Selene/Fred is a San Jose built 1965 Mustang

[Midlife]

A little side story that shows how this thread pays dividends.

AZPete wanted to use my welder to fix his riding mower that he just purchased; it had some bracketry that had broken on the body and a big hole in the mower deck. Using scrap metal that I had, he fashioned a patch piece, and we went to work. Not knowing what metal thickness it was, I took a wild-ass guess, consulted my chart of wire speed and voltage on my MIG, and just laid a small bead on a good section of the mower deck. It looked "cold", much as Abe's original welds. Using the guidance provided in this thread, I bumped up the voltage and tried again: and hit what looked to be the sweet spot. I then proceeded to weld a nice bead all around the patch, just as perfect as you please. I blew a couple of holes in the rusty mower deck, but remembered that if I lower the voltage and keep the puddle moving back and forth, you can close the hole. A few seconds doing that, and the hole was closed.

I did the same to the bracketry, only this time the thickness exceeded the chart for 0.025" wire. I went as high as recommended, but it was too cold. I was also working where the gas had no where to go, so I slowed the wire speed down, and BINGO! great penetration began to happen. I was welding vertically, and remembered (from this thread) to push the bead up from the bottom. I ended up with good welds, not quite like Jeremy's, but nevertheless I was quite proud of myself considering I haven't welded in a year and was working on metal thicknesses I had not seen.

So...long story short...even us old dogs need to be reminded of techniques, tricks, and tips. Thanks all!

 

[AzPete]

Of course....the grass and dirt will hide the truth......lol

 

[Ponyman66]

Looking good Abe! Now, just 2 million more welds to go and you'll have Fred on the road. Quit the pep talk huh? J/K

Randy's is 100% on the mark. You can always be refreshed on things you forgot or even learn a new or more effective way to do things! When I started on the coupe I hadn't welded a whole lot in almost 9 years. I can look at just the welds of my car and can tell you if they were done in the beginning of the work or recently!

 

[abrahamfh]

A little side story that shows how this thread pays dividends.

AZPete wanted to use my welder to fix his riding mower that he just purchased; it had some bracketry that had broken on the body and a big hole in the mower deck. Using scrap metal that I had, he fashioned a patch piece, and we went to work. Not knowing what metal thickness it was, I took a wild-ass guess, consulted my chart of wire speed and voltage on my MIG, and just laid a small bead on a good section of the mower deck. It looked "cold", much as Abe's original welds. Using the guidance provided in this thread, I bumped up the voltage and tried again: and hit what looked to be the sweet spot. I then proceeded to weld a nice bead all around the patch, just as perfect as you please. I blew a couple of holes in the rusty mower deck, but remembered that if I lower the voltage and keep the puddle moving back and forth, you can close the hole. A few seconds doing that, and the hole was closed.

I did the same to the bracketry, only this time the thickness exceeded the chart for 0.025" wire. I went as high as recommended, but it was too cold. I was also working where the gas had no where to go, so I slowed the wire speed down, and BINGO! great penetration began to happen. I was welding vertically, and remembered (from this thread) to push the bead up from the bottom. I ended up with good welds, not quite like Jeremy's, but nevertheless I was quite proud of myself considering I haven't welded in a year and was working on metal thicknesses I had not seen.

So...long story short...even us old dogs need to be reminded of techniques, tricks, and tips. Thanks all!

That's awesome Randy. I owe a lot to the Fix and all those generous enough to give me on site education and assistance. A huge thanks to the Nor-Cal folks for being such a huge support and for being exceptional people.

 

[abrahamfh]

Looking good Abe! Now, just 2 million more welds to go and you'll have Fred on the road. Quit the pep talk huh? J/K

Randy's is 100% on the mark. You can always be refreshed on things you forgot or even learn a new or more effective way to do things! When I started on the coupe I hadn't welded a whole lot in almost 9 years. I can look at just the welds of my car and can tell you if they were done in the beginning of the work or recently!

Thanks man, good thing I am really having a great time practicing and welding on Fred now. I was getting seriously frustrated for a while there.

 

[abrahamfh]

I started practicing on a little bit thinner material to replicate more closely to the welding im currently going to be doing on the Fred.

I think I'm almost dialed in with the settings and technique.

 

[Horseplay]

Look who's made impressive improvement! Looks very nice. Is this with your welder or your "loaner"?

 

[AzPete]

Looks good.....how is the butt welding......I find that a bit more challenging with thin material.

 

[abrahamfh]

Look who's made impressive improvement! Looks very nice. Is this with your welder or your "loaner"?

Thank you.

I have been using the loaner, I figure I will eventually just purchase a similar one to this Lincoln. I have really enjoyed welding with it.

 

[abrahamfh]

Looks good.....how is the butt welding......I find that a bit more challenging with thin material.

I actually haven't been practicing butt welding too much due to the current welding that I'm doing on Fred has mostly been lap welding. here was my last attempt at butt welding. Yuck!

After cleaning it up a bit with the grinder I can see the seam still, I didn't set it hot enough to allow it the penetration that it needed. Still got a long welding learning road ahead of me but John really gave me a good foundation to grow on and got me on the right track. A huge plus is the fact that I really enjoy it so I'm happy to practice.

 

[Horseplay]

Thank you.

