TomP

I did my "emergency welding" yesterday on that wheel well crack, and it came out great! The welds came out perfect. It's not one long bead, but a bunch of spot welds, done every few inches, and then going back in between the welds for every few inches, etc. Gotta weld that way to keep the thin sheetmetal from warping. I drilled a hole at the narrow end, the "growing" end of the crack, to stop the crack, and then I welded the hole shut.

Then I tried to fab a quick patch panel out of some 22 gauge steel, but it came out like crap. Er, well, it came out great for the little bit of time and zero measuring I did.. but I know I could've done much better. Plus, there wasn't too much original metal to weld the patch panel too, and I didn't bother to remove the protective coating of oil from the new steel (which led to poor weld quality).

It's strange, but the car feels more sturdy. I guess I should've expected that, but it's still strange to feel it. Even the fiance' thinks it feels sturdier, and she says her door is easier to open! So I guess I did something right!

I also did something absolutely STUPID. Plan was, raise the car with a hydraulic jack under the rear lower control arm, and put a jackstand on the frame just in front of the rear LCA. The idea was to have the car resting on the jackstand, instead of the tire, to put some stress just before the crack- to make the crack close. Well, I raised the car up, and tested the jackstand; nope, not enough room, gotta put the hydraulic jack closer to the tire. So I slid the jackstand outta the way, and let the car drop FAST! (Tire was only an inch off the ground). I heard the crunch of rust, and figured it was just some loose rust getting bounced around. "Good thing I'm welding this crack shut", I thought... I pulled the hydraulic jack out from under the LCA, and as I backed up to wheel the jack into position, I noticed something- The Jackstand, under the floorboard. Sht!! Yep, I dropped the car right on the jackstand, and put a hole thru the floor. The crunch wasn't rust, it was the tearing of metal. Stupid, stupid. Oh well. Thank goodness I can weld, or I'd be much more upset. Still, what a dumb thing to do.

I took some pen-cam pics, I'll try to get 'em up tomorrow!

Dale

iTrader: (12)

Hate it when that happens!!!!!!!!

Glad to here you finally making progress on your own car. Even helps when the woman complements your work.

I had a major this weekend. My woman told me that when I go to do my engine swap, she wants to help. I was like breathless then she actually wants to help.

Joe_L

I remember on my previous car, an Oldsmobile one time I was changing rear brakes, and had jack stands under it. When I removed them I stupidly removed one and let the car fall on the other one cause I just dropped the jack quick; it put a big crack in the semi unibody piece under the car. It happens to all of us Tom, Just being able to weld would have been a benefit in that situation.

As for welding you should take some pics of these welds with the dig. camera you have. and post.

TomP

Hehe, yeah, any time the door opens easier for her, she's happy. She was pulling the handle and elbow-checking the door to get it to open; kinda funny. Now she just pulls the handle and gives it a normal push. But I can't replace the door until I replace the 1/4 panel; why ruin another good door, ya know? I'm hoping to find a rust-free door with good hinges, then I'll score on both counts. If the door was rust free (rusting out at inside bottom), I'd just get lonsal's hinge kit.

And yep, I took pictures with my cheap pen cam; here they are:

Pic 1 of 3... can't see the crack too well. I removed the undercoating with a wire wheel in a drill. Then I used one of those rust/paint remover discs in the same drill to get to bare metal. Note the little "circle" of bare metal above the crack- that was for my magnetic welding clamp adapter.

TomP

Pic 2 of three, you see my magnetic welding clamp adapter and the crack getting welded up. Like I said, it's a bunch of spot welds, spaced apart, so the metal doesn't warp. Then you go back and fill in the gaps, go back again, etc. I should've taken a pic of the back of the crack (from inside the car), the heat discoloration looked like I got perfect penetration thru the crack. The sheetmetal is THIN! I'm guessing 26 gauge? Note the big blob at the left (made up of a few spot welds); that's the hole I drilled to relieve the crack's stress.

TomP

Final 3 of 3, you see my quick attempt at a patch panel, to the right of the crack. (Notice the thin strip of sheet metal?)

In the first pic of this set, notice the setup for plug-welding; I drilled some holes around the perimeter of the rust hole. The idea behind plug welding is similar to spot-welding- you join the two pieces of metal by filling in the hole. (Spot welding = no hole, just concentrated heat). You can see two of the holes at the bottom left of the "b" in "Photo by TomP", and two holes below the space between "by" and "TomP".

Second pic shows how I "clamped" the patch panel in, 3rd pic shows the crappy weld job holding the crappy patch panel in.

Dale

iTrader: (12)

I wanna see a pic of the hole in the floor

TomP

Uh, er, my camera mysteriously won't work anymore...

Project: 85 2.8 bird

put a hole in the floor :sillylol: , and I thought I was bad by forgetting to put the splash sheild on the driverside steering knunkle.
I also thought by emergency welding you broke out the ol' battery, jumper cables & pocket full of change guess it pays to have the right tools & know how to use them.

Dale

iTrader: (12)

Thats funny tom, I thought on another post you said you would take a pic at lunch time and post for them

TomP

Um, well, ah, it seems to have to do with... angle!! Yeah, the angle. When I tilt the camera down to get a pic of the floor, it.. stops... working. Yep. Doesn't do it.

And yeah, I heard that too, about jumper cables & pocket change... I guess I wasn't doing true "emergency welding"- but it was emergency enough not to have the crack bust all the way through. I could just see my car snapping in half while I was driving- ouch!

Dale

iTrader: (12)

I shall stay in hidden mode and wait tell I see a pic Hope its not to big, and atleast it didn't get the gas tank.

Patching gas tanks aren't fun. I was installing a neon light in a 2001 sunfire, and when the drill went thru the floor, about .5 sec later I was thru the gas tank?? damn plastic gas tanks!!!. Couple hours and some jb weld took care of that. Dude didn't even have it registered yet.

TomP

Plastic gas tanks?!?! Geez, I'd hate to see how fast that explodes if the car ever catches on fire. Some Jeeps were recalled because of explosions... they had aluminum fuel lines that would melt if the car caught on fire. So instead of the car slowly turning into a fireball, it became an instant fireball.