i came up with this out of lazy and common sense, . when splicing panels, door patches etc. cut too big... fine tune the ends or pillars... measure carefully, mark well and often... when final fit is got, kleco or tack weld the inside and out... slap a metal cutting blade in your HD sabre saw... use a wizzer to cut a starting slot for the saw... use a good face shield as the chips will be hot... will cut both panels at the same time... remove the klecos or grind off the tacks... check final fit, tack, remeasure everything, and go... does not work as well with curves... may be me ? View attachment 4940909
I like to make one panel have a night clean edge, then lay the other over it and scribe a line with a scratch awl. Making a nice tight cut to the exact line doesn't take more skill than it does patience. Sometimes it's best to cut the extra off, leaving a quarter inch on, and then use a nice sharp set of hand shears to trim right on the line. Again, patience is key to a tight fit. Sometimes when I weld I won't even need to use wire, just fuse the panels together if the joint is tight.
Fitzee, a hamber, had similar setup I believe from how you're describing it. On his youtube channel, he had this video is how he butt welds patches. Made me realize I was doing it the hard way this whole time.
I saw something a while back.....don't remember where. The guy put one panel behind the other and then tilted the thin cutoff wheel about 45 degrees instead of 90 degrees to the panels. When he cut through, the 45 degree angle, the panels fit each other with a slicght overlap/butt. Might be worth trying on some scrap metal to see if it works as well as it did in the video.
The square edge of the panels is a must! When butt welding, the gap between the panels needs to be kept to a minimum... preferably none. As the welds cool, they will cause shrinkage, the square edge and and tight fit will prevent the panels from excessive shrinking. A gentle tap with a smooth hammer and dolly will stretch the weld back into shape and relieve the stress on the panels. I have been doing panel work for 20 years, and rarely fight weld distortion
I'm a real amateur at repairing body panels. But one thing I've learned through the repairs I've done is don't get in a hurry and cut panels too short! I'd rather "sneak up on the cut" than mark it out and try to do it in one shot. I mark out where I think I want the cut, and then cut 1"-2" longer the first time. Then hold up the patch and mark it again to see if it's still where I thought it was the first mark up. If it is I cut it just slightly long, and then hit it with a disc, or whatever works best to get that final perfect fit. By doing it this way it takes me longer to mock up, but a lot less time spent when welding it, as I'm not trying to fix my goof ups.
i got a pair of welding glasses for xmas. they are just like safety glasses, but have the automatic darkening feature of a welding helmet. I only use them for wire welding.
Fitzee is the fellow with the 45* cuts on the over lapping panels. Seems to be a smart modification on the overall process.
That would be Fitzee, more than likely, cause that's how he does it. Tacks the panels together with an overlap, then does the cut a section at a time, welding as he goes.
I've been oxy/acet welding panels for a long time...since 1954. Previously had a Victor 'mechanic set', (read 'large'...cumbersome...but had a complete collection of tips, down to 00. I was in 'fools' heaven'. BUT...at starting out at 12 years old, with a sometimes 'mentor' showing up, it was good exercise. Huge mixer, large heavy hoses...grew some 15" guns, I got 'torch curls'!) Welded sheet metal like this for years...also aluminum. Ron Covell told me if I could weld aluminum with that huge torch I could probably do wonders with a small 'Aircraft Set'... I told him that he should give classes on metalwork. He laughed. (that was mid-'70s. I should be a Swami.) Nevertheless, I bought a Victor Aircraft set. (1975) Wow. Like working with jewelry. I thoroughly recommend it, albeit the availability of Tig now... I used my Airco Cobramatic Mig 250 from '77 on, in the shop and for production work. But lately I've been welding with my little Aircraft torch, (SOME discipline is being applied!) Long time since I had done this, but it does come back. I file the welds, then sometimes 'skim' them. Takes practice...and @KevinPharis is right: Square up perfect. Weld will follow. If careful.
I like to use Clecos with an offset barb with the offset equal to the metal thickness. I score the barbs on the backside before welding and break them off after tack welding the panels. A little hammer-n-dolly work and voila - a perfect butt weld.
All good info!! Now I have but 1 question... Who wants to weld the below belt line door skin on my model A ?? Lol!! I suck at it....
The more shape in the panel... the easier it is to weld. Flat panels are the most difficult, as a tiny amount of weld distortion can change the shape of the entire panel. This is when square edges and zero weld gap are the most important. Almost forgot... get a TIG welder!
I don't do much panel splicing, but I always start with totally clean metal. Similar to Alchemy's method, I trim, or make, the replacement panel with rounded corners, and scribe the line to be cut. Using aircraft snips (Wiss brand) I trim out the old, leaving around a 1/4" of metal, to be trimmed off the second time around. By snipping only the last 1/4" of metal, you will get far less distortion, especially in the curves and tight corners. Then welding is the easy part.
I watched Fitzee's videos before I cut off the damaged quarter on my 39 this summer. His tips and suggestions work fantastic. All welded up, the thickest amount of filler I'd need to use might be a credit card thickness in a spot or two, otherwise it's mostly metal finished. From ugly and bent up every which way, to almost ready for paint. I sacrificed a 2 door sedan quarter that had the roof cut off to be used for a pickup. Yes I sort of mini tubbed the wheel wells to fit the upcoming wheels. So much easier using this method.
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