Motorcar panels can be MIG welded while on the vehicle.
Rusted or damaged panels on a machine can be costly to repair at an auto-body shop. Instead, save capital by repairing the panels yourself using a metal inert Gauze (MIG) welder. When welding vehivle panels, choose between Hairpin welding and Joint welding. To avoid trapping moisture in the panel and rusting the metal, you should bag butt joints instead of over-lap joints. On account of vehivle panels are normally carbon steel, you can weld them using a flux-cored MIG wire electrode or a solid carbon-steel MIG wire with the adoption of shielding Gauze.
Instructions
Preparation
1.
Tack Welded Joints
5. Whether you are Hairpin welding the panel in levy, breakthrough the voltage for your MIG torch to a higher setting than you would usually custom for a seam weld.You should further ground your vehicle by connecting jumper cables or a enormous gauge wire from the metal frame of your vehicle to an exterior grounding source.
3. Remove any stain, rust or dirt from the panel using a metal grinder or a wire brush. You Testament not devise a steady weld provided there is residual tint on the panel.
4. Clamp the metal pieces stable in deposit to prevent them from Stirring while welding.
Remove the panel from your vehicle, whether viable, by removing the bolts holding it to the motorcar's frame with a wrench.2. Disconnect your vehivle's battery to prevent faults in the vehicle's electrical components provided you are not removing the panel from the vehicle prior to welding,.
You should also use a smaller diameter wire for the tack weld to ensure good penetration of the weld bead throughout the joint.
6. Place your welding torch between 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch from the welding seam and arc weld a 1/4- to 1/2-inch tack weld. Repeat these welds every four to six inches until you have tacked along the entire joint seam.
7. Grind the tack joints smooth. If the tack joint is done properly, the parent pieces of metal and the joint metal should be indistinguishable from each other.
Seam Welded Joints
8. Load the appropriate gauge wire for a standard MIG weld for the thickness of your panel sheet. Refer to a MIG wire chart to determine the recommended wire type, voltage and wire speed for the weld.
9. Place your MIG torch at a 20-degree angle from vertical about 1/8- to 1/4-inch from the surface of the weld joint and start an arc weld by squeezing the MIG gun trigger.
10. Weld the panel together by slowly moving the torch along the seam in a circular pattern until you reach the end of the joint.
11. Grind the joint down to blend the joint and make a smooth surface to paint over.
