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Yes it is. He is the strong silent type and when I ask him for advice he says nothing, but likes to keep me company. He wants to go for a ride, but I told him we will have to leave the T-tops on.
I've made a little more progress and hid to drill/pop the heads off a couple of screws. The header on the drivers side is a bit of a rusted together mess. Hard to tell where each piece started/ended. Someone put some kind of rubber/PVC in the corner that doesn't look factory.
My wife ordered a MIG/wire welder for me for Christmas. I am getting the adapter for spot welding, should I go plug weld for the corner piece or spot weld. I have the pliers with the copper backing plate for this purpose of reducing the chance of burn through. I plan to try both on some 18 ga. mild steel first.
I know that when doing work like this..."WHERE DO I STOP" is often asked. RUST is some relentless crap.
When I am working in an area like this where I really need to do more but the owner does not want to get into a full blown tear down. I make sure the areas that I am going to weld parts onto are clean (obviously)...BUT...what I also do is use a 'weld-thru' coating that I can apply on the cleaned steel and the new part itself so when I am welding a part OVER the previously rusted area...it now has a protective coating so it does not rust right away.
And this 'idea' is often times not received well because WHY do it when the rest of the steel is rusty where you can't get to it. BUT...I do it anyway....it seems to be the way to do it. Because this aerosol weld thru coating is not cheap...and many people look at it as a waste of money because there is rust in other ares..
I myself...because this areas is NOT seen....I would plug weld it and not waste my time on trying to spot-weld it.
The pliers you have are not needed....BECAUSE...you drill holes that you will fill in with weld in the NEW PART....and leave the original frame alone....and by NO HOLES are in the original frame...you have a backing so your weld does not fall through a hole in the original frame MAKE SENSE???
I know that when doing work like this..."WHERE DO I STOP" is often asked. RUST is some relentless crap.
When I am working in an area like this where I really need to do more but the owner does not want to get into a full blown tear down. I make sure the areas that I am going to weld parts onto are clean (obviously)...BUT...what I also do is use a 'weld-thru' coating that I can apply on the cleaned steel and the new part itself so when I am welding a part OVER the previously rusted area...it now has a protective coating so it does not rust right away.
And this 'idea' is often times not received well because WHY do it when the rest of the steel is rusty where you can't get to it. BUT...I do it anyway....it seems to be the way to do it. Because this aerosol weld thru coating is not cheap...and many people look at it as a waste of money because there is rust in other ares..
I myself...because this areas is NOT seen....I would plug weld it and not waste my time on trying to spot-weld it.
The pliers you have are not needed....BECAUSE...you drill holes that you will fill in with weld in the NEW PART....and leave the original frame alone....and by NO HOLES are in the original frame...you have a backing so your weld does not fall through a hole in the original frame MAKE SENSE???
DUB
Thanks Dub! I think I have located the kind of spray you are talking about and while not cheap it seems worth the cost to reduce the amount of rust in the newly welded area. I am also considering spraying a rust converter inside the areas I can reach in the windshield frame.
I emailed the company that removed the windshield and will install a new one to see what kind of adhesive will be used. I want to make sure whatever product I put on the pinch weld is compatible with the adhesive. I have not heard back from them yet.
Thanks again, Dub. You've got a lot of great suggestions. There is one small area circled in red where I might cut out a small piece and weld in a patch between 2 of the original spot welds. Considering where it is I might just clean it up, prime and paint it.
My MIG welder just arrived today and my wife will be wrapping it up for me for Christmas. I hope I am surprised. I need to get some mild steel to practice on.
Can't see much here, too blurry
This is the only area I have found that is thin.
I need to do some grinding where I cut out the spot welds for the corner piece.
Another view of the thin spot.
Last edited by JimLentz; Dec 30, 2015 at 08:03 AM.
Actually the spot that you circled...I would not worry about. Once you get the corner gusset in place....you can turn down your heat setting and weld it in from the top side and grind it off. No one would know the difference....because you would be using the new corner gusset as a backer for the area your ground out...so you can weld it and the weld will fill in what you ground out and also be welded to the gusset. Turning the heat down can aid in not blowing hole in your new gusset...or....keeping the heat range up....and welding for 1-2 seconds and letting it cool for a minute and then weld it again...then let it cool...and so on until you have it filled up to the top edge.
KEEP IN MIND.. when you do something like this you have to take into account that the first weld you make...the metal is COLD....and each and every time you do a weld IN THE SAME AREA for a second or two is adding to the heat of the steel.....which if the temp range of the welder is high...and the metal is thin....the metal...even though looks COLD...is HOT...and the welder....due to the heat range that it is set at can easily blow a hole in the steel due to the steel was not allowed to cool for a bit. OR ..turn down you heat range. You will see how fast the steel can turn cherry red when the pre-heat on the steel is high...sometimes it is a bright orange. REALLY HOT....or WHITE HOT which is where the metal is very near the liquid state and literally fall out.
