Well I'm getting ready to order a set of SFC's for the bird. I've searched the boards, everyone loves them and everyone agrees they should be welded in. I could theoretically just take it to a shop and get them welded in after they're bolted up.

BUT, my car is strictly a personal project, I like to do everything on my own. It's more about the experience than anything else for me. I'm an OK welder with my cheap stick welder. Wondering if a stick welder would do the job here? I usually weld up angle-iron projects or mild plate steel around 1/8" thickness.

I'm afraid of blowing a hole through the stock rail or floor. How thick is this metal, and would I be a dummy for trying it? It's a pretty clean car so I don't want to ruin it. I also have access to a flux core wire feed unit my buddy has, just the harbor freight job. If the stick won't do it, would the wire feed work?

Also wondering if anyone has an idea what scrap type metals I could use to simulate this welding job. I have a few riding lawn mowers that are basically scrap metal, so would a mower hood or floorpan and a piece of mild tubing be similar thicknesses? Practice would probably help me out

 

Take the car to a reputable welder that can MIG everything in properly.

 

That defeats the purpose for me. I'm trying to learn a new skill, and how to do it properly. Performance is not the primary concern here.

 

Get you a MIG. It will "pay" for itself after you weld a few things up. For practice? Yeah....Scrap metal is best & if you have anyone who can weld to teach you? Go for it. Learning to weld is a skill that you will never regret having!

 

Although I didn't weld it myself (my friend used his Mig), I participated in everything else.

The first step is to decide your budget and which brand that falls into.

Next, READ THE MANUFACTURERS DIRECTIONS. This is important as brands will differ and they are based on their installs onto third gens. For example, I bought Hotchkis. Prior to the install, I gave copies to my helpers so everyone had a basic knowledge of the job in advance, since none of us had done this before. Hotchkis stressed having the suspension 'loaded', so I found a drive-on lift. Had I not read that and used a more commonly available lift, who knows what the results may have been.

Test fit everything first, take measurements, clean the area, grind where the instructions say to etc. I needed a scrap piece over the front passenger side since a previous owner had caused damage by jacking the car in the wrong place. The only other mod done was heating part of the exhaust to make a slight bend. The drivers side is a quick and easy install. The passenger side - assumedly regardless of brand - will be more difficult.

My advice would be this: most any SFC will do thin trick. In advance of purchase, view PDF instructions from the contenders to see which brand's install looks most comfortable to you. Good luck!

 

Anyone have any idea of the gauge or thickness of the body sheetmetal at the weld spots?

 

We just did a set on a house car and the sheetmetal was about 2 gauges thinner than the SFC. Fortunately, one of our professional welders stitched them in so he knew how to direct the heat to the SFC and less toward the sheetmetal.

The biggest tip is to make sure both pieces are clean and shiny. Powder coat off the SFC, undercoating off the car.

ramey

 

You cannot use a stick, you will blow right through the car.

The metal at the rear lca point is quick thick, probably 14ga equivelent, maybe a hair +/-. The pinch rails are 3 or so layers of sheetmetal, probably 20ga each tops, it that. Some parts of the subframe are a couple sheets thick others are single of similar light gauge steel.

The whole deal is hit or miss on thickness, you will have to look over the areas in quesstion before weling to figure the thickness. A mig will be the best bet here, and preferably not a flux core wire.

If you are still learing to weld, practice a lot more with thinner metals before trying to work on the car. Be wair you may need to liftg the carpet or you may set the car on fire. And you wil be welding at odd angles and upside down, that will also require practice.

 

Thanks 86TA. I'm definitely still learning, even though I don't get a chance to practice a ton, I'm kind of maxed out on stick projects. I do think its time to graduate to mig. I found a few co2 tanks in my garage, they're out of date, but maybe I can get them re-certed and filled with co2/argon. I hear straight co2 works too. Any thoughts there? Then I figure a harbor freight mig rig will get me going until I really learn the ropes.

Seems like a good time to install a nice new carpet too.

 

Make sure that any welder you think about is capable of gas shielded welding. Mine hase a port on the back for the CO2 gas. Also I need to switch my polarity when going from flux core to gas shielded welding.
In any welding you need to get and kkep an arc. This is almost automatic with a MIG. What I do with differing thicknesses is to start my arc and puddle on the thicker metal and drag it to the thinner. With the right settings and practice this works quite well. If done wrong you can still melt thru the thinner metal. Welding upside down is not that hard but requires some practice as well as vertical welding. The other concern is that you may have a hard time getting into a comfortable position and or have relatively poor vision of where you are welding. Once again practice.
I have used both 110 and 220 volt MIG's and like both for different work. For the lighter I prefer the 110 but have welded 14 ga sheetmetal together with the 220 volt machines. I personally have a 110 volt Miller that I bought many years ago. If you buy one make sure that replacement contact tips and liners are available. I would also be sure that it can use the large roll of wire if you will ever be doing much with it. Not just the 2lb rolls, fit a 10 lb roll also.
Just a little info to help you choose and be happy with your purchase.

 

1- you can use a stick, i used stick a 70xx series rod to put my GW SFC in my '83 TA. You direct the heat at the edge of the SFC plate so you don't get as much heat into the body metal and it's OK. Smaller diameter rod is also helpful, expecially if you're tacking it to the rocker pinch seam
2- Most of that metal is around 18ga
3- If you want to buy a welder for it, any small MIG can do it, if you're doing it outside I would recommend using flux core, if your doing it inside then MIG with shielding gas will work.
4- it's more about the prep and technique than about the process.

 

It seems like the SFC being on the bottom and the thin stuff above it, that it wouldn't be too bad to draw the heat upward. Looks like I'm going to chop up some riding lawnmower hoods and some tubing scrap and try to mock up the process.

So far my #1 realization is that it's all in the prep, and an auto darkening helmet is a must if your a newbie like me. The new helmet ($10, yard sale score) basically eliminated 98% of the problems I had. I also picked up a free bunch of bricks, and I use bricks and c-clamps to jig up my angle projects on concrete. I had myself thinking I'd fab the SFC's myself at first but I guess you can't do it all.

 

As 83 Crossfire TA said it is mostly about prep and technique. This means to be familiar with the welder and rods etc you are going to use. I have plenty of practice on thin metal so it is not an issue for me. I will agree that you can do it with a stick welder also. You just need to know what you are doing. Most people tend to blow holes in anything under 14 ga with a stick but thinner like 18 can be done. Just some skill and proper technique that many do not have. Me included.