Bought a welder and installed rocker panels on a 2001 Chev venture

Turn2Stone · Poncho Master!

Bought a welder and installed rocker panels on a 2001 Chev venture

67Poncho · Uber Guru

Is it flux or gas? Makes a big difference as gas is the best! Also, if you are trying to tack them to a rust area, it is tough to do and it will spatter and burn through. Try to get to good metal and have it clean!!

Good luck.....

-- Edited by 67Poncho on Thursday 21st of October 2010 11:42:57 AM

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Good deal!

I did the same thing about 1991 and never looked back. I don't know how I ever got along without that little mig.

Professur · Guru

Actually, a series of tacks is exactly how you're supposed to do it .... just hop them about to avoid building up too much heat in one area and warping the panel. Trying to run a bead is a sure way to ruin it.

Just take a 4.5" grinder, put a 60 grit flap sanding disk on it and knock the tops off the weld tacks til it's nearly level. Make up the difference with some bondo (which will stick since you used 60 grit) and paint. Then drill a couple of holes in the top of the new rocker and have rust proofing sprayed inside to coat the back side of the welds or they'll rust through inside of one winter.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

If you aren't using gas it's very frustrating. Once you get gas, you'll love it!

Turn2Stone · Poncho Master!

It can do both, but I dont have gas for it yet. 95% of the old panels were there, and I has great surfaces, I only cut away the affected areas. I'd love to try it with the gas shield. Thicker stock for a newbie would have been nice too. F

Prof - thanks for the rustproofing advice, I was wondering how that wasnt going to rust instantly. Its funny to me that I just ground the worst of the tips off, bondo'd the seam, painted it, and figured I had no clue what I was doing.

Professur · Guru

Sometimes the obvious is the right choice.

If you want to go gas cheap, I got a tank from a CO2 supplier .... 10lbs liquid CO2 .. normally used for soda fountains or fire extinguishers. Lots cheaper than C25 and does the job well enough to run .025 wire. I suggest getting a dedicated CO2 regulator and flowmeter tho ... the C25/argon ones are designed for compressed gas only. When the liquid CO2 evaporates into gas, there's a serious temp drop ... and if the flow is high enough it'll ruin the regulator. The adapter to go from the CO2 tank valve to the C25/argon regulator that comes with more welders if a 3" length of brass tube to help mitigate the problem, but it doesn't completely solve it. And welding outside in the driveway, you need that extra gasflow.