Altho I am betting there is no hope for me, anyone having suggestions,
please shout out! The issue is, I am working on the lower inside door
panels. I cut the perfect hole, clamped the new piece in place in the
perfect way, spot welded the piece about every 5 inches across to hold it in
so I wouldnt warp the piece, and then disaster!!! I am so bummed out.
I tried to connect the first spot welds together running a bead across. I
then moved to the opposite side of the door to run the next bead so as not
to build up too much heat and warp the material. Guess what? Yes, you are
correct.. you get the blue banana! It warped anyway. It warped badly. It is
so warped that I now have to decide how to fix the problem. My choices are:
1) Bondo the crap out of it.. not an option since this truck is destined to
be perfect.
2) Buy another repro panel and try again.. not an option since I warped more
material than the repro panel covers.
3) Buy a better door.. one that has no rust thru thus no need to weld
anything. Not an option because this is not just about building the perfect
truck. Its about learning how to overcome these obstacles in the most
professional way possible and learning how to do it myself.
4) Cut the warped part out and weld a new piece in. OK, I can do this but I
am scared to after the fiasco I just created for myself.
I thought I did everything right. I have a Lincoln SP175 Plus (220v GMAW)
and it has voltage and great wire feed adjustments. I had an experience
welder show me how to use it but I didnt like how he did it (I know.. but
wait!). He had me put the welder on "E" and "6" which is moderate voltage
and moderate wire feed. But on these thin panels, I observed quickly that if
you set it that high, you succeed only in burning holes thru the metal. I
put it on "C" and "4". Lower voltage allowing me to take my time and put
down a nicer bead with less wire. He also has me using straight Co2.
So, now that I am totally at a loss to know what to do next, what are your
suggestions? Would the 20/80 Argon Gas make any difference? Is the lower
voltage somehow causing more heat? Should I be waiting longer to let the
panel cool before proceeding? Are there any tricks that I dont know? I am
new at this so any help would be appreciated. My plan is to use virtually no
bondo on this truck but to add enough weld to smooth it to near perfect.
Thanks in advance!
Deve Krehbiel
Hesston, Kansas
1950 3100 * 1949 3600
www.speedprint.com/Deves50/index.html
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
|