I've read alot of post on here about Mig welders and if you should use shielding gas. Most say it's the way to go, I understand it makes a cleaner nicer weld by burning off impurities. But for doing panels and floor pans is it possible to get a good weld without it? I know it will be dirtier weld and a lil harder, but it will be as strong and grind down the same and won't leave nothing in the weld that will efect it later right? as long as you grind it gonna have to put filler over it and spray both sides of weld. so is it ok to do floor pans and Quarter panel skins without gas. I wanna buy a new welder and one without gas is cheaper and being on a budget due to new baby coming and money spent on tools ect. takes from work on car. Thanks for you imput on this. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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A Little Power Is Good,
More Is Better,
To Much Is Just Right!

You can just buy flux-core wire it has a lot more "spatter" but for doing floor pans or trunks it should be fine. You can buy a anti spatter paste that you can dip your nozzle in but it doesn't work that great.

As far as quarters go I would get gas.

It really isn't that more expensive to get a gas regulator and a small tank.

I know even the smallest lincoln or miller welders have gas capabilities. I have seen mig pack 10 with everything except a bottle for 439.00 which is fine for sheetmeatal and 1/4" with a heavy flux core wire.

IMO, gassless/fluxcore wire welding doesn't belong on sheetmetal of a car. Flux core wire is a "hotter" material to weld with. With the same given machine settings (.030/.035 flux core vs .023 gas shielded), the flux core will produce a hotter, deeper penetrating arc puddle. This means your chance for burnthrough is higher with flux core compared to the traditional .023 gas shielded Mig setup.

The main reason flux core wire is used in small machines is that it "crutches" the machines already poor power output and gives it depper penetration than it could using gas with it's "weak" power output.

In the welding profession, it's common for welders to use the flux core wire when welding not only in draft areas, but also when they need more penetration than gas welding can provide (i.e. real thick steel like bridges, ships, large quary dump trucks, etc).

If you can't afford a good gas machine now, then save your $$$ until you can. I understand the deal about new born babies coming into your household budget. I understand more than the average joe as I'm a stay at home dad (2 1/2 year old and a new child due in June) and work one day a week to be able to save $$$ for buying tools, etc.

It's far too easy to ruin good replacement panels or even the car for that matter with improper tools or experience welding skills.

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Malibu Motorsports (http://www.malibumotorsports.cjb.net)
414 ci bbc, pump gas, 3500 lbs
10.66 @ 125 1/4 mile
6.74 @ 101 1/8 mile
1.47 60' on 9" tire

[This message has been edited by 10secBu (edited 02-02-2003).]

Dude. Stick with the gas. Trust me, it makes for such a cleaner weld.

But to answer your question, yes, you can weld with fluxcore. And NO, I wouldn't use it on MY panels.

Dave

I have used my weld pack with good results on fender patches and quarter panels with flux core wire, however that is a good point about it being more likely to burn through
and I wonder if the metal is more likely to corrode later on??? All my repairs seemed to be o.k. but there was more grinding involved
to smooth out the welds. I think its only around 100 bucks for the conversion kit for the weldpack and you can pick up a bottle at harbor frieght pretty cheap. If you can come up with the extra 100-150 bucks it would be well worth it, but the things you want to do can be done with flux core.

If you've ever welded with a stick machine, it's the same as the difference between 6011 and 7018 welding rods. Different wire and shielding methods will produce noticeable differences in the qualities of the weld beads. Gas is the best way to go for autobody work.

They also have a WELD THRU primer that you can buy.It "MELTS" through with the weld and creates a corrosion protection barrier.grind,spray,weld Its alittle added protection that is very reasonable in price.