Welding body sheet metal with an arc welder

Just after some advice,

I've got a hole to patch under the tank of my bug, on the opposite side to the master cylinder (if that makes sense - passenger footwell but under the tank) and I have access to an arc stick welder (home handy man size).

I've been cautioned before about welding body sheet with a stick, but I was wondering if it was possible?

The hole is about the size of a matchbox car, and doesn't go through to the interior. It has been cleaned up, treated and painted in a rust proofing paint.

I was going to try and get my eye in on some old scrap panels I've got. Just wondering if it is possible, or if it will blow holes in the steel?

Hmm.... good challenge. I can burn holes through exhaust tubing on my little 100amp arc/stick welder at home.

U would wanna be very quick in making an arc and welding it before it can get to much heat into it, not only for hole burnage but also distorsion and of course with the output cracked far down.

If it mucks up it will only be a couple little holes. no worse really. I'm sure if u put a thread up asking for any veedubber with a mig nearby you should be able to get help.

It is possible, but you would want to be very good at using the arc welder to do sheet metal repairs

long ago i welded 1mm-2mm sheets but they had a welding rod that was carbon ,coated with copper ,i haven't seen one sinrce it was an early tig i suppose

your sheet steel is about 1-1.2mm,your thinnest welding rod is I think 2mm. so by the time the rod melts,you have blown a hole in your sheet steel. Good Luck😉

you would need 1.6 rods and amps turned down low,it can be done as i used to do it before i got my mig,and greedy you were doing carbon arc welding👍

Mate the hole is the size of a matchbox car,by the time you get enough oyster leases on it you will probably be able to put the spare wheel in there.Either use oxy a mig or pay someone else to do it.Good luck

we patched up our pillar with the hole size of a tennis ball
using sheet metal from old computer case but to the size of the hole and 1.6mm welding rod
we just sort of spot weld it about 5 mm apart.
and fibreglass over it

get a 240v TIG welder, much easier for light gauge stuff, think of it kinda like an electric version of oxy (im a lil biased tho, i love TIG)

Tig is nice looking.

You could sell your stick and but a unitig welder which has both stick and tig options. They are medium size but dunno bout cost

Yeah, might just see about hiring a mig. I'm a bit handier with them at any rate.

The stick welder I was going to borrow was a pretty old one, and I don't think it would crank down that low.

Thanks for the advice.

Just looked it up - it's only $44 for 4 hours to hire a 130amp mig from Kennards.

Too easy!

buy a mig from bunnings use it and return it for a refund stating it is not of a quality you require

71-BEETLE-SEDAN wrote:Tig is nice looking.

You could sell your stick and but a unitig welder which has both stick and tig options. They are medium size but dunno bout cost

140 amp around $340 but that doesn't include the TIG torch or argon gas bottle/hire. A great little welder!

DH

pretty hard to do and a pain in the ass, but i did once weld a rust hole up in a HR holden bootlid with one, not to mention the passenger quater on my bug, before i got a mig, so yes its possible, but be expecting to grind a fair bit... lol

I work in sheetmetal and yeah deffo go for a mig... its a shame your not in melbourne ive got hmmm.. bout 30 to play with haha

I know that it's a bit "old school", but what about oxy-acetylene welding? Having worked on VWs (at a VW dealership) in the '50s & '60s, that's all we had - no MIG or TIG.
With a small tip, 20 gauge (0.9mm) steel can be welded neatly. The main downside is extra heat in the surrounding areas. I have both MIG & TIG in my shed, but still use the oxy for a lot of welding as well. I'd rather pick up a black snake than a stick welder.

Cheers, Greg

I agree with Greg,oxy may be old school but we had nothing else (we were too poor)😂so everything was welded with oxy,my first boss could weld anything short of toilet paper and did so.Seriously though with a No 6 tip on a comet set up we welded 1/2 skins on doors or whatever because there was nothing else.The first bloke that came around selling migs was stunned when we did a better job on a panel repair in less time than he did with the mig,needless to say he didn't make a sale.Obviously this came with a lot of practice but these days the mig is the way to go.

just an idea, what about using the 2 part sot metal, if the holes are only very tiny you pinch a bit of kinda like putty you knead 2 parts together and use it you can file it sand it drill it etc
than spray sound deadner under the floor and walla🙅 new floor

Oh yeah, and leave a nice surprise - and more work - for the next bloke, who wants to do the job properly!

grumble wrote:I agree with Greg,oxy may be old school but we had nothing else (we were too poor)😂so everything was welded with oxy,my first boss could weld anything short of toilet paper and did so.Seriously though with a No 6 tip on a comet set up we welded 1/2 skins on doors or whatever because there was nothing else.The first bloke that came around selling migs was stunned when we did a better job on a panel repair in less time than he did with the mig,needless to say he didn't make a sale.Obviously this came with a lot of practice but these days the mig is the way to go.

I do all my panel fabrication and repair with oxy. You cant metal finish a MIG weld.

I could once weld anything with a stick, I could do it flat, vertical, even overhead to a degree. So long as the anything is 2 bits of brand new 3/8 plate set up securely on a bench. At TAFE they only taught us BHP fitters how to weld 3/8 plate and the boiler makers back at work wouldnt let us go anywhere near their gear. These days I could probably cut 1/4 inch plate with a stick as neatly as I could cut it with oxy. Which doesnt say a lot for my skills at either.
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