I'm almost read to weld in the new pieces of my winshield channel but there are a few things that I need answered first. Here's the piece I made for the replacement (which I think turned out pretty well if I do say so myself...) But there's a piece of metal that bends down in a crease in the tulip/filler panel or whatever it's called and I'm wondering if I should somehow grind off the old rusted piece and weld on a new one. Also, how does that attach? Is is welded at the bottom and then filled with filler or welded and then have a seam ground out or what?? The last thing is these leftover pieces of channel that I'm debating on welding over or somehow griding out before I weld in the new channel. The pieces are in a very odd spot and I don't really have any tools to get them off. I also don't know how their attached (weld, solder, super-glue?). I was thinking about wire brushing them clean and then just welding over them and welding any gaps closed. On one hand, it's easier and would give me more metal in that weakened area. On the other hand, it seems a cheaply done. The piece I made This part is held on by some type of golden brazing or something. I'm not sure how the other rusted parts attach?
Well no one replied so I went ahead and started up the welding... Here's how it's going. This is the top and bottom welded in but not blended with the body. Here's an up close pic of the clumpy weld on the top of the patch piece Slightly blended on the bottom of the patch piece I didn't weld it on the very bottom tip in that little gap with the filler panel because I didn't want to get a lot of weld in there so I'm going to weld it from inside the trunk. The chunky unblended weld on the bottom patch panel and where I hadn't put in the middle piece Close up of the bottom patch panel chunky weld Another pic of the chunky welds on the bottom patch panel Something started burning in my car and it turned out it was my seat So I took it out Somewhat blended top patch panel Closeup of the bottom of the somewhat blended patch panel Another pic of the middle of the blended patch panel The top of the patch panel where it still wasn't blended very much I had to beat in part of the panel in with a hammer after I welded in the last piece because it made high points out of metal which would've thrown off the body So I can just weld in the rest of the panel later (because I ran out of freakin wire in the middle of welding up the last piece) An overhead shot looking at the bottom patch panel and the one I only partially welded in Looking in with the camera over the trunk looking at the panels. Beating in the panel bent in the partially welded in panel out of alignment a bit but I hope I can reshape it or fill it with weld to fix it.
why "considering I'm using a flux core welder"? What's different between that and gas shielded? I think it looks just just like a great weld when it's blended.
You are way ahead of me when I was 15 all I knew was bondo Fiberglass and old metal signs and rivits to repair rusted floor boards. Keep up the good work Get a wire weel and drill air drill is faster but electric works to realy clean the metal on all sides of the new and old metal that will help your weld quality. it cant be to clean. Good luck! Tony
Good for you ! Most young people would not tackle that big a job. Where are you located ? Gas shielded MIG does not leave as much splatter around the welded area. Next time you buy wire , look for Stainless Steel flux core. Yeah, I know, dissimilar metals cause corrosion, in a few hundred years. In my experience the stainless wire doesn't splatter as badly. A little less clean-up. :TU:
Haha thanks. I won't be 15 for long! 6 more days!!!!! I have a wire wheel but it's hard to get into those corners. I would get an air drill but my air compressor conveniently broke halfway through this project (the day after I bough an air sander too :-( ). I know how to fix it but if this company that sells repair parts makes me buy a whole kit, it'll cost like $100 when it should only cost like $50 for the parts I need to fix it. I didn't really think about cleaning off the metal before I welded it in but it turned out pretty well anyway I think. @William Thanks!
i wasn't taking a shot. its just that i've never been able to get flux core welds to work right for me. too much spatter and not enough patience. i admire your dedicaation. sorry if it came out wrong. Tim
Thanks. I think as long as it's cost effective (not buying an entire machine shop to do block work), you should do it yourself. Then you have a new skill, well done project done with some TLC, and bragging rights saying you did it yourself I'm in Collierville right outside Memphis, TN. I don't really know what to look for in terms of wire. I've only found one type of wire that's flux cored or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. http://www.harborfreight.com/0035-inch-e71t-gs-flux-core-welding-wire-2-lbs-44877.html
Alright Guys!!! I just got finished filling in all the holes and putting in the filler! I haven't sanded the filler because I want to give it time to cure overnight. I'll sand tomorrow and then primer it up. What do you use to clean the metal/filler before I prime it? Here's just an overview shot of the pre-filler Here's where it didn't get much rust and was just pitted some The completed patch panel (that I filled in the gaps with filler) I welded the crevice from both sides (inside the trunk and on top) and grinded it down with a dremel on the top side My not-perfect, but functional patch panel I got the vertical piece welded in because I went and got some wire yesterday I glopped weld onto other weld to fill in some other holes rather than trying to get a patch panel in there. It worked pretty well. I also had to tack in two of the clips into the places where the clip holder stud was rusted out or unusable Closeups of the 2 tacked clips This is where I glopped on the weld to fill the hole BODY FILLER! The patch panel smoothed out pretty well I'll have to clean up the clips because I had to glop on the filler over those The opposite bottom corner of where I had to do the patch panel This is where I had to fill a hole that I made because there was some lead filler that my wire wheel actually took off. I made a separate thread about it. The crevice of the opposite bottom corner of where I had to do the repair Same corner, different angle The middle of the bottom of the back window channel Another overview shot
Just as a suggestion on the clip you mudded over..............I would be fitting the trim to your work. That clip is going to cause you all kinds of grief.....It should have been removed then 1/8th inch drill out the studs so you can rivit the new clips back in where they are supposed to be. if the trim dont fit you will be redoing all your work again.
Kudos to you ! When I was 15 the extent of my body work was metal tape with bondo over it:laugh: . I don't think there was such a thing as wire feed welders in the mid 70's and if so I didn't know it.You tackled a tough and complex job and with the right finish work will look presentable when painted. This is a project you will remember your entire life and tell you kids about.Keep up the good work!
An FCAW makes a "sloppier" weld. It's pretty much intended for welding outdoors or in a windy environment where the shielding gas would be disturbed. It's not as "clean" Having said that, I've been wondering how the flux core welds would turn out (since mine's been in a box for 3 years) and it's not bad at all. I elected to buy a Lincoln welder a couple years back that is upgradable from FCAW to MIG and now I see no reason to go buy the kit or gas. Thanks for all the detailed pics. Now I feel inspired to get the welder out of the box! What wire are you using, BTW?
That's a good point. As an alternative, I chose to forget the chrome trim when I cleaned up my window channels, and removed all the clips and used black silicone window caulking, a lot of patience, and finished the windows as if they had black window trim like newer cars do.
Well if I'm inspiring someone then I must be doing something right! I used 0.030 flux cored for the first while but I went back to using 0.035 when I had to buy another spool. The 0.035 seems to need less guidance for the same coverage.
Well guys. I'm still on fixing and smoothing the filler. How can I sand the filler on the patch panel I welded in? It's on a dip in the body because the little ridge is concave so I'm kind of unsure how to get to sand it. I tried using a sanding pad with a foam backing but it allowed the sandpaper to form to the surface and it caused the metal to show through in high spots. Also, how should I sand in the channel? By hand? because I can't block sand in there because the studs are in the way... any ideas?
