BUILD THREAD Rustier then I thought!!!

[RabbitHoleSS]

Well you know when you wanna try something but everything you've read says not to try it. Well I tried it lol. It didn't work out so well. Im talking about fixing my body mount holes on the frame. I have .025 wire in the machine. I didn't wanna switch it to .035(lazy) so I tried to burn it in with 025 on my 110 mig. And penetration is lacking unfortunately. So i have to grind it down and redo.

I think im gonna get a roll of flux core to burn in the frame since that's what i read you need. Shortcuts and bein lazy never work for me, yet ill still try. Why? IDK.
I also got the back seat patched up. I butted the patch at the bottom and lapped it on top. It turned out pretty good. Here it is cut out and halfway fit.

Welded in.

Driver side

I also got the trunk completely welded in. I had 1 small patch to make.

Question to the body guys. What should I use to cover the welds in the wheelhouse and trunk? Kitty/tiger hair? All metal filler? Ill ground it down mostly flat. I just wanted to make it look a little better and be as resistant to water as possible. Thanks

 

[Northernregal]

I used flux on my frame, itll be a tad messy but it's a little better for welding dirty metal.

If you grind down the welds and epoxy prime you can use regular filler, the epoxy will seal the metal. On Rktpwrd's threads he does a seam sealer and sands it down, maybe he will chime in with the process.

 

[Doug Chahoy]

I like the metal body filler or seam sealer. If you care more about longevity than original appearance, finish off with truck bed liner.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I used flux on my frame, itll be a tad messy but it's a little better for welding dirty metal.

If you grind down the welds and epoxy prime you can use regular filler, the epoxy will seal the metal. On Rktpwrd's threads he does a seam sealer and sands it down, maybe he will chime in with the process.

Yea I didn't think about it bein dirty too. I just thought the flux would give me better penetration. I welded 2 1/8 in pieces of clean steel together practicing no problem. So i thought it would work on my frame. Thanks for the help.

I like the metal body filler or seam sealer. If you care more about longevity than original appearance, finish off with truck bed liner.

Thanks. Honestly I don't think I can get it back to original appearance in the trunk. I just want it to last and not have rivers of seam sealer everywhere. I have a small can of usc all metal but have read people say its brittle and will break off easier then fiberglass filler. I was thinking of putting epoxy,all metal,epoxy then truck bed liner the whole trunk. Im trying to find the rear seat #4 body mount crossmember. I've only found it on ebay from the parts place page. Ive been screwed on ebay (toys not car parts) so im hesitant. I looked on rock auto but couldn't find them. Does anyone know if there produced by the same factory like every other replacement body panels?

 

[Northernregal]

I vote all metal filler for the trunk. It wont have enough flex to crack the all metal.

I went with short strand filler on my C pillars because it's a known flex point and I didnt want All Metal to crack. I did some research on the interwebs and found a pretty solid knowledge base for the conclusion.

As for the welding, I found enough space rocks on my frame from the factory running out of shield gas that I'm sure whatever process you use it will be better than what they did.

 

[Pc3]

wish I-had your energy

 

[Turbo Zach]

I have welded a lot of stuff with my 110 volt mig I needed a bigger welder for. I found if you turn the heat up and wire speed down you can usually find a happy medium for penetration. Also don't try and weld one bead on thick steel. Perimid or bridge multiple beads. Maybe that will help? Looking good by the way!

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I have welded a lot of stuff with my 110 volt mig I needed a bigger welder for. I found if you turn the heat up and wire speed down you can usually find a happy medium for penetration. Also don't try and weld one bead on thick steel. Perimid or bridge multiple beads. Maybe that will help? Looking good by the way!

Thanks for the tip. Im gonna try that because it seemed like it was dumping too much wire for the amount of heat. They were both maxed out. So if I turn down the wire speed like you say hopefully itll get hot enough to flow into both metals. Also Are you saying to lay a bead and then lay beads on each side of the first bead?

 

[Turbo Zach]

Thanks for the tip. Im gonna try that because it seemed like it was dumping too much wire for the amount of heat. They were both maxed out. So if I turn down the wire speed like you say hopefully itll get hot enough to flow into both metals. Also Are you saying to lay a bead and then lay beads on each side of the first bead?

Those are just general tips, but yes. That is about the only way you can weld 1/4 inch + steel. Also for the guy's struggling with overhead welds, try push welding instead of drag welding. You can control the puddle better and see it better.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I've had to work pretty much the last 2 weeks so I haven't had time to get much done. I finally made the last patch for the inner rocker area.

I sanded the new metal,washed with dawn then w/g remover and rattle canned on rustoleum to the underside. Then plug welded it to the rocker and other panel at the lip the floor sits on. This was completely rotted out. From this..

To this.

Ill be able to lather epoxy all down the seam before I seam seal. I also got the seat brace out and cleaned to bare metal. Atleast 3 hrs in this brace if you include the time it took to get off the old pan, strip and paint it. #1 reason to use a parts car floor pan is the time it takes to reuse the sobs. There was no paint on the underside of the big brace.

I forgot to take a picture of it cleaned up. It came pretty clean there was some pitting but Minor enough I just sprayed 2 coats of rustoleum on it.

I started fitting the floor pan. I put it thru the window. It must've been one of those equinoxes because I could balance the floor on the firewall.

It fit pretty damn good to be honest. The rear seat area has to be modified. I guess its an elco pan. I realized I should weld the seat belt mounts before I install the floor. So I've been practicing welding 20 ga to 1/4 in steel. Im getting better bit still not ready to try on the new pan. Any suggestions are appreciated. I got the .035 flux wire for the frame and hopefully my rear seat crossmember comes in before they cancel deliveries.