The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Speaking of rust, weld quality, and integrity...
I bought this car with some strut tower problems. One had been repaired (poorly). The other apparently wasn't in as bad of shape, so had not been repaired.
I'm going to repair the rust-through on the non-repaired tower; will the awful weld job on the other fail tech?
I promise that's not my welding work. I bought it that way, honest.
For your enjoyment, here's some epic 2nd-gen Escort broken spring action:
The tower will pass tech but if you decide to run your cage bracing or rear towers down to the strut assembly it won't.
Tech inspection is for structural integrity of the cage and all safety components.
In my opinion I would try to start over with this bastardized welding job. That way you can use the strut tower as part of your cage build, this stiffens the suspension quite a bit and gives the car a more stable response in the corners.
I guess what I am saying is... Do you want to drive it that way and hope the strut and spring don't come pushing through the floor on a tight corner causing you to flip?
Or do you want to do it right and not have to worry about your own personal safety?
Less worries = More Fun!
WOW, that has to be one of the shittiest welding jobs ever. I'm pretty sure a blind man could do a better job.
Time to refab those strut towers. Don't butt-weld the new metal on, fish-eyes are your friend.
Good news is you'll be able to lower the car without losing bump travel and have adjustable camber (if you do it right). I would make camber adjustable anyway in the likely event you measured wrong... 
Time to refab those strut towers. Don't butt-weld the new metal on, fish-eyes are your friend.
Good news is you'll be able to lower the car without losing bump travel and have adjustable camber (if you do it right). I would make camber adjustable anyway in the likely event you measured wrong...
I presume you mean plug / spot welds http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/plug-weld.htm not the fisheye defects due to hydrogen embrittlement.
rockwood wrote:Time to refab those strut towers. Don't butt-weld the new metal on, fish-eyes are your friend.
Good news is you'll be able to lower the car without losing bump travel and have adjustable camber (if you do it right). I would make camber adjustable anyway in the likely event you measured wrong...
I presume you mean plug / spot welds http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/plug-weld.htm not the fisheye defects due to hydrogen embrittlement.
Lol, whoops. My brain is fried. Fish eyes are definitely not your friend. I meant fish plates:
But plug welds would work too.
Yeah - it doesn't look like the surface was prepped at all in the first picture. The guy tried to weld over paint.
The welds on the fish plate is beautiful.
You want pretty welds?
http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showth … ds....****
Spend a couple of hours on that thread. Makes me want to kick my welder, since it can't be my fault my welds don't look like that...
Spend a couple of hours on that thread. Makes me want to kick my welder, since it can't be my fault my welds don't look like that...
I know my MIG welder is holding me back. I can feel the inconsistancy of heat/feed/power/penetration/etc. every few seconds. I just picked up a tig a few weeks ago and haven't really had a chance to play with it yet - I need a 220 line run. But until I'm making money off my welding, I'm really stuck with the equipment that I have.
IMO it's more about preparation and knowledge than big-bucks equipment for automotive cage stuff. I once watched a Lincoln-trained fabricator weld thin plate with a 70 amp 115V stick welder with 3/16 rod and they had perfect penetration and a small HAZ....I've also screwed up welds with $4000 equipment because I was rushing/careless...big bucks equipment buys speed, but if you prep your joints well you can do strong stuff with cheap equipment.....ferrous stuff of course...ONTH TIG might pay for itself by salvaging aluminum heads and blocks...right now I have a Lincoln "suitcase" 115V MIG and an AC225 "cathedral" stick welder and I've never had a cage/repair failure (from welding, at least!) I have an old carbon arc torch lying around which I'd love to try with the 75 amp 100 percent duty cycle tap on the AC225....anybody use them?
rockwood wrote:Spend a couple of hours on that thread. Makes me want to kick my welder, since it can't be my fault my welds don't look like that...
I know my MIG welder is holding me back. I can feel the inconsistancy of heat/feed/power/penetration/etc. every few seconds. I just picked up a tig a few weeks ago and haven't really had a chance to play with it yet - I need a 220 line run. But until I'm making money off my welding, I'm really stuck with the equipment that I have.
I've noticed a lot more inconsistency with the 110v welders than even the cheapest 220v welders, and I think it has to do with the weak feed motors.
Jim - of no doubt. But I can't run more than a 2" bead without the mig starting to overheat, power reduce, and line speed fluctuate. Then I have to let it cool for a bit. And while expensive equipment buys speed - the on again off again nature of the 110 welder I use means that I don't get completely uniform welds of the quality of ones posted above.
Jim - of no doubt. But I can't run more than a 2" bead without the mig starting to overheat, power reduce, and line speed fluctuate. Then I have to let it cool for a bit. And while expensive equipment buys speed - the on again off again nature of the 110 welder I use means that I don't get completely uniform welds of the quality of ones posted above.
Rob, I had the same problem, then switched to a 25 amp dedicated line with no extension cords and it helped...but I stop often to look and wonder what the hell I'm doing.... the local Lincoln dealer does say get the 220 unit for serious work. For the heavy stuff I still use the AC stick...and those welds pictured are a thing of beauty you can't get with arc...
Butt plug welds would work too.
I don't think I want one of those...
rockwood wrote:Butt plug welds would work too.
I don't think I want one of those...
I said they work, never said they felt good...
Rob, I had the same problem, then switched to a 25 amp dedicated line with no extension cords and it helped...
I had an electrician run a dedicated 80a 220v line across my attic to the front of my garage just for my arc welder. That was one of my best investments ever. It cost about $125, YMMV.
I just need to make the phone call - the run from the box to where I want the plug is less than 10 feet.
RobL wrote:Jim - of no doubt. But I can't run more than a 2" bead without the mig starting to overheat, power reduce, and line speed fluctuate. Then I have to let it cool for a bit. And while expensive equipment buys speed - the on again off again nature of the 110 welder I use means that I don't get completely uniform welds of the quality of ones posted above.
Rob, I had the same problem, then switched to a 25 amp dedicated line with no extension cords and it helped...but I stop often to look and wonder what the hell I'm doing.... the local Lincoln dealer does say get the 220 unit for serious work. For the heavy stuff I still use the AC stick...and those welds pictured are a thing of beauty you can't get with arc...
When I was welding daily I used a 220v Lincoln MIG and it does produce a far more consistent weld than the 110v boxes.
As mentioned above, a solid 110v line is needed, long worn out extension cords with partly burned out plugs will result in low voltage at the welder which will make the arc fluctuate badly and produce low quality ugly welds.
I wired large gauge fixed cables on a 30 amp breaker ( don't tell the electrician ) for the 110v MIG welder and plasma cutter. Much better results.
I use the Home Depot HD 220v MIG with gas and it works perfectly.
The Lincoln guys told me to work with a 20 percent duty cycle with the 110 units, so for every 30 seconds of weld, it's two minutes of cooling down....I just rearrange the work so I'm grinding/fitting something else then come back to the welding....IMO a lot of bad welds come from trying to do the whole cage in one stint.....if you're AC stick welding with the "cathedral" box, it's the same thing, although the 75 amp tap is 100% duty cycle, for carbon arcs I think. Anybody ever heated/brazed with carbon arcs? I have a set but don't know how to set it up...
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