hey guys, my buddy and I just pulled the pass. seat out of my t/a to see what the metal looked like underneath the carpet. there are two rusty areas-
at the front on the "hump"(it looks like it was caused partly by the heat shield that is there. there is also some rust at the back in the little concave area of the back seat footwell(in the corner). Do I really need that heat shield? I was thinking of just taking it off and leaving it off.

 

some more pics

 

t-tops leak pretty well I take it?

 

Yes, the t-top seals look pretty rough. I honestly couldn't tell you if they leak or not as the car has been inside since I bought it. I believe they do, so those will be replaced.

 

looks like you're gonna havta do some cuttin and welding, than i'd paint it with some POR-15.

 

waay ahead of ya

 

Ive got rust in the same spot in the back part of the floorpan on both sides. Looks like you will be having the same fun that im having over the next couple weeks. Have you pulled the drivers side yet? For some reason that one always tends to be the worst.

 

No,we have not pulled the driver's side up yet. I read what you wrote and went and checked underneath on the drivers side, however all I found was a hole about the size of a dime. The driver's side looks(from under-haven't pulled that side up yet lol) mint compared to the passenger side.

 

im scared to look under my carpet. i bought my car about 6 months ago. i havnt checked the carpet yet. but my t-tops leak abit. so im scared to check under the carpet now and also want to check if i got any rust at all.
i know my car is leaking somewhere under the dash by the passenger side. so im sure there rust.

but not trying to take over your thread or anytyhing.
what would be the best type of welder for this kind of work?
i dont really want to rent one but rather buy one then i can do future metal work.
i think doing the floor of the car would be the best way to learn since its getting coverd up by the carpet.
would a mig welder or an arc or a wirefeed work best?
from the local store there between $200 - $800 for welders.
if my floor is rusting i would like to fix it as fast as possible.

 

For what type of welder to use-I am using a buddies little mig welder he got from Canadian Tire it's a lincoln electric "handy core" flux core wire welder. After running a few practice spots and beads on a scrap piece and tuning the machine,I shaved my antenna. So it works alright...not as good as other machines that have shield gas and what not,but it does weld sheet metal well and the box says it'll weld up to 1/8

 

haha thats where i was going to go buy my welder from. canadian tire
sometime they go on sale. so i hopin to get one when they are on sale.
anyways. i may get this one from canadian tire. would it work for that kind of stuff?
here is the link
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

abit pricy but ill wait till it goes on sale. i seen it go down to $200 once in awhile.
they have wicked sales on there tools sometimes.
anyways would that welder work good? i know nothing about welders. but i would love to learn how to weld so i dont have to take it to a shop everytime i need something welded and pay them for it. it be cheaper in the long run if i did it anyways. im planningon doing alot of welding and it would just come in handy around the house to have if you ever needed to weld something up.

 

I myself really prefer a mig welder for body work 3 reasons
1-easier to make a nice tack weld
2-arc welders are usually "hot" when turned on, migs are not hot until you pulled the trigger
3-You don't have to change rods every five minutes just put a new roll of wire in!
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maybe it's just because most of the times I've used an arc welder, it's been welding thick metal(tractor rim) where as you are welding sheet metal

 

I say we have a Camaro vs. T/A "rust repair drag" lmfao
ready set go

 

hey you got a head start. i havnt took out my carpet yet!!
or even a welder hah.
anways they have really cheap mastercraft welders for alot cheaper.
but mastercraft is like mastercrap. i hear they suck. there great for like sockets and wrenches and what not. but not for industral work. they just suck lol

anyways ill post afew welders and you tell me which one you think i should go for.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983

it gets more expensive from the bottom. so cheaper welders are up top.
this is all freom the canadian tire website.
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ok i think my computer screwed up with the copy and paste....
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maybe not....... i dont know anymore!!!!

 

That's not a head start....that's you stalling off the line lmfao
but i liked the
Lincoln Electric MIG-Pak® 140 Wire Feed Welder it has adjustable wire speed and heat control.It looks like one of the better welders from crappy tire. I also believe there is a kit you can buy from them that makes it use shielding gas(gotta buy a cylinder and the gas)

 

the $750 one comes with everything but the cylinder though.I just use what works though.Just make sure the one you buy will weld on the gauge of material you will be welding.

 

no way im buying a $750 welder lol tho it would be really nice to have if i had the money lol

ill be welding in subframeconnectors and a rollcage eventrually. and do some inner body work and mods. i was thinking maybe the 1st one i showed you. it said it can weld to 16 guage all the way to unlimited thickness.
they keep getting different type of welders tho.
they had one that as all 3. an arc. mig and wire feed. they dont seem to have it on there website. damn canadain tire.
anyways thanks for the help and ideas :P
just you wait till i get some metal and a welder. ill be turning on the 1500 shot of nitrus and having the 6 turbos at 150 psi. and also my car will be only 1354 lbs ill fly right by so fast you wont be able to see me!
just you wait till i get me welder. muhahaha

 

lol that sucks you don't know anybody with a welder. I live outside of a small town...lotsa farmers n' such. So lotsa shops and welders torches & what not to use. I think I may try make myself a pair of subframe connectors. I can get the materials for them for around 50 bucks so...thats cheaper than any I have seen in the net lol so looks like I'm gunna build some sometime lol

 

i have a friend wih a welder but its more for like small stuff. like mini projects type things.
and i dont know anyone else who has one or even a shop for that matter.
i live in a mid size city i guess you can say. 88000 people or so.
i get paid this friday so if iget a fairly good check. im going to head over to canadian tire and see what they have.
do you know any other canadian stores that would sell welders? like maybe sears? i know zellers wont. they barly have any auto stuff. i can check the local auto part shop and see if they sell anything like that. i could check in the local paper as well for a used one. im sure i cn get a snappin deal there for a pretty good welder. just because its used to :P