DUB, It all makes sense to me and although I'm not the OP, I too have some welding on my windshield frame in my future and your experience and advice is GREATLY appreciated!!
Actually the spot that you circled...I would not worry about. Once you get the corner gusset in place....you can turn down your heat setting and weld it in from the top side and grind it off. No one would know the difference....because you would be using the new corner gusset as a backer for the area your ground out...so you can weld it and the weld will fill in what you ground out and also be welded to the gusset. Turning the heat down can aid in not blowing hole in your new gusset...or....keeping the heat range up....and welding for 1-2 seconds and letting it cool for a minute and then weld it again...then let it cool...and so on until you have it filled up to the top edge.
KEEP IN MIND.. when you do something like this you have to take into account that the first weld you make...the metal is COLD....and each and every time you do a weld IN THE SAME AREA for a second or two is adding to the heat of the steel.....which if the temp range of the welder is high...and the metal is thin....the metal...even though looks COLD...is HOT...and the welder....due to the heat range that it is set at can easily blow a hole in the steel due to the steel was not allowed to cool for a bit. OR ..turn down you heat range. You will see how fast the steel can turn cherry red when the pre-heat on the steel is high...sometimes it is a bright orange. REALLY HOT....or WHITE HOT which is where the metal is very near the liquid state and literally fall out.
Understand??? Make sense???
DUB
Dub,
It does make sense and thanks again for your input! I am getting close to doing the welding and just picked up the filled C25 tank last night. I purchased it at a place that wasn't a welding place and they were pretty confused but it worked out. I need to do some grinding and cleaning up after I practice my welding technique. The welder I purchased has a continuously variable current range, which should help. I don't have many welds to do, so don't mind doing a little and letting the area cool before doing more.
Last edited by JimLentz; Dec 30, 2015 at 08:01 AM.
KEEP IN MIND.....YEAH...more to add. That the BEST weld (strongest) is a weld where when you weld...GRAVITY pulls the weld into the metal. Much like you welding on a plate that is sitting flat on a table...and your welder head is basically pointing to the floor.
VERTICAL welds...are still good welds....but can react differently ...depending on your wire speed and heat range.
The FUN ones are OVER HEAD welds ..or...upside down welds. Where some welding machines have a reverse polarity setting. If you welder does not....and obviously you can not flip the car over....just keep in mind that you need to watch what you are doing or you will have a BLOB fall down on you. AND by WATCHING what you are doing...you WILL KNOW that you are getting good penetration in the weld. And I do not mean that you go up and weld it for a 1/4 second because you are afraid of messing up. SO PRACTICE so you can see what I am talking about.
I just finished watching the short DVD that came with the welder. It was a good intro to welding, but didn't have the specific tips you are providing Dub. It didn't mention anything about the orientation of the metal you are welding, but that sure seems important. I can change the polarity on the welder pretty easily. I do need to do some practice welds before I start on the real thing. Thanks again for all the great tips!
I just finished watching the short DVD that came with the welder. It was a good intro to welding, but didn't have the specific tips you are providing Dub. It didn't mention anything about the orientation of the metal you are welding, but that sure seems important. I can change the polarity on the welder pretty easily. I do need to do some practice welds before I start on the real thing. Thanks again for all the great tips!
The best thing you can do at this point. Understand what you are doing with it and get comfortable.
I've ordered some mild steel to practice welding on and have ground out all but 2 of the spot welds. It is a lot easier to grind out the spot welds when you do it right. It has been too cold to do anything out in the garage recently. It was -3 when I drove into work this morning.
Yeah the cold weather has slowed me down on my project as well. It's 6 here right now. But, what I wanted to say is that when I weld , I like to "sweat" my weld area with a propane torch. I hit the area with the flame to drive the moisture out. As you heat the area you will see the moisture come up out of the metal and dry out. Then I weld. That's just the way I do it.
Yeah the cold weather has slowed me down on my project as well. It's 6 here right now. But, what I wanted to say is that when I weld , I like to "sweat" my weld area with a propane torch. I hit the area with the flame to drive the moisture out. As you heat the area you will see the moisture come up out of the metal and dry out. Then I weld. That's just the way I do it.
Just catching up on this thread today I've been very busy. I see you got your welder... that's great and like Dub said... practice (and more practice). When I hired Kevin years ago he'd never welded anything.. now he's way better than I am.
On the windshield frames... If I'm using new parts I always use the spot welder just like GM did when they assembled the frames new. You can emulate a spot weld by drilling a hole in the new corner and then puddle fill the hole with weld.
Willcox
Last edited by Willcox Corvette; Jan 18, 2016 at 11:09 PM.
The best thing you can do at this point. Understand what you are doing with it and get comfortable.
