The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Needed to Weld Angle Strips on the bed wall -paint

I want to weld to angle strip to bed wall, but my question is do I need to paint the strip first and the bed wall also so that where they both tack togeather they wont rust but question is I cannot weld strong if I paint.

I want to get ideas from you all to see what others are doing.

Thanks in advance

Ganesh

Have you considered stainless acorn nuts and bolts? They look pretty cool and would allow you to paint both parts separate. Welding over paint wouldn't work real well but there is a weld thru primer but I haven't used. Have fun and good luck
Dan

Thanks Dan, do you have picture of anyone didit before, Acutally I would like that because really the plug welding to replace Spot welding not getting good results, may be I am not doing a good welds

Ganesh

Are you backing your plug welds up? Use copper plates with magnets. Cover the hole then weld up your holes. If you feel you might warp the metal use some Heat Fence.
You can pick up some copper plates through Eastwood Products and they are fairly priced.
I would use some good Galvanise spray paint and paint the back sides of the metal then spray your color on the front side.
62Blue
Don

You don't have to buy copper plates. All you need to do is get a short length of copper pipe (a plumber will probably give you a scrap piece for free), flatten one end with a hammer. And there ya go. You have a copper plate to back up holes with an attached handle.

An aluminum plate also works well in this situation. It helps if the copper or aluminum plate has a good flat surface to contact the angle strip in the spot where it is being welded. Our instruction shows a method that can be used for either bolting or welding the angle to the bedside. http://www.mar-k.com/installation_hints.html Scroll down to the 'angle strip removal and instalation" instruction. Plug welding takes a little practice. Weld some scrap material the same thickness to develop your techniques and welder settings. With practice you will improve your skill and the welds will be strong and smooth.

Mar-Ktech

One trick I've learned to get good plug welds, especially when the holes are small, is to make sure that the arc from your wire starts in the center of the hole and then work outward. If your wire is too close to the edge of the hole when you pull the trigger the arc will be drawn to the metal at the edge of the hole and the sheet behind will not get hot enough to fuse properly. Also, I've used the weld-through primer and found that it doesn't really weld very well. It pops and smokes like welding galvanized. I still use it on the surfaces that can't be painted but I remove it from the area that will be welded.

Guys Thanks so much for the info, I like mark-k installation instructions.

Thing with plugwled I only need to make hole to angle strip and I dont see a reason to make hole to bed wall also. I think I need to give enough heat to fuse properly

Thanks again for all the advise

Ganesh