 

I'm not sure 100% but I don't think Sears sells welders..try your friends on some same gauge scrap material..test the strength of the welds afterwards(twist..pull..and beat the **** out of those two pieces of scrap to with a big 'ol hammer to try get them apart--thats my strength test)
you might be able to get away with using it..just practice on scrap before hand so you can tune the machine so you don't blow holes through or anything. I would also suggest doing a lot of research on whatever type of welder you'll be using..but nothing beats practice..go buy a fender from a wreckers-chop it up--try weld it back together lol// but seriously do a search on google for different types of weld joints and practice

 

yeah that was my plan.
try awhole bunch of practicing on things. maybe try weld up a bike frame or something simple like that.
but yeah. maybe just find some cheap free scrap metal laying around at construiction sites or something like that. or even try welding up some nails togeather. pretty much anythig that is metal.
can you weld aluminum with a mig welder?

 

i believe you can...you just need to buy a spool of aluminum wire..not sure about all migs though

 

i think mayb make a wicked cool gauge cluster plate out of some aluminum or something. make it really nice and fancy. it be light to
i wounder if you can weld aluminum foil togeather.
anyways thanks for some of the info ill defentially check everything about welders.

good luck with the floor. let me know how you do and how you fixed up the floor. that would be some good info for me

 

practice on sheetmetal till you can weld your name in cursive on a piece(with no holes) and you'll be good

 

I am removing the driver's seat tommorow,as well as the carpet to check the whole floorpan.Should be able to get the passenger patched up tommorow.I'll have lotsa pictures up IF I get some new batteries for my camera lol. I'll put some pics of my shaved antenna up too.Oh yeah...you can't weld foil..go to a machine shop and tell them to make some rings out of aluminum to fit in there how you want them and w/e

 

Sears does in fact sell welders. There a bit overpriced since they have that nice little craftsman name on them however. Your lucky if your drivers side has little rust on it. Check under that firewall mat thing. I though i was in the clear till i picked that thing up. As for welding aluminum, its possible to do it the welder just has to be capable of taking aluminum wire. Watch out though when buying a welder i got one from harbor freight for christmas which ran off of 220v which consequently my house does not have so i had to send it back. Since im going back to school in a week i dont have time for the right welder to come in so im paying a guy at the local body shop 150 bucks to patch up my huge hole. Which doesnt seem to bad for me. The welder will have to wait. Harborfreight is probably the best place to look for welders also. They have a 120 dollar mig welder that i have heard works really well. Its what i will be investing in over the next few months.

 

Never even heard of Harbour Freight.......except on here

 

your house does have 220V. you have to use the plug from the dryer. thats the only downside unless you have a shop that has 220v. i think thats the only place in the house that has 220... anyways.
ill take a quick look around for some welders. i dont want any chincy welder eather. something half decent. i was thinking maybe in the $350 - $400 range.

 

ya..the welder Im using is fairly chincy lol...Im not going to buy a welder until I can a tig...IMHO they are far superior to any arc or mig..but also more $

 

a tig welder. what kind of weld dio they do?

 

umm a tig weld lol...very clean..very precise..very pretty as well

 

a tig welder is like the king of welders then?

 

depends on the application..for production(assembly lines) migs are king
i just like the fact that with a tig..you can weld things like say...a thin piece of sheet metal to a piece of 1/4 inch plate and get full penetration on both pieces. With a tig...you use a filler rod..so you add the exact amount you need.There's is much less of a risk of heat distortion with a tig...the tig is so accurate you can make an arc on a piece...wait until a little molten puddle starts to form and you can litterally hold that puddle for hours!

 

hey..just took the carpet out..lol found some rust lol...doesn't scare me though! I should have it entirely cleaned up tommorow. Day after that I'll start making patches. Day after that I'll start welding them in.

 

one more

 

that doesnt seem to bad. i seen alot worse.
what is the thickness on the sheetmetal you using??
i dont want to get to thin of stuff i dont what to overkill it with heavy duty stuff.

 

I have not bought the metal yet. I may scrounge around in my buddies scrap bin to see if anything in there is usable...to save some cha-ching!lol

 

do you think you can take some photos of what you cut out before you weld in the sheetmetal???

 

sure can

 

well my day is kinda bumbed out haha.
i found out my $200 honda civic blew a headgasket. so i gotta fix that up sometime soon but i dont have anymoney!!!
so i gotta drive it for awhole week.
and theres so much water in the valve cover. its really bad. it looks like whip cream under the cap.
thats gunna put a ding on working on my camaro for abit till i get that all cleaned out and fixed
i guess you get what you paid forhaha

 

Subscribing.. interested in seeing some pics of what you cut out also

 

I've finished the passenger side! I don't have pics on the computer I'm using right now but there is another thread called "my rusty floor"....or something like that. It has pics of the first two passenger patches in. I replaced the whole top section of the "hump". What I did with my patches was make a rough paper stencil.Then I transferred it to steel, cut it out, then smashed, bent etc. etc. until it was the right shape, then I cut that piece out of the floor. I made the patches about one half inch bigger on all sides.

 

i just ripped out the interior of my car and doing the exact same thing. but i just got surface rust. so its not as bad as yours.
te passenger side is the worst tho. there is just one rust hole and i can see the ground threw it. its about 4ish inched long by 1 inch wide? its right in the corner to. i bought a sheet of sheetmetal that would do the job. i bought extra just incase. but from the looks of it i got plenty of metal to work with to fix the hole.
i would love to see what it looks like im just about done the driver side then moving on to the passenger side.