"Agrajag" (Agrajag)
08/02/2013 at 19:02 • Filed to: w123
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"Agrajag" (Agrajag)
08/02/2013 at 19:02 • Filed to: w123 | 2
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This project is taking forever, but at least the rain stopped.
I got access to another welding machine, but figured it was better that I finished all the new sheet metal pieces first.
I realized that the tri-ball, bench vise, ball peen hammer combo I've been using is essentially an English Wheel. I just hammer at the same spot and move the sheet metal as needed. It works really well. I've decided to name it The Ameri-Ball.
After about 3 hours today, I completed all the pieces I need to start welding. I'll need to make probably 2 more small pieces as there will be a gap in some areas. But pretty much done. Huzzah!
Here are all the completed pieces in their approximate layout. The closest one is the only piece I had to put a relief cut in.
Next step was to apply Miracle Paint to any remaining rust.
The marker lines you see are there for reference so I know exactly where to place new panel. I thought I'd be able to begin welding today but forgot that Miracle Paint takes 6 GOD DAMN HOURS to dry. I could have done that yesterday(dumbass). So today was kind of a shorter day.
Everything is prepped now for welding, so tomorrow I should be able to start right away. I've only welded maybe 3 times before, they held but they were hideous. So now I get to do it with some monstrosity of a welder and I have to be on my back the whole time, at least I get to use one of those auto adjusting masks.
Another nice part of this whole process is the facility I've been able to use and especially the awesome drive to and fro. The section of roads is amazing, and on the way back scanning through FM channels(caprice doesn't even have tapedeck) this was playing on a local classical station.
A beautiful soundtrack for the ride home.
Wish me luck for tomorrow, and thanks for reading.
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Agrajag
08/04/2013 at 07:32 |
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Cool. Very impressed by the panel-forming in particular.
Good luck for today. I've read this post, but couldn't reply at the time.
Couple of tips for welding upwards, if you haven't done it before (and if you're using MIG).
Firstly, it seems that to get a good weld pointing upwards you need to hold the gun a little closer than you would normally.
Secondly, it'll drop lots of little globs of molten metal every now and again. I'd advise wearing gloves and a thick jacket over your arms. They'll burn right through jeans (as I found out rather sharply), but you can keep your legs out of the way.
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Agrajag
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
08/04/2013 at 08:12 |
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Thanks. I wish you'd been able to respond earlier. I unfortunately figured these out the hard way lol. My pants have a million little holes in them now. I did fortunately have a welding jacket and gloves. I think I would have died without them.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Agrajag
08/04/2013 at 08:27 |
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Yeah, it's nasty to learn the hard way. First time I did it I had a little piece of metal burn straight through my trousers and cool down enough not to burn its way back out again. It ended up burning a little spiral into my inner thigh before I noticed what was happening.
I'm impressed by the final job though. It might not look too pretty, but it looks solid and that's all that really matters in the end.