Well, I finally broke down and bought a Lincoln WeldPak HD to do the light stuff, not that I know who to weld with it yet. Worked fine on my exhausts, but those only required a single weld on each side, so they count as a little practise.

Here's the question. Assuming I clamp the ground close to where I'm going to be arcing, is there any possibility of damaging any of the electrical systems in the car (such as they are)? The little Lincoln isn't shooting a lot of juice, but I thought I'd ask the question BE#FORE pulling the trigger.

advTHANKSance

Nope, you wont have any problems with the electronics.

Be carefull on how much heat you use. You don't want to warp or blow through your panels.

As stated, the electronics will handle any welding surge. But...

Don't weld "across" any bearings...this means don't clamp the ground on a wheel and weld on the body, clamp to the engine block and weld on frame, etc. Not that either of these examples would ever happen, but if you get arcing inside a bearing, it is most likely toast.

Also, there are some flux core wires designed for thinner metal welding, I have not tried them. But, generally, the best sheet metal body welds / results are made with solid core wire and shielding gas. If the flux core works, great. If you find that it is not performing well, consider the solid wire.

I used the flux core on my sons pickup truck patch panels and it was too hot. I could only do very short tacks before it would melt through. It did work and is holding up very well. Just clean ALL the flux off. The .025" solid wire can go much lower on the temp settings so it works great!

the .025 wire will definetly make it easier welding the thin sheetmetal, and the only thing I would be worried about is an msd or other type of cdi box. I would unplug that if possible just in case.

IMO It only takes a second to un-hook a battery .

I am a welder and I would always rather be safe than sorry.

As far as putting the clamp close to your work doesn't mean it won't look for the path of least resistense.

As far as wire goes .023 with gas is perfect for sheetmetal. I usally crank the gas up to 35 or 40 to cool the meatl a little. Plus there is minimal spatter.

Flux core is fine for all other repairs IE ,exhuast, frame etc.

I prefer to use gas for all my repairs for 3/8" and under and I use shielded wire for any thing over 3/8".


Good luck

Stephe

At a welding seminar and one of the reps advised against the use of flux core on surfaces to be painted. Some big company had some problems and now they say don't use it.

If you want to pratice some check with your local muffler shop and auto body repair shops.
Alot of them have scrap bins that they will let you have "trash" out of and then you can do some
extra practicing on things simular to what you will be welding on.
Flux core welds hottor and is better for welding outdoors where shielding gas would be blown away.
Solid wire with shielding gas normaly welds smoother and with less splatter.
Enjoy your new toy. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have both, the Weld-Pack with flux and a SP135+ set up with gas. I can say for body work you can't beat the shielding gas. However, I have done quite a bit of welding patch panels and such with the flux-wire and you do have to be more careful as it will burn hotter and blow through easily on lighter gauges of tin. Take your time, practice, and most of all, have fun with it. As a side note, I allways disconnect the battery on vehicles prior to welding and try to get the ground as close to the work as possible.

There is an interesting discussion on sci.engr.joining.welding about welding on cars. They are extremely knowledgeable about anything related to welding. It appears that it may be better to leave the battery connected, as it acts like a surge suppressor. I have never disconnected a battery while welding, but I always make sure that my ground is connected to the actual piece I am welding on. Never had any problems. :cool:

Jeremy
'69 2dr post
Still under construction