BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
Thinner material will want the .023 wire. It can be done w/thicker .030 w/someone that's skilled & uses it a lot or when using a high end welding machine w/larger scale control on the settings.
Most automotive sheet metal (especially aftermarket replacement sheet metal) you would want to utilize the thinner wire.
You've summed up my skills right there. I use .025 for everything. I bought one 1lb spool of .030 and threw it away lol.
I can use the thicker stuff on thin (sheet metal) but it's tricky so it's usually determined by how big the job is. Multiple plug/patches on a firewall or doing patch panel stuff I'll swap to the smaller wire. If it's a super-small job & I have the thicker .030 spooled already, I'll usually go in slo-mo so I don't have to waste the wire that's already in the line. Even then sometimes I 've had to switch depending on the task.
This is the main reason I've been considering getting a 110v TIG set-up as they're easier to turn the heat down low enough. I want to do SS exhausts as a side gig/bartering tool for other stuff I'm not well versed on as I get closer to retirement age. I've mig'd one but you lose the benefits of using the stainless @ the seams when you mig it. The others I've done I just build the sections & get a buddy that does SS food-industry piping for a living to melt them together.
Thanks, and yep - .023 wire in the trusty ole Miller glue gun. I jokingly call it that because it’s just a little 110v unit, but I have welded up to 3/16” material with it. You’ve just gotta prep and bevel the material properly, and then usually a root pass with a couple cover passes.
My machine is capable of running .030 wire as well, but I generally don’t bother. Not very much I do with this 110v machine would really require it. Now if it was a convertible 110/220v, then that might be a different story.
Seriously thinking about stepping up my welding game to TiG, but currently the initial cost outlay and steep learning curve is making me a little reluctant.
I'll call your bluff, you can borrow my Tig anytime....
I'd kinda like to see what you can do with it to be honest. Make the hacks like me and Mike look bad.
I'll call your bluff, you can borrow my Tig anytime....
I'd kinda like to see what you can do with it to be honest. Make the hacks like me and Mike look bad.
Hahaha, tbh I’d kinda like to see what I could do with one and a little practice myself. Another buddy of mine once told me it’d be scary to see what I could do with a TiG and the knowledge of how to really use it.
Feel free to bring it down one of these days and give me a crash course on how to use it. It just might influence my decision to get one.
😉
Back on the build, Mike and I had a monstrously productive day yesterday. To the tune of 8 hours in The Skunkworks actually.
Not only did I get the rust patch knocked out in the morning, but Mike got his patch on the inner rocker on the driver’s side done as well. Then we both tackled the crossmember recess together.
I fabricated a new boxed section for the driver’s side and cut out the damaged section in the floor while he was finishing up his patch.
As you can see, we had pretty mercilessly beat the ever loving pi$$ out of the floor to get the car to sit down on the frame rails. Not our finest hour for sure, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do even if temporarily. Thankfully the bulk of the damage was confined to the area directly above the crossmember hump and not too far into the surrounding floor. I’ll have a little bit of hammer and dolly work to do, but it’s very minor.
We worked together and slowly trimmed/test fit/trimmed/test fit over and over until we got the new boxed section fitting beautifully.
The really good news is that this side won’t require near as extensive modifications as the other side. No need to create a dropped recess in this one for the seat bracket, and no catalytic converter hump to contend with. Thankfully we were able to get away with merely selectively trimming the seat bracket to get everything fitting correctly:
As you can see, it’s gonna take some work to get it closed back in and strengthened, but compared to the other side, it’s going to be very minimal.
It was nice to see this pile of scrap metal growing as we were working. Goodbye (s)crap!
Tonight I’ll be starting on refining the fitment, dollying out the remaining floor, and figuring out a plan of attack to get it tied in as seamlessly as possible like the other side.
Thinking bead roller with the heaviest stepped dies…
D.
Not only did I get the rust patch knocked out in the morning, but Mike got his patch on the inner rocker on the driver’s side done as well. Then we both tackled the crossmember recess together.
I fabricated a new boxed section for the driver’s side and cut out the damaged section in the floor while he was finishing up his patch.
As you can see, we had pretty mercilessly beat the ever loving pi$$ out of the floor to get the car to sit down on the frame rails. Not our finest hour for sure, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do even if temporarily. Thankfully the bulk of the damage was confined to the area directly above the crossmember hump and not too far into the surrounding floor. I’ll have a little bit of hammer and dolly work to do, but it’s very minor.
We worked together and slowly trimmed/test fit/trimmed/test fit over and over until we got the new boxed section fitting beautifully.
The really good news is that this side won’t require near as extensive modifications as the other side. No need to create a dropped recess in this one for the seat bracket, and no catalytic converter hump to contend with. Thankfully we were able to get away with merely selectively trimming the seat bracket to get everything fitting correctly:
As you can see, it’s gonna take some work to get it closed back in and strengthened, but compared to the other side, it’s going to be very minimal.
It was nice to see this pile of scrap metal growing as we were working. Goodbye (s)crap!
Tonight I’ll be starting on refining the fitment, dollying out the remaining floor, and figuring out a plan of attack to get it tied in as seamlessly as possible like the other side.
Thinking bead roller with the heaviest stepped dies…
D.
x2.w/the amount of metal finishing you do you'd love it.it dresses far easier than a mig.it's not as hard as a mig either so you can actually planish it.learning curve??large,still worth it.can't argue with the mig though.
x2. TIG is much more malleable which you know is a good thing when working w/sheet metal.
