Doing some rust repairs on the beetle (rear guard mounting areas), & I want to know if I need to be quenching out my welds (MIG) with water as I go to control distortion. I used to do this back in the days when I only had OXY to work with.
I havent got good enough access to the back of the panel to allow me to get a dolly behind it to hammer on.
Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Brendan
5lam ·
Tack on tack is the best method. Using water will cause warping also. Just take it slow, and allow the metal to cool after half a dozen tacks or so, depending on the size of the area.
helbus ·
I use air to cool welds, as the water is too quick and hardens the weld too much. I metal finish most of my joins, so I use every advantage I can to make the job work.
snitz ·
Yep..blow with an air gun between welds..
Special Air Service ·
Thanks gents, I think my problems were trying to get to much welded in one go & tacks too far apart. getting to much heat in. Will give the air a try.
Cheers
Brendan
helbus ·
Tack every cm, and then sand the tacks down to almost level with the surrounding panel.
Then do the welds 1 cm at a time with the air gun to cool. It takes about 20 seconds per cm, so you are looking at 3cm per minute.
I have done roof chops areas that have taken 6 hours just to weld the roof skin.
Special Air Service ·
Thanks Pete, been tacking way too far apart. probably about 3cm. tried the air method the other day & definetely helped. I'm getting improvements as I go, so thanks to all. Will post up some pics of my progress shortly.