On the inner door of my Eastwood welder it has all the proper settings for the welder when ever you are welding different thickness steel and whether you are using solid core or flux core wire.
So far I’ve been using their recommended settings and all has worked good.

Another necessary item to purchase is good welding blankets.
If I’m welding in the garage I move anything flammable away from the area and cover everything else with the welding blankets.
When I had to weld the clutch Z bar bracket onto the frame, I covered all the surrounding components which protected them from the heat and all the splatter.

 

Sounds like you got a great rig! Having those controls built in to simplify things makes for a smart purchase for us novice, part time welders. Very good ideas on the blankets. I wonder, due to both cost and flexability if the heavy duty tin foil would also keep things safe in the immediate vicinity. Why do I ask? Because I'm a cheap bastard, so long as the cheap solution is effective. Tin foil is my go to if pressure washing and engine bay, to wrap around fuse/relay boxes or other areas I don't want getting wet. It is so moldable/wraps around stuff and can be secured using just itself, vs strings, tape, etc and holds in place well. Just thinking out loud.

 

That all sounds great. I think I was spoiled by the ones they had there...

The front was a LCD screen with a walk through menu (material thickness, wire gauge, gas, etc), which made all the voltage and amperage settings, wire feed, etc for you. I'm starting to think that may be outside my price range...

 

My welder was inexpensive and runs off my 120vac 20amp outlets in my garage.
It has been great for building my Corvette.
It will weld up to 1/4” steel using flux core wire without gas.

 

I dig it, I've seen there's a huge range of options. When I installed the oven for powdercoating, I used a 50A breaker, 6/3 romex, and a 50A outlet. The goal was double duty for the oven and potential welder, so I know I'm covered. It's on the wall right next to a 30A I installed originally, and all the wall outlets are 20A. I have options whichever way I go, now I'm trying to learn which matter?

I know I don't need the biggest, fanciest thing out there. I know there's bells and whistles that are more bragging rights than actually useful to me right now. I'm trying to wrap my head around "what will help me as I'm trying to practice my skills" and "what will I wish I'd bought if I'm still using it in 10 years?". I'm NOT trying to buy "fancy schmancy looking, bragging rights that don't add value" and "this will work for a shop that has 50 employees".

Watching a bunch of videos, but would appreciate input from you guys that have been using them for a while.

 

I’ve used my Eastwood mig135 for several things on my build like finishing the factory stitch welds on the top and bottom of the frame.
It was a big job and my welder worked fine.
I welded several brackets and gussets to strengthen the frame without issue.
I’ve used it for several projects around the house and it hasn’t failed me yet, nor have I needed a bigger welder.
I think for what I use it for it has been a perfect choice.
Do I wish I would have purchased the next level up?
Yes, but going any bigger than the one I have or the next power level up would be bigger, heavier, would take a 220vac 30 amp circuit, which I have for our electric clothes dryer, and would cost much more money.
Actually, I don’t think Eastwood makes the welder I currently have and their smallest mig welder is their mig145, and that is all I can ever see the need for doing any car project or welding home projects.

 

Thanks for the reference point. I've been checking out welders at that power level and have been wondering if they'll meet my needs or not. I have a decent shop by me, but I don't know them well enough to know if they'll help me find the right rig or try to upsell me.
A friend of mine is an occasional welder and said he has one I can borrow to see if it meets my needs. I'll probably start there and see where it leads me.

Meanwhile, back at the powder coating oven...

Before: blasted a couple of months ago, sprayed with fast etch.


I wiped it down with pre, coated it, and cooked it for 30 mins.


Definitely not my best results. I think I'm going to have to try to clean things better that have been sitting with fast etch on them...

Next, cleaning off the last few front end suspension parts. I spent 10-15 minutes scraping dirt and grease off the spindle. That pile is ONE spindle's built up gunk...


Then I wipe it down with degreaser and wrapped heavy duty duct tape around the spindle. All the prep keeps most of the junk out of the blasting cabinet. That's a good thing for continued re-use of the media and keeping it from gumming up over time.



Lastly, results after just 15 minutes or so in the blast cabinet.


Trying to decide whether or not to PC it before or after I run it over to a machine shop? It's not in the worst shape, but not perfect either. I'm thinking about seeing if they can polish it up. Thoughts?

All that's left to clean up from the front suspension are the front rotors. They'll likely be taking a trip over to see if they can be resurfaced. I'm thinking of blasting and PC them first, but have the same questions there as on the spindles.

 

I know the powder coat shop I’ve used, dips items in a degreaser, rinse, then bake them at a high heat to bake out anything still on the parts before they apply powder.

