Projects More unibody A coupe progress - welding up the seams.

Looks good Kevin. I'm jelous that you got to work on your coupe last night while I was out pushing f*$&ing snow!

Mikethegreek

 

oh hell yes...

 

Looks great, Kevin. I like the no-nonsense approach.... (taking notes )


Malcolm

 

Should have saved this for tech month Kev! Nice work.

 

Very cool man- those flap discs really make life a treat, don't they?

 

looking good bud, nice work

 

Lookin' good Kevin! I know what you're going through right now! 27 hours of this over the weekend of this very process.

Out of curiosity, do you have a shrinking disk? They help a ton to level things out, if you don't.

 

Great concept and great work.

Any thoughts about flush mounting the doors, since you seem to have a salt flats kind of vibe? Did the old racers ever use that trick, or is it more a street rod thing?

 

You're using a mig right? Did the weld crack with hammer and dolly? Mine crack. Is your heat turned up further than it would normally be for that thickness of metal?

 

Kevin, im just using a little mac tools spot blaster (the type with the small hopper on the top) with a smaller air compressor so theres not a ton of pressure, im just giving it a little dusting, not a mojor blasting, just to remove the loose crud and clean it up a little.

i think a "real" sandblaster would really make a mess of it!

you got lots of welding to do, its looking great and will pay off big when its done.

jeff

 

Just gotta look around and find a blaster that knows what they are doing. I am building my own unit for convenience and control of the process.

 

those small blasters that you get at northern tool etc... the pressurized propane tanks as I like to think of them... those are GREAT for blasting sheet like that.

I cleaned my roadster quarters with mine... slow... you can adjust the pressure and blast at and angle and nothing moves around... it just takes a long time.

They're pretty cheap. Hundred bucks I think...

Tuck

 

I trick I learned is that instead of welding the entire length of the seam and THEN starting with the grinding/finishing, is to instead metal finish in sections as you go: weld a small section here & there, grind it flat, and while the metal is still hot - hammer & dolly. (Also, keep the hammer & dolly handy while you weld and correct anything that is not flat while it is still glowing). Then go back to welding another small section or two and repeat.
The advantage is that you are metal finishing areas - as you go - around where you still need to weld and correcting the pucker as you go so that you are not adding weld bead to an area that has already drawn in. Also, since you are getting right to the hammer & dolly part while the metal is still good and hot from weld or grind, it takes very little effort with the hammer/dolly - just a slight suggestion of a tap - and the metal goes right into shape. Plus you are then not trying to hammer a seam flat that still has high spots from the partially dressed (& cold)bead.
It may seem to be more work this way since you are jumping back & forth between processes, but if you correct the metal as you go, you save work in the long run.
It helps because you can see and correct problems as they are just beginning, instead of compounding the problem as you continue to weld.

 

Kevin,after reading A LOT of your articles, how do you even begin to choose what car to build after seeing what you've seen?

 

Different Kevin Lee

 

This one actually plays in a jug band out of KC. He's very famous in that arena.

 

yeah- Kev's the one in the gl***es sitting:

 

i like to use a similar method as cleatus when welding in patches, ill make some tacks and then bring em down with a 36 grit rolloc then a 50, and a cookie, and keep repeating this until the whole panel is done,then hit it with 80grit on a da, it seems that it doesnt distort as much as gringing the whole thing at once.This way to you can see better areas that need to be worked a little before you burn the rest of it in. as well as catch little problems before they get big.

 

Really nice to see people like Kevin that actually give a **** what's under that filler and paint Props to you, sir.

 

Thats gonna look great when it is done.

 

This is basically the same process that works for me too. It especially helps when you have a panel that has a lot of shape. Losing control of the welded seem and the surrounding metal can be a disaster in no time if attention isn't given during the process.

I had to remind myself of this just last night. I ended up having to undo some work I did because I lost control of a the surrounding metal. Thankfully metal is rarely ruined and can be worked back into shape. Getting better at it, but have had to learn the hard way on several occasions.