OK, you guys that do your own body work - got a question. Do you weld a small patch behind a 1/4" moulding hole when you want to fill to hole up - or do you just slap the bondo to it?? And please keep in mind that I have a stick welder. I got a '50 shoebox I want to shave the mouldings and emblems. I've never done this before, but I want to do this myself - any suggestions will be appreciated - thanks guys.
My ways of doing things may not be the best way or the right way. With that being said, depending on the size of the hole I'd put a piece behind it first. The second off you have the wrong kind of welder for doing that.
if its a small hole you can just straight up weld it but that needs extra grinding. simplest way is to make a patch out of around 20 gauge thats a little bigger than the hole and clamp it or have someone hold it with a screwdriver or whatever and tack it on
first don't do sheetmetal work with a stick. you'll make a big mess of things. if I were going to weld up a 1/4 inch hole I'd use a round plug of the right size, just a hair smaller than the hole and tack it in with a mig. .025 wire and no flux core. spend the money and get the gas set up too or pay someone else to do it. if I didn't have any plugs or the hole was a bit smaller I'd first clean the edge of the hole with a small round file, then aim the wire at the edge from the side... like almost parallel to the side of the car. hit the trigger real quick until you have it filled up. watch your heat!!! grind it with the edge of your grinder. grind the weld not the surrounding sheetmetal. watch the heat while grinding too. take your time and let things cool. a 1/4 inch hole should not require any bondo.
Seen an episode of muscle car where they did a cool trick for welding up holes. They held a brass hammer on the back side of the hole and welded around it. The weld wont stick to the brass. Was pretty cool idea. Oh and i wouldnt use a stick welder either. It might be a little to hot and warp the metal.
Should do this with a mig or tig, but I use a flat piece of copper on the backside, then fill up the hole. weld won't stick to the copper backer.
My local welding shop has Hobart 140 wire feed MIGs on sale for 649 bucks ready to roll. Bottle, wire and all. Yea, 650 is a chunk of change, but you will finally be able to do all the stuff you want to do without waiting for a buddy to come by, or borrowing a MIG, or making due with a stick. It is a big nut to swallow, but a small price to pay for something you will have for teh rest of your life. Good luck, -Abone. PS. You MUST weld those holes, or don't fool with them at all.
Take a spare (or short) rod, and beat the flux off with something, and turn it sideways in the hole. Put your welding torch into play, pull your hood down, and just lightly burn it in. Leave it long until it cools, and then grind it flush. Not the prefered method, but you won't have to buy anything, and if you keep your tacks cool, you won't need much filler either. Rock on young private...
If you can't aford a proper welder, try this: Countersink the hole and get countersunk pop rivets and pop it into the hole. Then Bondo. Not the proper way, but better than warping your sheet metal with a stick welder, and you will warp it for sure with a stick welder.
Best advise in this thread. Young or old, the learning curve isn't much longer than getting GOOD at sheet metal work with a MIG. A MIG welder is a great thing to have , but somewhat of a compromise for sheet metal work. Learn to hammer weld, you'll never go back.
Invest in a small MIG if you can, stick with Miller, Hobart, or Lincoln. Lots of crazy good deals on craigslist and such. Even if you use it and sell it, I sold my Millermatic 135 on craigslist for exactly what I paid for it , 3 years later. Oh yes, and it sold in 1 hour, thats why you buy the better name welders. I now have a Hobart IronMan 210, last welder I will ever buy. Remember, a welder is a INVESTMENT, not just a purchase, before you know it you are doing odd's and end's welding jobs for your buddy's, and you get to BARTER some cool stuff for your projects, very cool. Everyones happy.
Almost forgot, if you have a Northern Tool close by, they give great deals on Hobart equipment, even if you dont, you can get it from them on-line, its good to do business and get to know your LWS, {local welding supplier}, print up a legit sale price from somewhere and ask them to match it, they probably will, GOOD LUCK.
i prefer the mig as well either cut a patch, or you can buy a neat little tool, has a magnet, with an offset piece of copper so you can stick it on the back of your work where the vice grip type wont acess. 1/4 inch holes are easy to mig up by the way. as said learnig to hammer weld is a good skill, i think i'd still mig the holes though. skull
I would use mig if you have access to one. Other wise the rod minus flux with a torch is the next best. The copper backing that I use is a piece of 3/4 pipe that I hammered flat and riveted to a piece of sheet metal with a couple of magnets to hold it. A hell of a lot cheaper than those expensive pliers and such. Like someone said, go from the side and watch your heat and you should be ok. Try some practice panels of the same thickness first to get it down and then go after it. You can really do some good stuff with hammer welding, but the quarters will be pretty hard to hammer weld without some experience and a helper. If you do decide to butch it, use Dyna Glass short or long strand fiberglass filler, then bondo. It will last a lot longer and give you time to hone your skills to do it correctly.
I have seen a few guys using nail heads to fill in small holes. I prefer the fill in method with mig or a patch panel myself. Save that stick for welding up some pipe fencing. Or you couldd go old skool and learn to lead fill.
Use a Hand punch to blank out some round slugs - same material thickness as your panel. Use a Uni Bit to open your hole to same size as slug. Butt weld the slug in - OnA, MIG With .023 wire, Or TIG.
nails ,, WTF pop rivets ,, WTF bondoglass ,, WTF there is a shitload of good books on bodywork and welding out there these days. I say start by reading.
The Jalopy Journal
