Hi all,
I am doing a 66 Chevelle that is severely rusted. The car needs Quarters,trunk,door skins, fenders,rear tail panel,package tray,and on and on. I would like to purchase a spot welder but am not familiar with what is on the market. I am looking for one that has diferent sized tongs and is hand held. I would rather spend a little bit more now for a decent quality unit than fiddle with a piece of junk forever. Any ideas? thanks,
Peter

You will not be able to find a quality spot welder for an affordable price that is geared towards one individual using it on one job. The quality ones are made for major collision repair shops that use them day in & day out. I sell them & have used them so I know. Even used ones are hard to come by. Harbor Freight & related places carry them but, I would NOT weld a car together w/ one of them. Look @ the size of the factory spot welds for instance. None of the cheap spot welders are going to duplicate them. I am sorry to tell you this but, it's the simple truth. JOHN

I hadn't planned on using the spot welder on just one car. This would be a tool investment. I am allways doing some sort of rust repair to numerous customer cars. Waht kind of money are we talking?

Peter

I used a Snap on Squeeze type spot welder that worked OK at best.That cost over $3000.


This is what some shops i have been to are using.
Spot welder (http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_det.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=68129&group_ID=17488&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog)

Here (http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_det.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=17073&group_ID=3279&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog)
is the one i used with out all the add ons.

Hers anothe in the 3k range
http://www.titespot.com/pricelist.html

harbor freight 230 volt on sale for 139. i used one and it done a good job. but i would not use it on an assembly line for GM but for quarter install it works great.

We are a distributor of collision repair equipment & sell PRO-SPOT. They are tested, & approved by most OEM manufacturers including GM, FORD & CHRYSLER. The problem lies in how much you are going to use for $$$ spent. You get what you pay for. The other issues are weld nugget size, duty cycle, squeeze pressure, single or three phase. For instance I have sold two welders to collision shops ( collision shop & body shop are two different things ) that list for right @ $17000.00. But, they will weld any type of structural you can think of all day long. The cheaper welders might suffice for some but, like the harbor freight ones come on, what do you expect for $139.00?? I personall would not do it as I remember using a old Lenco spotter years ago & welds would pop loose as fast as you would make them. Feel free to ask any ? by emailing, JOHN

john i understand your concerns with the $139 dollar spot welder when you sale them for $17000. even those welders are not any better than there operator. i have made spot welds with the elcheapo that i attempted to tear apart before i used it on a panel . it done the job well. but there again it is not what a man would want to spot weld all day long. it is heavy, cumbersome, and you do have to adjust the tong pressure after a few welds. i am in no way affiliated with harbor freight or any other sale of spot welders thats just my most humble opinion on the subject of spot welders. things i own 1979 pacer, also 14 ft aluminum boat 6 hp johnson,and oh yea a snapper lawn mower

Thanks for input. $17,000 is definatley out of the question. I am contemplating the Miller LMSW 52-T. It's propagand says up to 3/16 of an inch. Do you have any opinions?

Peter

Well just the fact that those welders probably can only produce a weld 1/8 in dia, when the OEM welds on your chevelle are pushing 5/16.

When you make a weld, the weld is stronger then the surrounding metal. When you self destruct a spot weld it will tear a hole in the surrounding metal before the weld breaks. Guildlines set forth by Icar call for a minimuim hole size of 3/16. So you destruct your spot weld the hole left must be 3/16 or bigger in size.

Those cheap spot welders WONT do that!!! Save your money and buy a MIG welder and do it right.

I would rather spend a little bit more now for a decent quality unit than fiddle with a piece of junk forever. Any ideas? thanks,
Then dont invest in a 140 harbor frieght wonder :rolleyes: Invest in a Millermatic 135 MIG for 500 bucks

You should look into new technology such as structural adhesives, These new adhesives are atleast as strong as spot welding and a side benifit is you get 100% rust protection wherever it is applied. You cant get that in a lap weld. $35 can do 2 Qpanel's easy. 3M, Norton and others make it check you local paint supply.

i will add this i only used a spot welder to weld the under backglass filler panel edges to the new quarters from underside holding the spotwelder upside down in a tight area. i did this thinking of the other poor sole 35 years from now that wants to change out the same panel .also the new weatherstrip channel for the trunk. places where there is little or no stress. a $30 hole punch from harbor freight works great to make the holes to plug weld. hahahhahaha just kidding about the harbor freight . i am not a bodyman nor a collision person ,just a guy that has an obsession for doing my own work as a hobby. not for profit(money) or anyone elses pleasure other than my own. so thats why i choose a $139 spotwelder over a $17000 spot welder graemlins/beers.gif

I think you are missing the point!
Whats the quality of the welds made by the $139 spotwelder?? Are they safe?? Will they hold if involved in a wreck?

Does that spotwelder meet the Icar guidelines dealing with spot welding? When self destructed does it leave a 3/16 hole?

Id be more worried about my own wellness before I consider someone 35 years from now

Hey there all! I thought I would like to pop off about welders here. Since I do this for a living, and have used all kinds of welders heres what I have. I just installed a roof skin and 1/4 skins on a 70 GS and we used a Miller "Timed Spot" welder ($650) for the areas you can reach (very few) then we used the mig welder (110 Snap on welder ($950) on all the corners and places it needs to be strong, and on all the other areas we used the panel adhesives. Putting quarters on any other way and you risk rust to come back. You can risk seperation areas after a good hard run at the track also if not installed in any other fashion.

Hey sevt_chevelle I would love to see that BBB powered chevelle sometime. Do you ever get to KCIR I run there off and on. I just started running the Vamp series here lately, Nice program.

Man how things get outta hand. The only thing I was trying to make understood was that a quality, tested & proven spot welder is not cost effective for the average hobbyist. Hell, most shops that can afford them don't. All of these issues on this thread I come up against all the time trying when selling. Most of it is an educaton issue really. As sevt_chevelle stated is your life worth saving a few bucks? I would mig a car together before I would use one of the cheap unapproved / tested spot welders on the market. I went to PRO-SPOT distributor meetings last year @ the factory and witnessed how the tests are performed. In fact there's criteria being put together that welders will be measured against to be able to be used in collision repair. Like I said earlier a collision shop is not the same as a body shop. If you can do late model collision repair you can fix ANYTHING body related. But, if all you know how to do is bang dents & sand mud you have no business doing collision repair. Lives are @ risk here. I cannot stress this enough. As for adhesives, my take is this. Look @ the late model vehicle. If it was a miracle potion the OEMs would use it on everything & we would not need spot welders. If's is glued / glue it and if it's welded / weld it. One thing though. A quality spot welder can weld right through glue or seam sealer between the panels for the ultimate in corrosion protection. I know the harbor freight welder probably works ok for some things but it's like a comparison I saw regarding motorcycle helmets. If you buy a $20 helmet you must have a $20 head. graemlins/clonk.gif Well ****, I will get off my soap box now but when it comes to safety you cannot stress it enough. I am close to alot of people in the collision industry and hear all kinds of horror stories about liability suits.
I am sure I will hear more next week @ NACE. JOHN graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Originally posted by RACEBUICKS:
Hey sevt_chevelle I would love to see that BBB powered chevelle sometime. Do you ever get to KCIR I run there off and on. I just started running the Vamp series here lately, Nice program. Well, I just moved down to the KC area from Northern Iowa in the past two months. All my toys are still back home in Iowa til I find somewhere to store them or buy a house that has bigger garage then the one I have now.