to do the welding?
Gotta love that pink Don't you wish the rest of the truck was that colour...

the lowest heat lvl and 7 on the speed it has 10 speed and 4 heat settings it is a cheapo chinese welder 130 amp

flux core wire?

yes thats right nice and untidy i dont do enough welding to use gas and dont wana rent bottles from those ripoffs but was thinking of getting some small throwaway bottles from mitre 10.

new2zukes wrote:yes thats right nice and untidy i dont do enough welding to use gas and dont wana rent bottles from those ripoffs but was thinking of getting some small throwaway bottles from mitre 10.

if you want i have one of the regs they use for those bottles lying around, i went to argon and got a new set of regs pm if you want it.

any tips to get better welds are welcome:)

Hi new2zukes,
Welding with flux core has the same technique as arc welding, you drag the weld pool rather than push it (hard wire and gas).This helps the flux set over the welds bead rather than be pushed in to the weld and creating slag & porosity. Grind any paint work off around where you are going to weld. it paint loves to burn off as you run over it and cause porosity.
Check your polarity on the mig. With gassless it should be set up DC positive, meaning positive earth and negative hand piece. On most small migs the terminals are in the same compartment as the wire spool below the feed rollers.
I always cheet on panel work by going to a slightly thicker doner material, this means you can angle the gun and heat towards it rather than the stock panel.When I cut my doors down I caped them with 1.6mm sheet pressed up to a channel.
To avoid a lot of distortion, stich weld it in 30mm to 50 mm runs spaced over the length of the panel and then weld betwen them. OR plug weld it if you are able to lap them over, this entails drilling a series of holes (I usally do 5-6mm dia)just in from the edge of the doner material and welding through them and "pluging" them up when it is place.
Anti splatter helps with keeping the weld tidy also and minimises splatter going everywhere ( car seats, hair, jandels, testicals )
If you are looking at converting your little mig to gas, for mild steel work only, see if you can still buy the "Soda Streem" kit ( I think Mega10 in Henderson had one a while ago). It means you run staight Co2 from the Soda streem bottle. It runs slghtly hotter than an agroshield mix, but they are cheaper to get refills at the super market or farmers than buying those disposable bottles! Also remember to change the polarity to DC Negative - negative earth and positive hand piece.
I have used my mates one a number of times over the years and they work a treat.
You will be running your gas flow between four to eight litres per minute depending on the weld,(a mild "hissing" sound is about right to start with.)

hope this helps a bit, next stop is the "vertual lift"
Corey

wow thanks corey thats a hell of a lot of good info, that will help me heeps i am using the drag method the thing i hate about it is the mega splatter it just takes ages to clean it off again i will have a look around i presume i need a regulater of some sort. just finished making a winch bracket for my zuke so il post up some pick on the weekend of it in the truck.
cheers

martin