 

I’m thinking after. It keeps you in control of who could possibly put chips in it before it gets back on the car.

Looks great though!

 

Hmm, interesting. I hadn't considered baking them before coating, I'll have to try that today.

That's what I was thinking, I'm a bit worried about screwing up their work with my amateur PC skills though...

Yesterday's work: A whole new pile of parts to finish disassembling, cleanup, PC.



Almost a completely stripped frame, just a couple more things to remove before I start the once-over and consider next step on it. The goal was to have it ready for re-assembly when it warms up in the spring, and I should make it no problem.

 

Great progress my friend! Yeah, at the rate you are knocking stuff out, I think springtime can be acheived.

 

I did all THAT 12 years ago.........BUT YOU'RE STILL ABOUT TO PASS ME UP !

 

Big step and great progress.

 

I just found this thread yesterday, and read all the way through it. Wow - you do not mess around. Great progress!

 

Thanks everyone!!! I'm still having a ton of fun, so it's easy to get back out to the garage. I think it's my OCD, but removing nasty looking parts, blasting them clean and powdercoating them to look better than new is fun for me. I was reading through the assembly guide over the weekend and it was pretty overwhelming! I'm going to focus on just doing one small thing at a time and see where that gets us.

I'm taking a couple of days off for Thanksgiving and I'm hoping to keep making progress. The short term goals are:

• Remove the rear crossmember. That **** is stuck on, so I need to do some research on strategies to remove it
• Take the frame outside and pressure wash it. There's a ton of dirt and grime on it still and I want to get a good look at it.
• Give the frame a whole once-over, then practice my new welding skills fixing up anything wrong with the frame (I haven't found anything yet, so cross your fingers for me when I flip it over

If I can get all that done by the end of the weekend I can try to schedule dropping the frame for PCing drop off in the next week or two. I'll be happy if I can get to that point by the end of the year.

Long term plans through the winter are:

• Get back to the birdcage: finish cleanup of door & lock pillars, rockers.
• Replace rusted windshield pieces
• Prime & paint birdcage
• Disassemble rear suspension components and start blasting and PCing them all
• Finish disassembly of steering components, blasting, PCing, buying replacements where needed.
• Rebuild steering box, power steering pump
• Rebuild brake calipers
• Machine shop drop off (brake rotors, spindles, trailing arm and half shaft rebuilds, etc)

If I can knock all of that out by March, I'm reassembling the chassis in Spring.

I'm putting together that machine shop list, any recommendations on what I should be adding to the list??

 

For rebuilding your steering gear (unless you plan to DIY), check out Bair's Corvettes - http://www.bairscorvette.com/service...eeringbox.html

Here's before and after from our '72. The steering feel was greatly improved, with all 'slop' removed -






Also, if you want your headlight vacuum relays or wiper door cannister restored, contact Bob Demmel in Texas - bdemmel34@gmail.com

B4 and after -

 

I read all the horror stories on how people had issues getting the rear crossmember separated from the chassis.
I thought about how I would do mine while expecting the worst scenario.
I used the weight of the rear differential to assist me.
I bolted the rear center section back onto the crossmember and put a hydraulic floor jack under it to hold it up and put a chain around the differential and jack to hold everything tight. (A strap would also work)
I loosened the bolts that attach the crossmember bushings and sprayed the bushings and hats with PB Blaster.
Then I slowly lowered the jack a slight amount, just enough to take the weight off the jack but still keep contact between the center section and the jack, then I walked away.
I actually used my hydraulic transmission jack, but it’s the same thing.
I came back in a couple hours, loosened the bolts a little more sprayed everything again, dropped the jack a little more, then walked away.
I did this several times and I think it was by the forth time the weight of the differential pulled the bushings out of the hats and I didn’t need to pry on anything.
You will need to place some counter weight onto the front of the frame.
I used some weights I had plus the wheels and tires.

 

Personally, I'd send it to GTR1999 like I did for mine.

His work on steering boxes is every bit as good as his well-known differential work. Great quality, attention to details, progress updates & photos and reasonable prices.

 

Wow, those are both impressive results! I think I need to re-check my expectations on my own results!


Thanks for that write-up. After my post this morning I did some Google searching, which led me right back here. There's a really good thread from ~ 20 years ago, where one of them recommended a gear puller. I picked up a new one today (while at Eastwood to get more glass bead), so I'm going to try that. If it doesn't work I'll be using your method next!

Thanks for the second referral. I'm still holding out hope I can try to tackle it on my own, but it's good to know there are guys out there that I can go to if it proves to be beyond me.

 

Your on the right track now buy the right bushings