The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop To weld or send out?

I have some issues with the driver side cowl area and need to replace it. I've been thinking about replacing the pieces my self but haven't done any welding since jr. High metal shop. So my question is should I do it? or send it to a body shop to do? Oh and I'd still have to buy the welder. Maybe someone can recommend a good body person.

I'd suggest sending it out if you haven't welded much. It'll be quite a bit of work and cursing. If however you're wanting to learn, have at it.

Buying the tools and learning to do the work yourself makes sense if you will use them in the future, either on this truck or future projects.

If this is the only project you see for these skills and tools, farm it out.

If you are going to be welding mostly sheet metal get a GMAW (mig) with shielding gas. Here is an excellent Article on GMAW (MIG) vs FCAW (Flux Core): GMAW vs FCAW-S Process Comparison

My 2 cents, FWIW

A wire welder at HF around $100 hood , gloves & wire around $100.
Turn it all the way down And start , Wear long sleeves .

Having it done may be same or higher cost as buying welder. If you like fixing things and the truck has other areas, buy a mig with gas or gas option. Welding sheet metal takes time and patience. Burn thrus and warpage are the challenges.

I may be in never-neverland.. in fact I have been accused of this before, but a decent MIG welder ($700+), the gas is about $30 per bottle with $100 deposit, a 5-13 shade auto darkening helmet about $100, gloves, wire, misc items $50.

All of the above has been well worth it for me. I have learned amazing things and can do just about anything these days because of it. If there is a future in it, spend decent money to get decent gear. Don't pay more than its worth, but don't throw good money after bad. If not, find a good body shop and pay whatever its worth. Moral of the story is.. have your eyes open before walking through the door.

My Miller wire feed was like new for $300 with bottle, 110V. Auto dark Helmet at HF $35, gloves $9. Welding class at community college $35. Mig, Tig, Oxy and stick. Also bought a like new Miller stick $300 220V. Lincoln, Hobart, Craftsman...all good.

I was basicly where you are when I started my project. MIG is easier but I would recomend to use a shield gas system. I did all mine with flux wire which has some challanges. I would guess about 500.00 to set yourself up. If you have no other use for the welder or not much to weld pay an expert. If you have an interest its all about settings and practice. There are tricks too. TIG is ideal but too much investment for me.

Yeah. What they said. I went with 220 and a Lincoln SP275 wire feed gas shielded mig because I was concerned (right or wrong) that I wouldn't get the penetration for making things like trailer hitches, things that had thicker walls, if I went with 110. That's where my cash estimates come from.

But in any case, you will be in major sticker shock when your auto body shop gives you an estimate. So when they are talking about thousands of dollars and you were thinking hundreds, ask yourself how much you care now, because if you are thinking it might be fun to do your own work, now is the time to look into spending about half of your first auto body estimate on your own tools. Nothing easy about it though.

Nope, nothing easy about it. My welding skills for sheet metal are/were very limited. Didn't stop me though. First welder investment was a fire power 35 amp 110v with gas.. Parlayed that to a lincoln 175 with gas, it's a 220. So far i have replaced the pass. Side kick panel and floor board/toe board and am working on the drivers floor board, kick panel, inner to outer cowl and outer cowl. It's a lot of work and frustrating at times, especially when you have to fit and re fit/ checking things. Would i send it out? Not on your life. It's taking me a while but it sure is satisfying to know i did it and it don't look too bad.

Joe

If you are going to weld sheet metal, I would get a mig with shielding Argon/CO2 mix. Then get a pile of scrap sheet metal and start practicing. Welding sheet metal isn't easy. You will need practice to get your machine set right, and to get to where you can see what you are doing. Its kinda like shooting a gun. If you shut your eyes when you squeeze the trigger, you are gonna miss your deer. Lots of people who start welding blink when they strike an arc. I have about a dozen welders up to 440 amp at my shop, but when I weld tin, I use a Hobart 135 with .025 wire and mix gas. And I still tack a few pieces of scrap of the same gauge together to make sure my machine is set right. Welding can be fun if you get results you are proud of, but it can be frustrating if you just burn holes. If you are serious about the hobby, buy a name brand 140 amp welder with gas. I don't care for auto darkening lenses. I use a No. 3 lens with a pair of cheap reading glasses so I can see what I'm doing. Of course I use a much darker lens when I am welding heavier stuff at higher amperage. I have lenses up to 12.

My first welding helmet was 13 shade. It came with the welder. Couldn't see anything. Might as well just shut my eyes and guessed. So I purchased a 9-13 auto helmet and set it on 9. Might as well just shut my eyes and guessed, but I did almost everything with it. Had it for over 14 years. Cussed it everytime I put it on. A few months ago, having had enough, I got a new Lincoln model (Viking 3350) with 6-13 shading. Now I can actually see! It may be just some anomaly with my eyes, but now its fixed and I am very happy with it. I learned something new.. you can get slide-in magnifying lenses for it too. WOW! Problem solved.

I was wrong on my welder part number, its a 175 plus like Joe mentioned. Great machine. Set on low voltage, you can weld the thinnest of sheet metal and with it set on high, I can do trailer hitch assemblies, tables, heavy stuff with ease.

So far, not only have I done all my metal tables, jigs, fixtures, assemblies of all kinds, but on the truck I have replaced every piece of sheet metal offered by the vendors and a few that aren't. The key is practice, checking out forums that specialize in welding, like weldingweb.com, and listening intently to others who have more experience.

Think about what you gain by learning this new talent. Not only do you fix your current problem, but the wheels start to turn on what else you can do. Next thing you know, your friends, family, etc are noticing and, well, it goes from there. One important note.. don't even THINK about using flux wire and doing without Argon/C02. You are heading down a road that will give you terrible results only to find after so much misery that gas mix is the way to go. Has to do with unreasonable and crazy weld splatter and inconsistency. Just what I have learned. Hope this helps.

I would recommend against a flux core ... I bought a Hobart 125ez (i think it was). Unfortunately no matter what setting I used I constantly blew holes. I called Hobart support they had two suggestions. 1) attempt to stay 1/2"+ from your material or 2) Buy a MIG. I splurged and bought a Miller 140 MIG. Just this past weekend even with the MIG on its lowest setting I occasionally blew holes, Even with a piece of copper clamped behind the hole I was filling.

I had an old fashioned town blacksmith (he's 88) show me a technique he picked up he calls Long Arcing. He used a Lincoln SP125 to show me. All it amounts to is holding the wand about an inch or maybe a bit more, and with the wire speed a little higher than norm and low setting, you can do amazing things. It changed my worry about blowing holes forever. Now I can fill large holes, do just about anything. Try it, play with the idea a bit, and you will be much better before you know it! BTW, the gas shielding still seems to keep the welds clean. Don't do it in windy conditions and use Argon/C02 mix.

Thanks for sharing that tip Deve. I've done a lot of fab work using heavy 1/4 wall steel with my Lincoln MIG and flux core wire and had very good results, although a lot of splatter. I'm going to splurge for a argon/co2 tank before starting body metal work and this tip will no doubt come in handy.