I'm looking for a welder who is up for turning a wagon into a panel wagon. I am having trouble finding somebody who is up for so much as giving me a quote. Is there a list of welders anywhere on HAMB? I'd like to find somebody in my area (upstate South Carolina). Thanks for any info. I am sorry if I am posting in the wrong place or covering a topic that has already been done. So far I have only used HAMB to look at the fantastic Friday art. Thanks for any help. -Finkle
Most of the shops I know are reluctant to quote anything like this. You never know what it takes until you open it up and see what your working with. What you need is more than a welder, more a sheet metal fabricator. Those side panels are not just a flat piece of steel. Make sure whoever you hook up with knows how to fab and fit panels that will not only follow the body lines but stay that way in the sun. Sorry I can't help with a local reference but guys who can do this stuff are far and few in between. If I was closer I'd gladly look at it for you as I am sure several other guys on here as well. Just be aware, it is real easy to screw this up and real expensive to fix once it's done poorly. Keep us posted with some pics, I just love "Pie Wagons". PM me if there's anything I might be able to help with.
Thanks Koz! That helps me understand why people haven't wanted to consider the project. I thought it would be easy for the right person. You know how it is, everybody thinks something is easy until they try it. Is part of the problem modern cars use less actual metal? I love cargo vans and panel wagons, but I have a daily 90 commute so I need something with decent mileage. If I am ever in your area I would like to have you take a look at what I am working with. Where exactly is Deer Lake? I plan on rolling through Williamsport PA this Summer but you have a large state so you might be hours away.
Most likely a shop would charge you an hourly rate to do something like that. I'll echo what Koz said about how difficult a job it would be. Welding large panels of sheet metal into a car sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen if you want it done right. Anybody could run a Mig gun around and get it done, but it would oil can something horrendous. I would look for the guys doing restoration/custom work over a welder, they would be the true craftsman who could accomplice what you have in mind.
If you coming through Williamsport, we would be on your way. I would love to see what you are working with and if it is something we could help you with. Check out my website or pm me for more info if your interested.
Thanks guys! The cheapest fix would be to give it a spraypaint job and not mask of the back windows. Don't know how street legal that would be. Hmm...
Had an old Plymouth wagon, when I fixed the rust we also painted over the rear glass, after roughing it up. It was laquer, and lasted for years, and looked just like the rest of the car.
Hugh, did you ever get pulled over for illegal tinting or anything like that? I'm in SC where they don't care much about car regulations, but I do go on road trips in this and am not looking at getting hassled by cops. You sanded the glass so it would hold the paint better?
The machine is a welder, the cat running it is a weldor. I think you need a weldor/fabricator used to sheetmetal work.
That car was actually fully flamed on the front, and had a Pugeot sunroof cut in over the back seat, with two flip up wind screens for who ever had their heads sticking up thru...Never once got stopped. If I remember right, we scuffed the glass with 220, and laquered over it. Nothing sophisticated here. But it worked, and looked pretty good too. We didn't take many photos back then, it was a mid sixties full sized wagon, remember I eventually traded it for a new set of torches which we still use.
Cool. Thanks for sharing Hugh. My apologies to weldors. Is welder not an accepted spelling? The dictionary defines it as "one that welds". Not saying that the dictionary can't be wrong though.
Can you just fabricate the inserts out of metal and glue them in place instead of the windows? No welding necessary
I have been a welder for 41 years. And we use various machines to do our welding. Can't believe I got caught up in this again.
And a huge BS to that. I have been a Journeyman Welder my whole working life, the certification ticket I carry around in my pocket says so. I'm 58 and started when I was 17. At the trade school I teach at we teach Welders - Welding apprentices. Info on the Welder trade at www.tradesecrets.org That will show how extensive our Welder training is. Yes, me too, it's like a bug flying into a light bulb
You should buy a welder and learn, then do it yourself, that's a skill to learn that is priceless. Plus it will be alot cheaper
The "Welder" V. "Weldor" thing has been argued on here many times before. I'll continue to call myself a weldor out of respect for the insanely talented long time weldors that schooled me. I don't mind what others prefer to call themselves, but, anyone challenging that weldor is not a used term is pretty much pissing in the wind. It's used widely in print, and accepted by many welding socities in addition to "welder".
See the above post and visit the website I posted and get educated Weldor may be accepted and used, but I don't like it and to me it just sounds WRONG. Dam ! I flew into the bulb again
Lincoln Elec, Miller, Hobart, Linde, Airco, ESAB, Clarke, Then all the tool trucks, Snap on, Matco, Mac, Cornwell... Then there's the Chinese Knock offs.... and so on Oh ... Weldor!!! You mean Weldor...
As just thought. If you had the panels made up. They would need to be a combination of rolled and slip rolled to fit, you could panel bond them in so that just a slight touch up along the seams would make an acceptable and long lasting job. I use panel bonding on a lot of stuff with great results and a lot of new cars are put together using it as well. Just something to think about as once you had the panels you could do this yourself. There are a lot of variations on different wagons and if you could throw a couple of pics up here I might be able to talk you through this so that you could panel up with some 18ga. and not have to spend too much to do so. Panel bonding cement is available at every body shop supply and my personal favorite is from Eastwood. Not cheap, and you need to buy the caulking gun that goes with it, but way less expensive than having the TIG work done and just as permanent. I'm about two hours East of Williamsport, although you could make the "loop" because I should be on you way depending on the route you take. I'm right near the junction of Route 78 and 61. To add fuel to the fire I've always considered myself a welder and my certs' have it noted that way.
I was stupid enough to get a boat load of degrees in Welding and Fabrication Tech. I still have quite a few of my books, and as I recall at least a few of them used weldor over welder. It was good enough to get in to publication and be used as parent course material at some pretty high quality welding schools....??? Who knows. I'd be really interested in finding out where and when the division came, because it is obviously a pretty stout divide. I think the answer lies in the use of the latin derived suffix "-or". In most english words we throw "-er" on the end of a word to denote the one doing the action. In latin derived words "-or" is used. Like actor, or alternator. To me, it makes sense to use welder as the name of a machine vs weldor as the name of an individual who welds. It's a good delineator. Hey, there's another one of those "-or" words! Hell, what do I know, I'm a weldor, not an english teacher! I can understand that it sounds wrong to you, that's what has me thinking it may be a regional thing. I know it certainly isn't an age thing, as I learned it from a bunch of old weldors that are all dead and gone. It's funny how it works out. My dear mother sent me a sticker around Christmas time that read: "Don't worry, I'm a welder." and I still am yet to put it on anything as "welder" used in that phrase just looks wrong to me.
Fixed that for ya..... Agree to disagree maybe?.........nah, this is the HAMB after all. Gotta have inane pointless arguments to get our collective panties in a bunch over...lol! Back to the original question, much as I like keeping things 'pure' I'd tend to agree with panelbond for something like this. Placement of the welds, and dealing with distortion from shrinking would be tough and probably a two man hammer and dolly job (which is never fun) unless your body guy has some really long arms! Like anything it CAN be done, but maybe doing it 'right' doesn't justify the cost of doing it. Modern panel adhesive technology sees it being used in some pretty important structural applications. I would want to research the potential for movement and cracking, and plan the positioning (and smoothing/blending) of the seam accordingly.
So if he glues it in is he a glueor a gluor, or a gluer? Actually he would be a bondor, or maybe bonder?
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