I have the storage bin/wheel well rust on my 7... I really wanna get rid of it. I can probably find a rust free 7 in teh scrapper that someone put the front end into a pole or babied the engine or something...

Problem is, how do I get the wheel wells out of the car
while it's at the junk yard.

Also, I have no clue how to weld... The closest thing I've done is solder... How difficult is it? I figured I could just rivet everything together and bring it to someone who knows how to use a seamer...

 

Id say get you a mig welder and a piece of patch panel from the local paint/auto body supply place (about 10 bucks) and sit and practice Its not that bad, its kinda fun, just make sure you get a good mask

 

MIG...

I know it means Metal Inert Gas... That's about it.

I think they sell something at Wal*Mart.. A Campbell-Hausfield 200 amp welder... I'm not sure if it's MIG though...

Anyone ever get those catalogs wiht all teh tools.. They sell a lot of Chicago Pneumatic air tools and such... I get them in the mail... They have a MIG welder that doesn't require gas (WTF???) for a couple hundred.

Could I use scrap brake rotors and a couple scrap hoods from my shop to practice? Or will I need special stuff to practice with like the welding equivalent of solder?

 

A MIG welder without gas is basically just an arc welder with a wire feed instead of having to change rods all the time. I have a 200 amp one I got fram a hardware store that works well for all my body needs. I use it all the time on everything from go karts to christmas tree stands. Its really quite simple to learn, just follow the directions,0 and as someone said earlier, get a good mask. I took classes in high school for it, but im sure that if I just bought a welder and read the book, I could still do it . Oh, and just about anything metal can be welded. As long as its not painted or coated (IE - stainless). You can weld these, but it usually gives off harmfull gases, so it should only be done in shops with plenty of ventilation. As far as what you mean by solder, im not sure what you mean . An oxy-acetelene gas welding set (torch set) uses a filler rod that you melt like solder, but an electric arc welder (Arc, MIG, TIG, etc) use a filler rod specific to the welder. Arc welders use rods that are metal core with a special flux-like chemical on the outside of them that come in various types for various jobs. MIG welders use a spool of metal filler very similar to solder and it is automatically fed out for you. This is also available in various sizes for various jobs. Also, a MIG welder generaly uses an inert gas shield, but not always. The inert gas is used because its inert and wont ignite. The gas is fed out the tip like the wire, and is used to form a "pocket" of gas around the weld to keep it free from contaminents and what-not that could mness with the weld. TIG, im not to clear on...sorry .

~T.J.

 

Cool, so the rod is similar to solder, The welder heats teh two metal objects to be welded together and melts them and the rod all together into one piece of metal. Is that right? Seems like an easy concept, although practice does make perfect... I think I'll weld several brake rotors to a Hood.

Now.. How to cut out a wheel well at the scrapper.

Whiz Wheel?
Die Grinder?

What kind of cutting wheel should I use?

 

Cutting torch I wouldnt cut **** without one at the scrapper, JUST MAKE SURE THE GAS TANK AND LINES ARE GONE!

just buy the entire rear clip of the car. Then strip it at your convenience...

You can get a wire feed welder pretty cheap I think I paid about $400 for mine with the MIG hook up. Then you just buy tanks of Argon/CO2 at the local welding place. And trade tanks when you need a new one...

 

Nowhere to put a rear clip...

Anyone have a parts car without rear bin rust that they can remove most of the wheel well from?

Maybe something someone had a front end accident in?

 

i will take some good pics of my rework job later on,

i made new wheel wells,
and used my craftsman $600.00 mig welder,

it looks like **** from using flux core wire instead of gas though,
but it will give you an idea,

the whole point of redoing the job is to take the stress off the wheel wells,

i welded in a whole steel beam from side to side to reinforce the main rear end mounts,

that way it took 90% of the stress off my wheel wells,

i also used pretty thick steel in my wheel wells so that also made it look shity because i couldnt barley bend it ,

here is a dark shot.




look right behind the muffler and you can see the steel beam.

 

Haynes puts out a pretty good book on welding - "Haynes Body Repair and Painting Manual". Mig welding is covered off - it'll give you a good idea of what's involved in welding. Might be a good idea before you go out and buy one. By the way, it's not the same as soldering - you're laying the bead into a cut in the metal which is provided by the arc - solder sits on top of the metal (that's why it provides little strength). there's also practice required in learning the correct distance (wire to panel), angle of wire to panel, and the speed in which you draw the wire alone the panel. all those things have to be right to get a strong, solid, uniform bead. I'm only mentioning these points in case you try to do this job without practicing first - good luck

 

Actually, by definition, all MIG welders use inert gas. MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas. The welder blows a shield non-reactive (inert) gas over the are being welded. It's primary purpose is to keep the weld area rust free, as the heat from welding usually causes the metal to rust.

Without the gas, a MIG welder would just be a wire-fed arc welder.

As for TIG welding, it stands for Tungsten Inert Gas, and is primarily used for welding tubing. I don't really know alot about it tho, as I've only ever used MIG and Arc welders.

 

TIG is also used for welding aluminium.

 

That's right... I'd completely forgotten about that...

 

Arc welders take practice before you can strike the arc easily, so be prepared to be frustrated if you go that route. Also, you have to pay attention to current settings and rod diameters. MIG welders act more like a glue gun, and are pretty easy to use. Also, wire feed arc welders are much easier to use than the rod type.

 

The inert gas is keeping oxygen out of your welds so they won't become embrittled welds. The TIG uses a different gas and a different wave delivery. Whereas the MIG's "on" cycle is a sine wave, a TIG's "on" cycle is square like a clipped amp signal from any Pioneer car head-unit when it's turned on...this allows more control of the current delivered at the arc which is why it's favored for sheetmetal duties; it doesn't overly heat up the panels being worked...

 

i got a pretty decent welder from costco for like 220$, it does the job. i suck pretty good at welding anything thats not super thick but i plan on welding my 304 stainless exhaust when all my backordered pieces come in. easiest way to learn i found out is get a 3/8 sheet or something pretty thick and play with it making straight lines and mess with the voltage to find out how it bonds etc etc

 

Is it an arc welder? Eastwood sells an attachment for them that reduces the current at the tip for clean sheet-metal welding, FYI