Welding

[deftone]

I'm planning on welding up my floor this weekend, however I only have an arc welder. A few people have told me I shouldn't use this as it will burn through? Should I go spend my cash on a new mig welder ( I've been saving for a new air compressor) or should I just get stuck in with my lowest settings ? Anybody used an arc welder on their floor?

[azruss]

a stick welder will do nothing but burn holes. even a mig welder is hard to get cold enough to not burn holes.

[dmwhiteoak]

I have a wire welder 120 miles east of you. Your welcome to use it.

[124cso]

You can not use an AC arc welder to weld panels. Only gas, mig tig or spot welder and gas is no safe insitu inless car is well stripped and underseal and deadening goo removed.
You CAN do it with a DC arc but they are rare and you need to know what you are about. If you are even asking this question, it rules that one out (sorry)

Really only options are MIG or TIG.

[baltobernie]

In a big city like Dallas, there are undoubtedly dozens of car clubs. Even a gathering such as http://dallas.carsandcoffee.info/ will have many enthusiasts. Offer a new spool of wire or a bottle refill, and somebody will probably let you borrow their MIG.

[maytag]

I don;t mind telling you that even a "fair" welder like myself (I'm no pro, but I've sure done a LOT of welding) had a hard time not blowing holes through the floorboards with my little wire-feed mig.
granted, the floor in question had been eroded by years of surface-rust, but still: that metal is surprisingly thin. If the floor is still unmolested by rust, you're probably okay. But otherwise, if I were to do it again, I'd look for another solution.

[124cso]

[quote="maytag"]....I ... had a hard time not blowing holes through the floorboards with my little wire-feed mig.
granted, the floor in question had been eroded by years of surface-rust, ..... If the floor is still unmolested by rust, you're probably okay. quote]

Well,....If his floors were not rusted, I do not suppose he would be wanting to replace them.

A MIG should not burn thru. You can adjust power/current, burnback setting, wire size and wire feed speed. Also choice of shielding gas will effect it. Argon mixes are best but more espensive, CO2 is cheaper but you need heated gear to stop if freezing up and you get crappier welds as they are cooled quicker and filler wire does not "flow"the same. Often this is compensated by upping the current/ weld heat and consequent blow thru on this metal. Straight Argon is not for use on steel. CO2 shielded welds will need a lot more grinding to get tidy.

You can get fluxed wire which you reverse the welder polarity for but I have not used it. Appears to be more aimed at home hobbiests so they do not need to hire gas cylinders, but hugely more expensive than plain wire. You would only want 0.6mm or 0.8mm dia wire for panels and each welder will have different settings.

[dmwhiteoak]

I run fluxed wire in mine and have no trouble adjusting so it does not burn through.The weld is not as pretty as with argon but it holds fine.

[deftone]

Thanks guys. Will go ahead and either borrow or buy a mig. My floors aren't all that bad except for the drivers footwell behind the pedals. The rest of the floor is actually pretty solid. I'm not sure why this one area would be 100times worse than the rest of the car. It's the only rust I have on the car ( the benefit of living in Texas!)

[124cso]

Thanks guys. .......floors aren't all that bad except for the drivers footwell behind the pedals. ...... I'm not sure why this one area would be 100times worse than the rest of the car. It's the only rust I have on the car

Driver getting in with wet footwear (a lot) and soaking carpet and underlay in that area ?
May be a blocked drain in floorpan -look like triangular tabs punched downward, or gooed up with underseal ?
Could have had an impact underneath and cracked floorpan allowing road spray to get into sound deadening- has it ALWAYS been in dry country ?
Had a brake fluid leak at pedal box ? That stuff strips paint faster than a hooker seeing a bunch of 100s.
Or just a body leak. Has it got AC ? and a condenser drain not working ?

If it's only got that one patch, easier to just pay a panel shop to fix it for you. Even if they just weld in the patch and you do the rest. Still cheaper than buying anything like a good Mig - $500 for a used good one at least and cheap Migs can have a short lifes as they use aluminium windings, not copper. Then a helmet, then gloves, then wire..........

[deftone]

Thanks guys. .......floors aren't all that bad except for the drivers footwell behind the pedals. ...... I'm not sure why this one area would be 100times worse than the rest of the car. It's the only rust I have on the car

Driver getting in with wet footwear (a lot) and soaking carpet and underlay in that area ?
May be a blocked drain in floorpan -look like triangular tabs punched downward, or gooed up with underseal ?
Could have had an impact underneath and cracked floorpan allowing road spray to get into sound deadening- has it ALWAYS been in dry country ?
Had a brake fluid leak at pedal box ? That stuff strips paint faster than a hooker seeing a bunch of 100s.
Or just a body leak. Has it got AC ? and a condenser drain not working ?
........

The car sat in a field for 25 years so its pretty hard to diagnose what caused it, damp was an issue with the whole interior, leaks etc from the brakes are guarenteed, I know for sure its been in Tx since the mid 70's, but before that, who knows.

The drains are good, although I was concerned that it could actually be an access point for moisture?


I may just farm it out to an expert to patch up, the rest of the floor is in pretty decent condition, it saves me a few $$$ that I could use elsewhere on this project!

[124cso]

The car sat in a field for 25 years so its pretty hard to diagnose what caused it, damp was an issue with the whole interior,

And you don't think sitting outside for 25 years might have anything to do with it ??? Shit, even with the best cover over it, the thing would sweat from the underneath. I'd be surprised if it was still in one piece !

Did you not think 25 years outside worth mentioning ??

[maytag]

The car sat in a field for 25 years so its pretty hard to diagnose what caused it, damp was an issue with the whole interior,

And you don't think sitting outside for 25 years might have anything to do with it ??? Shit, even with the best cover over it, the thing would sweat from the underneath. I'd be surprised if it was still in one piece !

Did you not think 25 years outside worth mentioning ??

ahhh... there's that friendly tone we're used to hearing from 124cso! I hadn't realized how much I missed it!

sitting in a field for 25 years is certainly something that was pertinent to the topic though. Although, to be fair, depending on WHERE it was in TX, wouldn't matter HOW long is sat!

[124cso]

ahhh... there's that friendly tone we're used to hearing from 124cso! I hadn't realized how much I missed it!

sitting in a field for 25 years is certainly something that was pertinent to the topic though. Although, to be fair, depending on WHERE it was in TX, wouldn't matter HOW long is sat!

I see the bulk of Texas has a rainfall about 25-30"(up to 50"@ Houston), similar to where I live (31") and any car left outside for that long (we assume he means stationary and abandoned ?) expecially a soft top, would be well grotted !

Even you must wonder sometimes at the things people ask / statements made on here ?

[maytag]

Texas is HUGE. I think you could 19 New Zealands into it.

There are a few areas where Texas get's a lot of rainfall, because they sits on or near the coast.
But most of Texas is a BIG, FLAT, DESOLATE DESERT.

The only thing they grow in these places is oil!

My mother-in-law tells the story about life there as a child. Her father went out into the desert west of ElPaso, cut-down a couple-dozen saguaro trees (cactus), tipped 'em into an inverted cone and they lived there 'til she was 15 yrs old. I asked her what they did when it rained, and she looked at me like I was stupid. ('cuz it never rains. )