You're completely correct with regards to the spot welding, Henry. You just form a nice spot with the tip, allowing it to penetrate. Because of the thin sheet metal used on most vehicles today, we don't have the luxury of just welding a full seam around the plate that is replacing the handle - that would lead to massive warping of the panel. It's best to do a spot weld every 1.5 to 2 inches, moving around the plate. This way you aren't heating-up the entire perimeter of the plate and causing warpage. I like to use a rag and a full bucket of water to quench the area after the spot is applied too. Doing this until you have a full seam weld will lend the greatest strength and will leave you with less finish work after it's welded and ground-down.
Brian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Henry Bonath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brian-SubCultureNM" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "CRX Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 1:53 PM Subject: Re: CRX: Re: Primer... > Ok, now I'm inspired by this spot welding thing... and am going off > topic (kinda) > I used to live in the north (ohio) and that's where my CRX is from > So I've got the rusty rear 1/4 panels. > > I was originally planning to hit it up with the bondo, but since my > purchase of a MIG welder, I've considered welding in new metal. > You mentioned spot welding and I'd like to learn more information on how > this is done. > I'm a complete newbie to welding in general but I know that welding in > new metal is always the way to go over bondo. > > now for my questions: > The welder I have is a Lincoln Electric "HANDY MIG" > it does .025" solid MIG wire with Gas shielding. > > would that be good for doing this sort of thing? > > now how would it be done, I'm assuming that "spot welding" is just > zapping a little spot until it sticks, and slowly moving around until > it's all covered up. > > I don't want to come across as an idiot, but I really am very new to > welding... but not new to CRXes =D > > Thanks! > (and I'm sorry if I stole anyones topic) > > -Henry > > > > On Thu, 2003-01-30 at 15:29, Brian-SubCultureNM wrote: > > And you're doing custom body mods on the car, right? If it must be primered, at least use a quality primer from an auto paint supply rather than from a rattle can (not knowing what you used I'm just making a general statement.) Most rattle can primer will absorb water, holding it against the sheet metal of the car. Hell, even some quality primers will do the same because they're meant to be sprayed under the paint. The only bad thing about using a sealer/primer is that it's not a good surface for a quality paint job and will have to be sanded-off before painting. Of course, after driving a car in primer long enough, it should all be sanded-off before painting anyway. > > > > Finally, I've found that molded door handles can never be made to be completely fool-proof. Because you're pulling on that handle to open the door, you are stressing the material used to mold it in, resulting in cracks. You're taking a step in the right direction by shaving them all together - just remember to spot-weld the full plate every inch-and-a-half, moving around the plate until you have a full seam (and allowing enough cooling time to prevent warping.) Don't ever leave space between spot-welds or you will have cracking of your body filler (it happened on our truck!) > > > > Primer is still whack on cars that don't need it, but yours obviously doesn't fall into that category! > > > > Brian > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Jeremy Bass > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 11:58 AM > > Subject: CRX: Primer... > > > > > > "Finally - no primer unless you're doing custom body mods!! Primer is whack on a car that has a stock body!" > > > > Custom body mods?? I had to rebuild several areas on the body because of massive rust. I've shaved the antenna, rear wiper, windshield squirters, side mouldings, and molded-in the door handles. (soon to be completely shaved). I'm not done with repairs and still have severaly small dings to fill in, which is why I shot it with primer. Fix a ding, re-primer.. This is my daily driver! better all one color than patches of everything... Besides, I'm no rich boy. > > > > >
