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Old 07-29-2020, 12:38 PM
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Great thread everyone !! Thanks for posting !! I learned lots from it !!

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Old 07-29-2020, 01:35 PM
421redcat 421redcat is offline
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Thumbs up overlapped weld & cut method

Hello... that floor pan overlap & spot weld, then cut... it works great & i've used it on quarter panels and floor pans... i saw this on youtube @ Fitzies fabrication... good detailed videos on exactly what you're proposing to do!

Good luck!
AWL

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Old 07-29-2020, 02:46 PM
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I'll post some more pics soon ... waiting for a new TIG welder, something smaller and more portable than the 450 lb syncrowave.

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Old 07-29-2020, 03:22 PM
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I have not done a lot of patching. I plan on trying this method on an upcoming project. What would you do differently to minimize the extra work? Thanks, Billk



Quote:
Originally Posted by Formulabruce View Post
This guy is doing a lot of extra work. Interesting technique though.
Do Not use right angles if possible. They only collect heat as you start and stop welding, and that can make warping.

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Old 07-29-2020, 04:05 PM
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Not much way around the extra work, but in my case I think it will easily end up being less work in the long run because the patch fitup is so nice.

Assuming a person didn't want to do a lap weld that would show under the car, and wanted a perfect butt weld joint .... the time you would spend trying to cut a perfect patch the conventional way would involve a LOT of time. Test fitting a patch over and over again can be time consuming.

What I like about this method is first ... patch is a perfect shape with only the width of blade as a gap, so easy to weld ... and even no gap if you cut at an angle. Second, cutting and welding it a few inches at a time precludes the need for butt joint clips, the patch stays perfectly aligned as you go.

I can't speak to how it would be on an exterior body panel, I've never done that. But for a complex shape like a floor pan, where cutting a butt joint patch would be a real pain it works great. The small gap might not be ideal for an exterior panel, again I don't have experience enough there to comment.

After I'm done I should be able to hit the bottom side with a sanding disk on a grinder and have virtually no visible seam.

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Old 07-30-2020, 05:47 AM
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Couple more pics .. this is the passenger side, rear outside corner of the pan. I've been playing around with various welders and wire. Some of this was done with a big Lincoln 250 amp wire feeder using .035 wire (too much), some done with the same welder with .030 wire (better bun not enough subtlety in the adjustments), some done with a Lincoln SP100 with .024 SiBr wire (has potential, still trying to nail down the settings). Going to try the SP100 with some basic .024 steel wire next.

This is experimentation is in preparation for doing areas that I can't get to with a TIG torch very well. I have a new Lincoln TIG machine coming today, we'll see how that goes, the big 300 amp Syncrowave is a bit much for this work.

A couple of pics showing the corner after welding and light leading. One showing were the weld meets the kerf of the butt joint, and one where I spayed it with some black paint to get a feel for the final product.

Still need some practice on the leading and some proper tools to smooth it, not many lead files are made for curved inside corners so it's tedious. Final objective is to have an invisible patch. Bottom side is actually easier to smooth out being an outside curve.





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  #27  
Old 07-31-2020, 12:56 AM
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Looks really, really good.

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Old 07-31-2020, 08:02 AM
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VERY nice work.

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Old 07-31-2020, 08:42 AM
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Can’t wait to see the floor pans ...after they are wet sanded and buffed.

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Old 07-31-2020, 12:54 PM
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Throw shade all you want. Some people care about the quality of their work.

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Old 07-31-2020, 01:48 PM
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Seems rather odd to poke fun of someone for taking the time to perform a repair to a very high standard, with their own hands. Especially here, where a number of people will criticize a car for something as frivolous as a fan belt without the correct markings...

Making a repair like this virtually invisible should be celebrated and encouraged.

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Old 07-31-2020, 08:58 PM
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Mediocrity... it's the new excellence.

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Old 08-01-2020, 08:22 AM
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Any of you guys ever use a "bullseye Pick" for bodywork? I built one last night to work on the floor pan ... so I don't have to go under the car to tap up low areas ... there are those ridges and valleys in the pans that I want to match up real well.

Any tips on usage? Never used one before.

And just to be annoying I made it with a tool steel, .003" fit hinge ... with a zerk fitting, and a threaded pick end so I can interchange different pick tips

  #34  
Old 08-01-2020, 08:26 PM
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Quote:
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Throw shade all you want. Some people care about the quality of their work.
Looks great! I like people who want to do things the best they can. Being a perfectionist, I get it!

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Old 08-02-2020, 03:33 AM
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Here are some pics of the "Bullseye Pick" I made. Seems to function fine ... have to make some tips for it before I use it on the car. It will reach in about 21" from the lower door jamb across the floor pan.

Some of the commercial brands have a spring on them to open them up, not really needed using on a horizontal panel but can see how it would come in handy on a vertical panel ... can add one later if needed.

Made of 1/2" round mild steel, TIG welded a 3/8-16 socket head screw to the business end for mounting different tips, had a box of 1" handgrips in the "parts dept" so welded on a section of 1" SS tube.
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  #36  
Old 08-02-2020, 06:29 PM
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For people that want to buy a new tool. I just got a Milwaukee M12 die grinder to go with my dozen other M12 tools ... this thing is outstanding. Absolutely perfect with Ro-Loc disks for smoothing welds in tight places. Battery life is a bit short ... but I have three chargers and over a dozen batteries. Very quiet, more than enough power, nice and compact. Also I was very surprised at the longevity of the 36 grit Ro-Lock disks.

Highly recommend this tool. Home Depot has it for about $20 cheaper than Amazon.

  #37  
Old 08-05-2020, 03:40 PM
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Phase II is complete. Here is a pic in primer. paint shows up some areas that need a bit more work, another half hour with the die grinder and welder. Held a light behind and found some pin holes that will need to be welded. Got tricky up at the front where all the ribs are and the body mounts are in the way on the back side .. which had to be plug welded to the pan. Did most of the welding with silicon bronze which will help prevent rust way down the road.

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  #38  
Old 08-06-2020, 12:52 AM
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Lookin' good dude.

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Old 08-06-2020, 06:24 AM
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So far so good, learned a bit doing the first one. Rule number one, don't grind through the weld you just made and have to fill that hole too. Obviously a trained eye is going to be able to tell it was done ... dead giveaway is that the OEM pan not one piece, the pan has a lap joint to the cowl section which these replacements don't have.

Just ordered the pans for the back floors one of them I'll only being using about 20% of the pan, the other maybe 30% ... but, easier than trying to fabricate them myself.

Any tips on a good oxide primer to sort of match the OEM stuff? Most of the products I see are too much of a red/brown color than the reddish stuff I see from the factory.

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Old 08-06-2020, 09:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dataway View Post
So far so good, learned a bit doing the first one. Rule number one, don't grind through the weld you just made and have to fill that hole too. Obviously a trained eye is going to be able to tell it was done ... dead giveaway is that the OEM pan not one piece, the pan has a lap joint to the cowl section which these replacements don't have.

Just ordered the pans for the back floors one of them I'll only being using about 20% of the pan, the other maybe 30% ... but, easier than trying to fabricate them myself.

Any tips on a good oxide primer to sort of match the OEM stuff? Most of the products I see are too much of a red/brown color than the reddish stuff I see from the factory.
SPI red epoxy.

Don

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