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I made a stop at LJ’s Speed and Machine in Napa to pick up a couple parts I ordered.
I was talking with the owner, John, about going to the welding supply to get a canister.
John took me into the rear of his warehouse and gave me two gas canisters someone gave him and told me to use them for the exchange at the supplier.
They saved me $125.00 for the purchase of a canister.
Now I am set up with both solid wire and gas or flux core.
After 49 years of working with John at LJ’s, Mike the engine assembler and dyno guy, retired and moved to Tennessee.
He sold his two alcohol dragsters and moved this past week.
The other long time employees are all stepping up to fill Mikes shoes, but Mike is missed.
I am lucky to have John and his crew at LJ’s to help me through my project.
Today I moved the frame out onto the driveway and started cleaning the metal where I need to complete the factory stitch welds.
I found it is nearly impossible to get down into the seams of the frame to clean the metal.
Am I overthinking this?
Does it need to be shiny bare metal down into the seams, or will the heat and weld take care of this slight bit of old paint and contamination?
Is this good enough?
Last edited by OldCarBum; Aug 18, 2023 at 11:24 AM.
Those are tough areas to get clean. If it were mine here is what I would do. I would hit it with a wire wheel on a die grinder etc as best I could, clean it really well with brake clean, let it dry, and send it. Don't put any heat to it until the brake clean has fully evaporated, you'll literally possibly poison yourself if you ignite some brake cleaner and breathe it in.
Now how it should be done. Technically it should be 100% bare metal which a wire wheel and brake cleaner won't get it to. The only way I can see you getting those seams 100% clean is using a media blaster of some type (glass or sand). We'll debate whether all that is necessary but if you want to be 100% by the book that's the way it should be. I'm sure others will have varying opinions, but that's mine.
My powdercoater sandblasted the entire frame BEFORE I welded .. which completely cleaned it for welding....and then after it was welded, the powdercoater sandblasted it again. He did not charge me twice, because the second blasting was quick. Total cost....$600 for all blasting and powdercoating. Its worth every penny. Nothing preps the frame better, and nothing better than powdercoating. You have seen the pictures of my frame......its perfect.
Yes, the cleaner the better, no argument; but it is good enough? If your intention is to weld the seams to provide something better than as provided by the O.E.M. originally? It'll take a little more heat to burn off the residual contaminate material, and more filler material to float that that remains out of the juncture of the bond, and that contaminant is not going to allow for as pretty a weld in the end, but you will be able to bond the two surfaces together just fine.
Now, if show quality welding result is expected, something you can show all your friends and dare anyone to do better, then no, it's not clean enough! Get it sand-blasted, at least the seam area you plan to weld, and then scrub that clean (stainless steel wire wheel brush) as the residual silica is still a problem.
I paid a body shop welder $400 to spend a half day on mine, strengthening it as much as he could.
It was already sandblasted, and already on their frame rack for straightening.
As much as I like doing stuff myself, I understand there is a steep learning curve on this.
His welds look way better than mine ever would have with a day or so practice!
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I didn’t even think about getting it sandblasted, bringing it home, doing the welding, then taking it back to the powder coater.
See I was overthinking it.
I talked with the powder coater today and he said to drop the frame off Monday morning, they can blast just the areas where I need to do welding, I’ll take it back home, weld my heart out and then return it to them.
At that point they will do the full frame and get it coated.
He says they do this all the time.
I have a few days to play with my welder so I’ll take advantage of the time to do both the solid wire and flux core wire and see what will work the best for me.
At this point, the welds need to be strong, you can’t see them so they don’t need to be pretty.
As far as the removable crossmember, my 73 was an automatic car, so I already have one that’s removable and I’m replacing the oem with a new G Force so my 3” exhaust will go in.
As always , thanks for the help.
Last edited by OldCarBum; Aug 18, 2023 at 04:42 PM.
If you can weld in the garage/shop with no wind solid wire all the way. Flux core if have to weld outside with wind issues.
Good auto darkening welding helmet. Also if needed a pair a cheeter glasses.
And again if needed a really good light on the weld area helps a lot.
The pic above of the welds weren't done buy a rookie. Very nice.
If you can weld in the garage/shop with no wind solid wire all the way. Flux core if have to weld outside with wind issues.
Good auto darkening welding helmet. Also if needed a pair a cheeter glasses.
And again if needed a really good light on the weld area helps a lot.
The pic above of the welds weren't done buy a rookie. Very nice.
I can see that.
I’m sure mine won’t be all that pretty.
The sales rep at the welding supply store said, that’s what they make angle grinders and sanding pads for.
Let’s start burning!
post up some welds..
unless I’m doing sheet metal i am using flux core not gas with a 110 volt unit. Better penetration, hotter. Ymmv
My welder is set up to use either solid core wire with shielding gas or flux core wire.
I’m still hesitant about welding inside my garage.
I plan to try the solid wire and gas first and then move outside and try the flux core to see what works better for me.
I’m excited to get started.
An old welder’s trick is to take a small
piece of cloth folded several times, soak it in oil and squeeze out the excess and use a clothespin to pinch it over the wire just before the wire goes into the sleeve and out to the gun. (not before the rollers, it will make them slip!) It gives a constant tiny bit of lubrication to the inside of the sleeve and helps keep your wire moving smoothly thru.
Wire that binds in the sleeve will produce jerky and erratic forward motion of the wire and will really tick you off.
But, do keep the oil application of the wire to a minimum! As most of the oil contamination oxidizes in the weld process, this inducing additional degassing in the molten pool, and leading to increased porosity in the finished weld quality. And also, this injects additional carbon content which if in sufficient quantities will increase brittleness of the weld.
My welder is set up to use either solid core wire with shielding gas or flux core wire.
I’m still hesitant about welding inside my garage.
I plan to try the solid wire and gas first and then move outside and try the flux core to see what works better for me.
I’m excited to get started.
You may already know/remember this but when switching back and forth make sure you have your polarity set properly. I forget if flux wants a positive ground or negative but gas and flux is typically opposite.
