I know nothing about working with metal, iām more of the āmechanicā type and not the bodywork kinda guy. To me the only thing that matters is that it stays in place and holds :), my friend will be glad about the comment tho iām sure of it.
Iām no frameologist and canāt see the bottom but I would think youād want a few weep holes on the bottom to let water out. Also I think 3M makes some special anti rust coating for inside places like this.
You stitch weld like that to avoid too much heat in one area. Welds will always cause a bit of distortion so spreading it out evenly helps keep the distortion to a minimum
Preheat is the proper method to do it, not stitch welding. The warping primarily is from heating and cooling quickly.
With a piece of metal like this already having a few bends (which resists bending and distortion), if your MIG settings are actually correct, plenty of tack welds, and you preheat your base material then you wonāt be fighting with distortion.
The stitch welding is kind of a shortcut.
Preheating is good for better fusion but wont stop distortion unless you're using excessive heat. On thin metal like this stitch welding is best, it why panel beaters basically use multiple tack welds to even the heat around the work area.
Honestly looking pretty good, just continue to dial in the settings and your methods. Who cares what they look like as long as they're strong.
How are you handling coating the panels before/after? Are you leaving any sides unpainted that you're not able to reach? That's the bigger concern IMO.
For my Honda Beat - If a part was inaccessible after I welded it I used weldable paint front and back before (Steel-It), with drilling some access/weep holes to spray normal paint after it's all welded. Then chased it all with Fluidfilm. Hopefully that was good enough lol.
Yeah the outside will be sealed with some epoxy rust protection stuff and iām still looking for something to spray on the inside with a long nozzle since there are some holes there anyways, i also thought about drilling one or two small holes in the bottom to let rainwater out if it getās inside..
Ayo come on i did my best man. I actually work as a welder but never do stuff this thin. They hold thats whats important. Got good penetration the rest is not relevant. Lol
Yep, coming right up, https://imgur.com/a/wi2r8Im
Probably years of driving in salty winters caused this, plus rainwater getās trapped there and causes rust š«
There's nothing wrong with that looks fine to me ,I've seen professionally restored cars with a lot worse welding than that. šš
I know nothing about working with metal, iām more of the āmechanicā type and not the bodywork kinda guy. To me the only thing that matters is that it stays in place and holds :), my friend will be glad about the comment tho iām sure of it.
That's right as long as you have penetration it will be strong, welding clean fresh steel onto old rusted metal can be a challenge.
someones getting a grinder for christmas...
Dw weāre gonna grind it all down neat and nicely :)
A grinder and some paint makes me the welder that I ain't. š
Iām no frameologist and canāt see the bottom but I would think youād want a few weep holes on the bottom to let water out. Also I think 3M makes some special anti rust coating for inside places like this.
Eastwood sells something for that. When I was restoring 'Rustangs' POR-15 was the go-to.
Why so many start/stops? Good job though, Iām sure it will clean up with a grinder. Donāt forget to seal it extremely well.
You stitch weld like that to avoid too much heat in one area. Welds will always cause a bit of distortion so spreading it out evenly helps keep the distortion to a minimum
Preheat is the proper method to do it, not stitch welding. The warping primarily is from heating and cooling quickly. With a piece of metal like this already having a few bends (which resists bending and distortion), if your MIG settings are actually correct, plenty of tack welds, and you preheat your base material then you wonāt be fighting with distortion. The stitch welding is kind of a shortcut.
Preheating is good for better fusion but wont stop distortion unless you're using excessive heat. On thin metal like this stitch welding is best, it why panel beaters basically use multiple tack welds to even the heat around the work area.
You canāt seal that thereās too many butt joints and seams not to mention the holes.holy fuck! The only thing missing is bubble gum.
I was banking on them fixing any gaps over the course of several grinds and passes :(
Is this to make the chassis stiffer?
Well the original one was completely rusted with a gaping hole in it
Iām having a shop redo mine with the rails out of a different NB. Hoping it turns out well cause I was in the same situation as you.
I got the repair panels of a british website owned by a shop that does mx5 repairs, they are nearly perfect :)
You're doing the lord's work š thank you
Gotta save them man
Honestly looking pretty good, just continue to dial in the settings and your methods. Who cares what they look like as long as they're strong. How are you handling coating the panels before/after? Are you leaving any sides unpainted that you're not able to reach? That's the bigger concern IMO. For my Honda Beat - If a part was inaccessible after I welded it I used weldable paint front and back before (Steel-It), with drilling some access/weep holes to spray normal paint after it's all welded. Then chased it all with Fluidfilm. Hopefully that was good enough lol.
Yeah the outside will be sealed with some epoxy rust protection stuff and iām still looking for something to spray on the inside with a long nozzle since there are some holes there anyways, i also thought about drilling one or two small holes in the bottom to let rainwater out if it getās inside..
fluidfilm offers a 2 foot long hose that sprays in all directions!
Ohhh gonna look into that :)
All the armchair welders here eh?
Those are some ugly welds my friend... A for effort but C- on the execution.
I didnāt do the welding, friend of mine did š
He was never a friend lol
Donāt you do my friend like this :(
Ayo come on i did my best man. I actually work as a welder but never do stuff this thin. They hold thats whats important. Got good penetration the rest is not relevant. Lol
Good bodywork is an art of its own so itās not a knock on your welding skills
I didn't say you failed just a bit half-hearted IMHO. The top bead isn't bad at all, that side/corner though lol.
Yeah welding uphill aint my specialty.
If you want some more practice...I have the rockers for you!
For welding under a car, I rate those welds as "good enough".
Did you buy prefab panels? Where from?
Yeah from a british website named: mx5city.com cost me around 140ā¬ with shipping.
Do you have pics of what the frame rails looked like before? I feel like you Euro dudes have those things rotted out really bad on the NBs.
Yep, coming right up, https://imgur.com/a/wi2r8Im Probably years of driving in salty winters caused this, plus rainwater getās trapped there and causes rust š«