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My first welding!!! Floorpans - (pics)

1K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Midlife 
#1 ·
Well today I welded in my new floorpans.. a rather sloppy job, but I am happy for it being my first time. This car was already a welded together frankenstien mess. Perfect for me to practice on, plus it is only going to be a driver, so as long as function is there... we can skimp a little on looks. Here are the pics Under July21 and July22 .... pics are a bit big, still need to resize them, sorry if you are on a slow connection..
 
#2 ·
Not bad...I only wish I could do that.....

It sure does beat the Flintstone Mobile....

Mel
 
#3 ·
Hummmmm.....sorry, but the close up looked pretty bad. Looks like you hit and run with poor penetration and were running cold. Did you butt weld it? MIG or Flux Core wire feed? If it were me, i'd be sure you got adequate penetration 'cause those joints can fail as the body twists. That is a structural area since the front subframe is attached to that floor pan. I'll give you credit for trying, but welding is not as easy as one may think. Did you weld the underside? Now that you have some material built up around the seam on top, increase the heat and run a bead on the bottom with less likelyhood of burn through. When your done, put some good seam sealer on both sides to keep moisture away.

I'll be the first to admit that welding sheet metal was not as easy as I thought it would be. After being a certified arc welder years ago doing heavy steel construction, I thought I could transition easily to welding on my Mustang. It was a much different ballgame and it took me a while to build up the ability and confidence to run the kind of bead I was accustomed to.

Keep it up...it's a good start and you'll get there.
 
#4 ·
I applaud your efforts and this is how we all learn but youve got to grind that down and turn the heat up on your welder and give it another good pass. When the heat is right the sound will change and the puddle will flow, keep a steady pace watching the puddle fill as you move, if you stop you'll burn thru. A small sweep back and forth as you push the puddle along will help fill. It doesnt have to be perfect but what youve got isnt very secure.
 
#8 ·
Dude, Ditch the flux core, and buy a gas conversion kit!
I have to agree with the above and that you have poor penetration and to cold.

In a couple very small areas it looks like you started to do it alright. How far away did you keep the tip? what angle did you weld it at? The 'spot' welds look marginal, but better than the edges.

It looks like you tried to butt weld, which is one of the hardest things to do. A much easier way for beginners to weld in panels is to make an overlapping flange. But I did a butt weld after practicing on many of scrap piecese/

Here's a quick thing of how i patched my rear 1/4 floor pans:

After cutting out all the rust and marking up and cutting a patch panel out of same gauge steel, you clamp it into place so that it's as close to even gap all the way around.

http://members.cox.net/mesaoldsman/1-clamp.jpg

Then you make a couple (8 total) good tack welds to hold the panel in place. THen remove the clamps and in small alternating incriments weld in the edges of the patch panel.

http://members.cox.net/mesaoldsman/2-weld.jpg
This blowup doesn't quite show too well that all the areas need to have an overlapping and even bead. Or as close as possible considering you're jumping around.

http://members.cox.net/mesaoldsman/3-weld-close.jpg

AFter cooling, carefully and slowly grind down your weld. Fill any small gaps that may appear. Becareful when grinding to not allow too much heat to build up in the metal.

http://members.cox.net/mesaoldsman/4-grind.jpg

I hope htis helps. But you really should redo those pans, or at least go over the welds with a slightly hotter setting. The Gas setup is a lifesaver, definitely invest in it and an autodarkening hood.
 
#9 ·
I have to agree with the others on this one...grind em down, crank her up a notch and get better penetration. My first tries I went between too little and too much penetration, mostly too little and had an area pop loose on me. The important thing is to form a little pool of molten metal and then move slow enough to keep the pool liquid but fast enough not to burn completly through the metal. Burn through would be preferable to not getting good penetration, at least you can see there is a problem. Flatten out a piece of copper tubing to use as a backer if you burn through.
You have the worst parts done...just a little grinding and a good bead and you will be there.
 
#10 ·
I would have to agree with Tracy, increase the heat range a bit more for better penetration....not enough heat and the welds stay superficial....

For best results I like to gring the edges to form a V and fill them in
with a good heat range.....it should need little to no welding on the underside.....I welded the beads under for cosmetic reasons and then smoothed them out.

grab some scrap sheet metal pieces and use a vice/magnets to practice butt welding them....once good penetration is achieved go for the sheet metal on your car.....

structure of a car is important....grind em down and lay some fat beads!!!

Also read up on the internet...it is a good tool.....mig welding IS quite different from Arc welding....

cheers
 
#11 ·
Your work shows a lot of professionalism, cleanliness, and care. You're very much on the right track.

When welding in large pieces of sheet metal, tack it every 4-6 inches, and use a dolly/hammer, if necessary, to line things up if you can't clamp it. Your welds do look a little cold. Don't be afraid of using more heat than you think is required. By working it from side to side, or increasing speed of advance, you can get credible and solid welds. When done, each section of weld should look like a frozen tube of toothpaste, with some feathering into the surrounding metal. Weld up from tack weld to tack weld, but skip a couple spots so that the piece of metal doesn't get overly hot. For spot welds (like to the rails), make your holes 5/16" big, and start the mig in the center. Start a puddle, and then spiral out, covering the hole entirely and then extending beyond the hole. It's easy to grind it down flat from there. Make sure the two pieces are tightly contacting one another; otherwise, the spot weld won't hold. Remember: you are fusing the two pieces together. With large gaps, they simply don't fuse.

Again, I do like the way you finished up the work: nice, clean, simple. Keep going!
 
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