First Patchjob!

[6T9GMC]

Here Is The Side Of My Cab.(behind The Back Of The Fender) It Was Rusted Thru So I Cut It Out And After A Few Tries It Is Repaired. It Is The Third Patch Actually. It Took Me A Few Tries To Get Used To The Spot Welding And Grinding Deal. I Never Have Really Welded That Much At All. It Would Burn Holes Or There Would Be Holes After I Would Grind It Down. I Had To Reweld A Few Spots That I Didn't Get After Spot Welding The First Time. But Now I Think It Is Ok. Let Me Know Any Tips. This Is The Small Repair. I Have To Shave The Top Of The Firewall Cause Rust Got It.

[Rokcrln]

God job! Places like that are great starts to build up your skills!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[QKENUF4U]

im guessing from the looks of it you are using a standard wire feed welder WITHOUT GAS ???? (cause it looks like my weld jobs w/ the same setup ) i found the gas setup for mine and will be buying it soon. makes for very nice/uniform weld

[6T9GMC]

NO, ITS A HOBART 180 AND I'M USING GAS. DOES IT LOOK THAT BAD?
OK I'M NEW AT THIS! GOOD THING I DIDN'T POST THE BAD PICS OF THE FIRST TWO TRIES!

[crazy longhorn]

Originally Posted by 6T9GMC

NO, ITS A HOBART 180 AND I'M USING GAS. DOES IT LOOK THAT BAD?
OK I'M NEW AT THIS! GOOD THING I DIDN'T POST THE BAD PICS OF THE FIRST TWO TRIES!

No, you are doin allright welding that sheet tin is a spot at a time to keep the warpage down. As you play you will get better , but I look at it like this.......I dont need to be an expert welder......just a damn good grinder! some of the guys have "mastered" the trade , but I have not.....im still a good grinder! keep on truckin..... L

[msgross]

I have an old hood that I'm getting ready to start making holes and welding them back in, newbie too so I will be seeking the same advice...

[classicchev]

i agrre with Longhorn. I love the blending disks, 120 grit makes my weld look like I do have a little talent in the welding area.. Thin metal is really tough to learn on, get some scrap 1/8 " and practice on that, Its pretty hard to burn through.

Best advice is to just do it.

[6T9GMC]

I Know! Learning On The Thin Stuff Is Not To Easy. I Practiced A Little On A Piece Of The Inner Fender. I Did Good On That, But It Wasn't Trying To Patch. It Was Just Welding Lines On Top Of The Metal.

[shaneschevys]

Looks good to me.

[clay68c10]

Looks good to me, just keep doing it. The more you weld, the easier it gets.

[krue]

Better than I could do.

[wolfthing2000]

I thought i might add in. Go to Harbor Freight( I know, Cheap junk!) and buy a hammer / dolly set ( maybe 20 bucks) and you can hammer welds out after shrinking things and even straighten out some dents and bends. If you fail terribly or realy get ticked off at the whole idea, just throw the set away! No big loss.
I got me a set and after a 1100 hours or so of patch,weld,hammer,grind,stretch,think,measure,and do it all over again type learning.,,,,, I am quite the back yard body guy.!!!.............you can be the same. Just give it time. I made up different "bending dies" and forms for shaping the pieces in my bench vice too, works real well and a hack saw and 4 1/2 inch x 1/8 cut off wheel in your electric right angle grinder will make fast work out of cutting pieces out. I cut templates out of cardboard and then transfer to sheet steel and cut out. For forming a radius, like a door corner, slit the material with a hand hack saw to curve and then after in place you can weld the slits back up.

Kinda like building puzzle pieces as you put a puzzle together. B sure to keep track of alignment and take lotsa before and during measurements so things don't turn pretzel on ya and you resort to BFH!!!!
Take your time, take breaks, work sober and slow and your results will amaze you.
Have fun!!!!

[72CSTC5]

Just as good as my patch and I have been doing it for years. Keep practicing your welding on scrap pieces of metal.

[Ryan'70]

Not too bad at all, I'm a welder by trade so I know what a pain in the a** that stuff can be.

[PanelDeland]

Practice practice practice.I'm a maintainence mechanic and I weld so-so.Mostly this is because I don't weld often.If you really want to inmprove do get some scrap and weld often even if it is for practice.I find that if I weld every few days I do a better job than if I don't weld for a month or so.Since I weld at work as need arises i sometimes don't do any for a month or more.I can really tell the difference.You did a good job on that repair now keep practicing and doing it.

[6T9GMC]

Thanks! All Of You Supporters Make It Good. You Guys Make People Want To Do Some Stuff They Never Would Normally Try. Thanks For All The Tips.

[Palf70Step]

You did good. Like the others have said it takes time and practice. I wish I had paid attention to my dad more when I was young so I would know what I am doing. Luckily I have friends to help and I do know how to grind and blend.

Keep on it, it keeps the truck going and it's fun as you learn more and more that you can o on them.

[jodydewey]

You are doing a good repair. May I offer some advice?

OK, on welding patches onto the area under the fender where the cowling goes to the vents - don't weld in new patches. Cut the inner metal out completely in a square. That will make the vent area accessible to clean out. The problem with our trucks is that leaves enter the cowl from the windsheild area and collect down in this area with no way to clean them out. By cutting the panel off you can clean this area out and then treat the metal with a rust stop paint. I am in process of doing this on my truck. After cleaning it out I will be replacing ALL the metal (mine was pretty rusty) and then making the outer panel a bolt on using RIVNUTS or WELDNUTS. I will also be using herculiner on the inside to protect the area from water intrusion. If anyone has made a drain system for this area I would really love to see it before I replace all the metal. I will start a new post with my repair so everyone can see what I am talking about.

[BarryB]

with just about everthing adviced. I am a welder also. Usually welding thick steel. 1/4" - 3" thick . But when it comes to welding this sheet metal. It is a whole different story.You have to jump around to keep warping to a mininum. But keep up the good work. practice makes perfect.

[Aarons72s]

Looks good. Yah I have had to do some stuff like that. Yah weld where it gets good penetration but little to no warping. Who cares if the bead looks bad you got grind it any way. Keep up the good work.

[bowtiehotrodder]

looks good to me

[6T9GMC]

HEY jodydewey

HEY I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. IS IT THE SIDE PIECE THAT I CUT OUT AND REPLACED? I TOOK OUT THE INNER RAIL OR DUCT THAT IS INSIDE THE COWLING. I GUESS IT IS MADE TO RUN THE WATER OVER THE BLOWER MOTOR. I AM GONNA SHAVE THE FIREWALL AND IT WAS RUSTED UNDERNEATH SO I JUST TOOK OUT THAT PIECE. THEN I'M GONNA FILL IN THE BLOWER MOTOR HOLE.