HonestDave

Today I finally became a welder. Not a good one, mind you, but a welder none the less. A friend came by and we finished putting the Millermatic 175 together. Yesterday I dropped $473 for a new tank plus mig gas, auto darkening helmet and gloves....ouch.
Still, the new machine was free, so even with the new plugs and breakers I didn't go over $600 in total. Luckily the old man is an electrician and did the sub-panel for me.
My welds are not great, but I really want this car back on the road. It doesn't add much to the garage except take up space. I suspect I'm going to get much more familiar with the grinder, to clean up my tragedies !!
Got about a third of the welds done. Buddy calls me "Sparky" now.

Magna86

We all have to start somewhere. I'm still waiting for a deal a welder so I can become Sparky too! But luvky for me one of my buddies is an expert welder and said could teach me in a wknd. :-)

joe_padavano

Yeah, and the trunk floor, which is covered by a mat on one side and a gas tank on the other side, is a GREAT place to learn...

stan 65 cutlass

good work dave, $600 aint bad, im more than double that with my miller 180. trunk looks good. seam sealer will hide alot also

HonestDave

My helper says I'll be grinding the welds down a bit and using paintable seam sealer. I'm just chomping at the bit to get this car back to driving. Never intended for it to be laid up over two years.

oldstata

Looking good Dave !!!

HonestDave

I'm going to try some work on my own tomorrow. I'll let everyone know whether or not I need to hang up my spurs !!

stan 65 cutlass

Just dont burn anything down !!!!!!!!!!!

HonestDave

I'll try to be delicate.

HonestDave

After this morning's adventure it's clear I'm a long way from a welder. I tried to turn down the wire speed and lowered the voltage instead. Didn't realize until after. Couldn't see at one point and realized I had the goggles on under the welding mask, instead of my glasses.
Pictures of today's adventures for your viewing amusement !!

joe_padavano

I think your biggest problem is that from the photos it doesn't look like the area you are welding is all that clean. I make sure to completely grind the mating parts (front and back, where possible) down to clean metal. Wipe with lacquer thinner if there's any chance of contamination (oil, etc). Get the fit as close as possible. I take it you are overlap welding, not butt welding? Did you use weld-through primer on the mating surfaces (copper-based, not zinc)? Also, I've actually had better luck by turning the voltage up and running hot. Just overlap spots, don't try to run a bead. Periodically I'll hit the spots with a grinder to get the overall mass down so it doesn't take too much heat.

oldstata

Looking good . Did you use the center section from your parts car ? I like how you kept the supports if I am looking at it correct

HonestDave

I put the pieces over the old trunk sections. No wire brushing or primer. I'm using a wire wheel on the area I want to weld, as I go. As you can see, there's room for improvement. Everything under the overlap is still painted. Guess I'm in a hurry and hoping for the best.

HonestDave

I cut the center out from one of the parts cars. I chiseled the spot welds off one side of the gas tank brackets, left the other side still factory welded to the floor section and sliced down the floor above the brackets. The whole thing kind of went together like a puzzle. I didn't want to pull it all out again once I fought to get it in there, so I'm hoping the welds will hold. My buddy was not too amused, but he agreed to help get set up and show me how it works. I was going to call him over again, but thought I'd try on my own.
I also used the trunk latch bracket thingee from the parts car. At least that's still factory welded to the floor. I see lots of coaching opportunities here, as the phone company used to love to tell me !!

I was really quite good at climbing poles.

joe_padavano

Ah, yes. Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.

Of course, I've NEVER done that...

oldstata

Dave , lap welding is okay just remember that it can rust in between the two metals. Thats why the butt weld is the proper way of doing it. I lapped mine as well. I stripped both parts laid them down welded primed and seam sealed every thing top and bottom.

Keep at it it will be done before you know it

HonestDave

There's a lot to know. I still have to weld the trunk floor to the new frame supports underneath. They aren't grounded, as they sit on rubber, if memory serves. I hope the weld will take to them, or maybe I'll just blow holes in the new floor sections. They are domestic, but still not very thick.
Guess I'll end up with hair full of sparks. I see now why you like to do your welding from the top before installing the trunk floor.
Live and learn, or perhaps it's "live and get burned" .

HonestDave

I tried again for an hour or so. My welding went better. Yesterday I found 80% of my welds were poor (abysmal, actually), but today I'd say about 50% were acceptable to my low standards. When I make a bad one I play with it untill it's a bit better, or move down a bit and will grind it out later.
I'm quite excited about progressing with the car. A fellow in Washington that bought some chrome off me says he's been driving his 65 442 around and to car shows. It's a 4 speed and he just loves driving it, he says. Makes him feels young again !!
I suppose I could use a bit of that....

tru-blue 442

Dave, I admire your hoodspeth.
Is that right Jaunty?
Keep pluggi'n away, it will be
on the road again in short time.
You do inspire sir. Keep up the good work.

jaunty75

No. Not even close.

