[mike nixon]

You'll like that 220 welder, I'll do sheetmetal up to 1/2" stuff without issue. I've found they weld the thin stuff easier than the lower amp units.

A couple of hints, Be sure your ground point is CLEAN and be sure the metal you're welding is clean also.

Mike

[carcrazy]

Although I generally butt weld most things you may want to consider the backing strip method. It is detailed over at autobodystore.com.

[69Customs]

That was a good article GTO406. I just wish they could have got their fractions straight!

[gto406]

LOL! yes I noticed the typo - the panel said 1/4" but the text said 11/44". Definitely a copy-editorial mistake!

Thanks CC for the link, the backing-strip method looks like a good way to go. I actually have a spare set of doors for my car which need patching. May be the perfect place to practice welding and the backing-strip technique 8^)

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by gto406

LOL! yes I noticed the typo - the panel said 1/4" but the text said 11/44".

Well, technically...isn't that the same thing?...lol

[gto406]

Yes, you are correct sir, lol!

[Judas]

I'd check the seam at the trunk floor and the inner wheel house before getting too carried away. I have been told that inner is the "foundation" to the outer + quarter combo repair. Be sure to pick at the thick seam sealer there, inside the trunk. Mine was rock hard and broke off, revealing plenty of cancer underneath between the floor and inner.

Ditto everyone said about practice. Be sure to practice some welding perpendicular to the floor/ground. Welding that way is more difficult and it comes up a lot when working on the car body, such as joining the inner and outer wheel well flanges. Not just for your skill, but learning when the machine "likes". I use a 200$ Cambell-Hausfeld welder and it works well (I do wish the heat settings had more fine-grained control though), but when going to perpendicular welds, I've found turning the speed up a full point from 5.5 to 6.5 works well. I practiced directly on my project and my perpendicular welds were atrocious until I learned this.

Just my 02; Butt welds are nice, but they do require a lot more fitting to get perfect. As others have said, the vast majority of time is spent in fitment. I mostly use laps because of this. Good luck!

-J

[gto406]

Thanks for the advice 'J'.

Small update, on the weekend (and Monday evening) we sandblasted some parts of the body that couldn't be stripped (60 grit glass-bead). The outer wheel-house (on the pass-side) is much worse than I thought (two patches - one riveted in). It may be difficult to get in there with less than 1/2 the quarter exposed.

The driver side quarter is much worse. The wheel lip itself actually has a very poor patch/repair put in which means I would have to go above the body line on the d/s. Not certain yet about the outer wheel-house but I would imagine it is as bad or worse than the pass-side.

Also looking at those skins (some real pics of skins from e-Bay) the repop's look really bad (particularly behind the wheel-well).

I may be better off going full (repop 1/4's) which may not be 100% around the rear 1/4 window, but at least have the proper shape around the rear section and can be spot welded at the back.

I will likely also try to cut out the bad outer wheel-houses and simply replace them (re-welding them at the flange running down the middle).

It is a 'tough decision' to make. It is really difficult for me to cut out good metal, but I really don't want to have a problem once the paint is on this car. This is the third time apart, and I don't want to be doing this again (it would be nice to start another project down the road) 8^)

Cheers,
Brian
'72 GTO.

[2002Z4CSS]

I would rather patch the quarter panel if it could be. Easier than replacing it.