Welding a stock car chassis

[turkey piddle]

to make a long story short a buddy of mine put his vintage stock car in the wall and twisted it up. I plan on replacing the front section with 2x3 and 2x4 box tubing with a 1/8 wall and I have a 110v mig welder or a 220 volt stick welder and have some training and experience welding non structructural type items. I want this to be done right but a chasis shop is not practical since the car is mostly not raced it just happen it was doing a test lap at a show and the tire blew out so it may never see the track again with the welds I have found on it I am surprised it isn't more torn up. If any one can recomend any hints in what rods or wire should work the best it would be much appreciated.

[chip hayden]

unfortunately, i feel you are kinda "between a rock and ahard place".
the 110 machine will be at it's upper extreme limit and, unless you are real good, chances are you will have a lot of cold laps and missed joints.
the sma[stick] might be a better choice but, almost as difficult. you"ll also be susceptible to missed joints and burnthru, which is difficult and time consuming to repair with sma[stick].

[Bob]

I will be a fraction (but just) more optimistic.

With a good 110V mig machine, a good weldor should be able to make sound welds on 1/8" material. Likewise if you are very good with the stick machine. So a lot rides on you machine and skill level.

You said your taining was non-structural so you might consider additional training ... ? You should do lots and lots of practice welds on similar material and testing (cross section the beads, bend the &hit out of them, etc) before you put a life at stake riding on them.

You should also seriously consider "walking away" from this one or making it a "display only" car. You know the details better than I do.

Bob

[Roger]

I would weld this with fluxcore wire. 135 MIG could use solid wire with good 120V 20amp circuit but I would consider penitration marginal. Big problem with running your 110V welder flat out is duty cycle. Over heated welder can give poor welds even if your a great weldor before shutting down.
Look at 110v welders volt amp curves at max output. Voltage really plunges when it's needed most at maximum output. That's why 175MIG is much better than 135MIG at 125 to 135 output and 175MIG's better duty cycle is added bonus.

[HackAsaw]

out of the metal fusing devices you have at your disposal........ it would be the torches or the stick for me

I've never met a cheap mig welder I liked

[turkey piddle]

Thanks for all the feed back guys, I am leaning toward the stick welder with some 6013 rods to do most of it and on the crucial areas droping the three pass weld with first the 6013 and then 7018 on top. I am going to practice/ test weld on some 1/8 scrap before I cut the car apart cuz If I am not comfortable with what you have all told me I am going to walk away cuz I don't want the resposibility...thanks again all.

[chip hayden]

not to muddle the issue but, Roger has a good point about the fluxcore/dualshield option.
Postle has made a superior, small dia., cored wire for years. add a shielding gas, a little practice and planning, and you might be pleasantly surprised with the results. have fun!

[pontiac]

What kind of box is the 220v Stick?

Just wondering if you could do Scratch Start DC TIG.
it's about $100 for a torch and consumables kit from the discount shops plus you'll need to find an Argon bottle & regulator somewhere.

You could borrow the Mig bottle

just a thought.. reg if you run C25 and have it refilled with Argon.

Maybe yor friend will spring for the new tools in trade for the work.

[turkey piddle]

Originally posted by chip hayden
not to muddle the issue but, Roger has a good point about the fluxcore/dualshield option.
Postle has made a superior, small dia., cored wire for years. add a shielding gas, a little practice and planning, and you might be pleasantly surprised with the results. have fun!

this sounds interesting but what polarity would I run at cuz I have switched back and forth my machine depending on f/c wire and mig wire.


"pontiac" I have two stick units one cheesy old lincoln 225 stick and a thunder bolt 250 or 300 amp unit I can't remember the numbers are worn off it. I am interested in this because I have spare co2 and argon bottle probly another reg too just no experience with it, I know tig is the way to go as far as not distorting or fatiguing the metal cuz you can concentrate on such a small spot...do you have a web site with more info on this,thanks

[axehind]

turkey piddle,

A old timer told me that there are 2 things never to weld.

1) Car frames
2) Gas tanks

The car frame was because of the liability involved. He said your liable for the life of the car. The gas tank is pretty obvious why not to weld. I know alot of guys out there weld car frames but I dont think I would. Something to thing about anyways.

axehind

[INTP]

How much good is a car that has welds that you are not completely comfortable with?

[dseman]

Turkey,
Although 6013s are easily dragged along the metal, they are not considered by the AWS to be used for structures with dynamic loading. They don't carry a CVN or charpy-v-notch rating in general. Better to use 7018 or a 6011 root and then 7018. If it were me and I didn't consider myself rather qualified, I'd pay to have a pro do it or wait until you get more experience. Now, do you feel sufficiently beat up

-dseman

[turkey piddle]

thanks for the advice, I will have my hand practicing with the 6011 rod as the root before I take the job cuz if the 6013's are non structural I won't use them. Beating gladly taken, I wouldn't have posted this up hear if I didn't want the feedback I appreciate the advice I am not a pro welder by any means and am happy to be put in my place if it gets the job done right.

INTP......no good thats why I am asking questions I would rather see it go into a chassis shop but if you saw the car and the fab work already on it, me and the stick welder in my driveway can make it no worse I think thats why I am doing it just to see if it can be done before the car becomes a permenant wreck in my buddies shop showroom cuz I think he raced his last race at least in this car.

Originally posted by dseman
Turkey,
Although 6013s are easily dragged along the metal, they are not considered by the AWS to be used for structures with dynamic loading. They don't carry a CVN or charpy-v-notch rating in general. Better to use 7018 or a 6011 root and then 7018. If it were me and I didn't consider myself rather qualified, I'd pay to have a pro do it or wait until you get more experience. Now, do you feel sufficiently beat up

-dseman

[Chris P.]

I have welded tons of car frame-unibodies!!

No gas tanks.....

[axehind]

Originally posted by Chris P.




I have welded tons of car frame-unibodies!!

No gas tanks.....

Yup and your liable for every one for the life of the car. I know that autobody shops do it all the time but I wouldnt do it as a welder.

axehind