The word you're looking for is "chutzpah," and it's not appropriate here, anyway, as it means "impudent" or "arrogant."

A better word would be that you admire his mettle or perhaps intrepidness

oldstata

Dave, not sure how far you are yet, but one thing I regret is not cleaning up the frame while the trunk pan was out.

Before you know it you either will be cruising or pulling all kinda of things apart like I did.

tru-blue 442

Thanks for that Jaunty.
Happy to learn sumpin new ever day.
--Go Dave Go--

jaunty75

Glad to be of help.

HonestDave

Justin, I forgot to clean up the top of the frame. Guess it's just one too many things, but the frame is not dirty. I can still paint the sides and bottoms when I get to that stage.
My original throttle linkage doesn't fit the Pontiac Rochester I mounted on the 455. It won't reach the correct hole in the Olds linkage mounted on the firewall. I may have to cut a section out and weld it !! I just happen to know an "almost" welder.
I won't be pulling this car apart (in theory). Once it's on the road it's either keep it and enjoy it, or flog it. I've still got the 62 Parisienne convert sitting with it's parts car, waiting for me to get on with it.

HonestDave

Any advice or tips for when I'm on my back trying to do underneath the trunk?

jaunty75

Make sure you have a good pillow underneath you.

HonestDave

A non-flamable one, I suppose !

oldstata

Don't know if this will help, but on mine I drilled holes in the frame bracket and lines them up then I just filled the holes as my spot welds. Hope this makes sense

HonestDave

If I drill up now, I'll likely go right through the trunk floor. The brackets are already in place. I could have drilled them and cleaned the debris before I installed them, but I was really stoked. Didn't want anything to slow me down. My buddy showed me drilling and filling like spot welds, but I had it all assembled when I called him over. Guess I went madly dashing in not quite the right direction.
I've got one side of each tank bracket, and both frame brackets to do. Also thinking about not burning my helmet faceplate or hair. Every time I move, I seem to hit the trigger and shoot wire everywhere. Really got to get that under control.

HonestDave

Let me just say that my hat's off to you guys that can actually weld. I spent another two hours fussing with the trunk and trying to weld upside down. I'm sure you already know how that went. Five bad welds for every so-so weld. Mask falling off, tip filling up with...something. Voltage up, voltage down, trouble light on, off...yup, my hats off to you guys.
I'm going to stay the course, but it aint gonna be pretty, and the neighbors are hearing some interesting language.

I see now why the bodyman wanted so much money to do the work.

nicks1966

go get a 3/8 spot weld cutter, mark the location of the brace on the inside of the trunk floor and use the cutter to make a hole to plug weld them. I did this on my 66 when I replace the trunk floor. It's much easier to weld flat than overhead and you can set the cutter to only cut thru one layer of metal.

HonestDave

I'll give that some ponderance....and I'm not taking pictures of yesterday's work. I'm not worthy....
At least I'm looking forward to the three hours of driving to go cut my mom's lawn now !!

oldolds88

exactly what i would do, its easier to weld to the thicker brace metal than to the,run a couple of self tapping metal screws into the brace from the trunk floor to draw it up tight,plus that grounds the brace.

HonestDave

HMMM....I like the thought of that. I've been using a floor jack and stick to raise the brace up tight to the floor, but the brace is painted on the inside, and I forgot it wasn't grounded.
I'll get better, I promise !!

oldcutlass

I see progress. Quit beating yourself up, proper grinding always trumps so-so welding. The nice thing is your probably having fun and getting better all the time.

HonestDave

Now I've made more headway. I called my buddy over on Friday for some guidance. He reviewed my welds and made commentary. He said he would have made holes and plug welded, as some of you suggested, but I started this way so he helped me carry on. Got everything welded so it's strong. Other things I can correct once the gas tank is in, but Monday I start some grinding, lots of seam seal, and plenty of flat black paint.
I want this car running and drivable by the end of the week !! I can feel it, I can feel it, I can feel it....sorry.

oldstata

Just remember to clean the carbon off scuff really well primer then scuff/ sealer then paint.

HonestDave

I was hoping to skip the primer stage and just spray can with black tremclad. I guess the paint won't stick to the burn marks. I can wire wheel those back to clean metal easy enough.
If it looks good from ten feet away, it'll be on par with the rest of the car. Maybe twenty feet away....
Think I'll buy two tubes of sealer, and not be shy with it !!

stan 65 cutlass

looks good dave, cant wait to see it?hear it??

HonestDave

Not much to hear. A previous owner put a really short dual exhaust on it. Two bent pipes dump inside the frame rails about a foot short of the rear tires. If I put a one foot section on each side it'll come out right in front of each tire. I have a used dual exhaust back half, but the system already has two mufflers and two resonaters or cats, not sure which. I'd have to cut out the whole unit, and I don't have the extra forward straight pipes.
The engine runs so smooth it doesn't even wiggle, and very quiet. The kids wouldn't like it.