Weld Gap, and Inner Windsheild frame

I have a question.I just chopped my 28 sedan,right now it is just tacked back on.My question is the gap between the two for welding,the roof and the body?Some say seam to seam no gap others say a small gap using the body clips holding it into place ,,im a welder and i understand penatration but,,,help me out or is it potato patato.Also the frame for my windsheild is pretty bad along the bottom,the frame that opens.Has anyone fabbed a new one and if so is there a thread on it or what was used to do it,somewhere i saw i faily simple method but dam if i can remember where,can anyone help me out,thanks.

 

Burninbilly me personally I would weld it with no gap because if there is a gap between the two pieces that is a farther distance that the metal can shrink and can cause more distortion and there are going to be places that you can't get to the back side to straighten it and also penatration is never really a issue with sheet metal as for the bottom of your your frame maybe look up some of the metalmeet members in canada little to far away for me to help lol

 

thanks hope to see more

 

Small gap, gas weld and hammer/dolly as you go. Cut out braces to get to the back side of the welds as you go.

 

Gas weld,,,,holllyyy,im thinkin ill tig it, or mig before that,wow

 

If you're a welder and you are going to TIG it, why would you want any gap? There is no reason to leave ANY gap when TIG welding it, or gas welding it for that matter. Some say 1/16" for MIG, but MIG is the wrong method for this project anyway unless you had no other choice, so do yourself a favor and get that gap as tight as possible.

 

djsilent
if im a welder,ur funny.Im asking for imput is all, not doubt as to what iam or do as prof.I never stated i was leaving a gap if i was to tig,as for gas welding it, sorry not my choice due to the heat concentration in the area on gauge steel , yes gas is fine for gauge but prefer not too,as for mig hmmmm unless you know something i dont know and a thousand body shops who use this method of metal replacement.Anyway im not into the arguement of it.Imput from guys with knowledge yes,******** no.i just have been watching and i see guys leaving gap using clips to hold lid and small spacing and others who dont and leave no gap,,,thanks for imput

 

as to my welding abilities,gauge i dont have alot of time on but as building buckets for heavy equip,repair of heavy equip,welding the ballistic armour that goes on the striker(which happenes to be the armoured personal carriers in afganistan) which carry American and canadian soldiers,that iam familar with.Oh and yes the ballistic armour is done here.I am familar with heavy equip hauling trailers,car trailer aluminum livestalk haulers,repair work in steel mill here,or running sub arc building up rolls for machine work,,, so as to my abilities on gauge is min.Hope to be movin into the pipeline side or rig side very shortly,thanks

 

If you have a tig, then tig it for sure. If not Gas welding is the next best thing. Mig welding and sheet metal are just bad news as far as I'm concerned. Problem is, mig welds are brittle and porus. Tig and gas, the weld is malleable, so you can hammer and dolly it. If it warps, no problem, hammer it out, shrink if it needs be, planish it, whatever you choose, to fix the warp, point is you can fix it. With a mig, your pretty much screwed. You hit a mig weld with a hammer and dolly, it's just going to crack and make a mess.
Plus with tig and gas, it takes way less grinding.

 

thanks for the great imput

 

Wasn't trying to be an ***, sorry if it came out that way. I wasn't trying to insinuate that YOU can't weld, I was trying to make a general statement that if someone does know how to TIG weld, they should use that method and leave no gap. My point is that MIG is not the right choice for sheet metal, for the reasons that Jalopy Kid stated. You don't need any gap when TIG welding or gas welding sheet metal. Body shops use MIG to plug weld, but they RARELY **** weld panels back together, and when they do THAT is where you see them using those little spacing clamps. And afterwards, they slather bondo on to "fix it." I started off doing body work first, and when I learned how to TIG and the advantages of being able to straighten it, I never MIGed any sheet metal again. Auto body is a matter of speed, building your hot rod needs to be about quality IMO, so there's no reason to MIG if you can TIG.

 

I apoligize for coming of strong,i appretiate your input.I have posted threads before and i have seen some members jump on the attack right away for some reason.I figured this was one of them and iam wrong.thanks for the input.