Is it possible to weld a section from a 2001 GM hood to a 1949 GM hood or are the 2 metals too different for that to work well. I am trying to extend the 49 hood at the windshield area, using about 2 inches of the 2001 GM hood. Are the two types of metal able to be welded together even though the 2001 is high strength steel and thinner?
thicknesses are def thinner,weaker etc, and harder to fuse them together as the thinner will get alot hotter, what type of welding are we talking here, mig,tig????
TIG weld it and it won't care, if it is a real problem use bronze TIG rod. The piece of late model metal is not big enough to be a problem. Tac, hammer, weld hammer. Rex
I was talking to a friend the other day about this. apparently new cars have a high carbon content in the steel to get the corrosion warrantys, and are galvanised. you need special spot welders to attach new panels in accident repair shops. while the normol spot weld machine appears to do the job, if you have another accident the spot welds ping apart like buttons on a shirt. just what i've been told, and if correct, I would try and find somethin more suitable.
yes it i put a 1955 ford pickup and a 2000 ford pick up frame and used the cowl from the 2000 in the 55 and same of the floor in the 55
Newer cars use HSLA steel[Hi strength Low Alloy]....this being strong in thinner guages is the problem,welding thin to thick can be tricky at best,Id find an older donor peice.... It must be Mig welded do not gas weld/acetylene etc..... It also has the tendency to not want to be straightend as well as the old virgin steel can be. Some of this newer specimens are als coated to a slight degree with Galvcoat,as a corrosion resistant.....
If it were me and I was unsure I'd cut the stock hood edge off just as if it were going to work and cut the new hood also. Then take some pieces of cast off and do some test welds and do some finish work on them. If it made me happy I'd get it on. It kind of depends on your skill level and what you expect for good enough. We all seem to be in different places when it comes to good enough. The Wizzard
we have done it here at the shop to make patch panels.and we used mig.didnt have any problems.but i do prefer to find old hoods and doors for donor material.say like 70s.
Yes, you can do it. Practice welding scraps from the new and old hoods together to optimize your technique and welder settings. You may have to aim the welder more toward the old metal to avoid burning through the new metal. I lap welded an '86 Toyota minivan roof onto my '28 Model A Tudor sedan and it came out great. Here's the thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636247
86 is still thicker than 2001, 86 vans were still made from near on late 70s steel thicknesses, i can see excactly how it worked for u gary, but by the time 1999 came and onwards they just got thinner,due to collision make ups, saying that if ur in a collision their theory is now the car will crush and take all the blow in which apparently is safer, if u ask me most of the older cars here in australia are much safer when ur in them driving,maybe not so much for whatever gets hit by them as they were as solid as they were back then
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