I have been using the loaner, I figure I will eventually just purchase a similar one to this Lincoln. I have really enjoyed welding with it.

I figured as much. I have the same HF welder and it's VERY tough to get consistent, good looking welds with it unless using some pretty thick material. Just don't have enough control over the various settings. I sure miss the old Lincoln equipment I had back in my tech service days. Like you I guess I need to bite the bullet and ante up and buy a better unit.

 

[abrahamfh]

I figured as much. I have the same HF welder and it's VERY tough to get consistent, good looking welds with it unless using some pretty thick material. Just don't have enough control over the various settings. I sure miss the old Lincoln equipment I had back in my tech service days. Like you I guess I need to bite the bullet and ante up and buy a better unit.

For me I noticed that the wire pull back feature made a really big difference, especially when welding vertically. The HF welder did work, and as you mentioned the power setting are a bit constraining, the Lincoln is just so much more precise and makes welds look good. LoL!

Another little update was that I finished fabricating the RS door brace and will be putting some lateral supports in place in order to cut out and replace the LS rocker.

A little garage dress up arrived yesterday via Johnny. I love it!

 

[Opentracker]

That weld doesn't look bad Abe. I don't see any misses in it or burn though marks. The other side will tell the rest of the story.

Like when I was showing you how to weld air. You need to check the back of a weld like that to see if you got it hot enough. On a butt weld, you want it hot enough to just not burn through. Like I was doing on Craig's gas filler neck, I burned though on that one spot and then change my technique to compensate instead of changing he welder settings. When welding, you have the welder settings to work with but more importantly, you have your technique to work with.

Nice grinding too .

 

[janschutz]

A little garage dress up arrived yesterday via Johnny. I love it!

glad it has a new home! keep up the great work.

 

[Ponyman66]

Abe I guess the closest analogy to getting in the groove with your welding versus the frustration of getting there would be golf. Do you ever do that? If so, have you ever gotten a hold of that sweet sweet swing? I tried golfing for YEARS without any success. Heck, the golf course was at the end of my street, one house away! The first time I ever got a hold of the ball off the tee and it was perfect, I knew it too! I can still remember that very day just like it was yesterday..and it was a loooong time ago.

Just like your welding frustrations, you'll get there and know it! You should probably be feeling that way now judging by some of your recent "post lesson" welds you've posted! Keep up the good work!! :thu

 

[abrahamfh]

That weld doesn't look bad Abe. I don't see any misses in it or burn though marks. The other side will tell the rest of the story.

Thank you John, unfortunately I cut it up into smaller pieces to make for more practice material. I do remember bending it in half right down my weld to see if it would crack or something and it didn't. I'll try it again soon to see how I do.

Like when I was showing you how to weld air. You need to check the back of a weld like that to see if you got it hot enough. On a butt weld, you want it hot enough to just not burn through. Like I was doing on Craig's gas filler neck, I burned though on that one spot and then change my technique to compensate instead of changing he welder settings. When welding, you have the welder settings to work with but more importantly, you have your technique to work with.

Sounds good, thank you as always for the great advise. Guess what I will be doing today. Oh yeah, practicing and putting your advice to work.

Nice grinding too .

LoL. Guess who taught me.

 

[abrahamfh]

glad it has a new home! keep up the great work.

It really helps the vibe of the garage, I feel cool working in here.

The recycle guy stopped and hung out asking question and stuff for about 45 minutes this morning and the thug guy down the street with the 68 coupe and the 70's CO-maro on 24" wheels stopped for about 30 as well. Hard to get any work done so far this AM.

 

[abrahamfh]

Abe I guess the closest analogy to getting in the groove with your welding versus the frustration of getting there would be golf. Do you ever do that? If so, have you ever gotten a hold of that sweet sweet swing? I tried golfing for YEARS without any success. Heck, the golf course was at the end of my street, one house away! The first time I ever got a hold of the ball off the tee and it was perfect, I knew it too! I can still remember that very day just like it was yesterday..and it was a loooong time ago.

Just like your welding frustrations, you'll get there and know it! You should probably be feeling that way now judging by some of your recent "post lesson" welds you've posted! Keep up the good work!! :thu

I know exactly what you mean(I finally got myself down to a 10 handicap[I'm sure I am going to pay for that one.].).

As always, thank you for the encouragement. It has been really windy here, I finally finished sweeping all the leaves out of the garage and will get down to business in thirty minutes or so.

 

[Horseplay]

It really helps the vibe of the garage, I feel cool working in here.

The recycle guy stopped and hung out asking question and stuff for about 45 minutes this morning and the thug guy down the street with the 68 coupe and the 70's CO-maro on 24" wheels stopped for about 30 as well. Hard to get any work done so far this AM.

Word of caution. Not always a real good idea to let a whole lot of people nose around in your garage. Especially when you have expensive tools (welders) and such around.

Anybody who would put 24" wheels on a car would be on my short list of uninvited guests!

 

[abrahamfh]

Word of caution. Not always a real good idea to let a whole lot of people nose around in your garage. Especially when you have expensive tools (welders) and such around.

Anybody who would put 24" wheels on a car would be on my short list of uninvited guests!

Didn't really think about it, thanks for the heads up. I keep the Lincoln where it would be the hugest pain in the butt to get to but I hear ya. Yeesh, now I'm feelin a bit paranoid. Garage door closed!