tools & products for restorations

[JTR70]

Thanks John! I don't know after reading this I may have to get one as well!

[Don C]

With all the thousands of spotwelds removed by members on this forum what are your favorite tools for removing those buggers?
Thanks!
Don

[John Pierce]

Hey Don,

I've tried drilling them with either: 1. A specialized drill to leave a plug, which can be ground down later. This is a pain as the center pin always wobbles even if you punch a center hole. or 2. A high strength drill and drill through both panels, which is easier and leaves a hole to place a rosette weld later.

A lot of the metal on my car is not salvageable so I also use the sardine can approach. This is where the welds are ground down, the end of the metal is grabbed with a pair of pliers, then you wrap the metal around the pliers like opening a sardine can. This works very nicely and with little to no damage to the underlying piece of metal you are trying to save. This is not very effective if Porsche placed a lot of welds in one place. At that point either cut out the whole thing and replace it or grind it all away.

Good luck.

John

[JOP]

This is my old welder from Italy, they do make the same welder to others under various company brands.
I use it also on Aluminium to do spotwelds.
You can see a trial piece that I always do to make certain that I do get a good holding spot.... If it brakes up around the spot then it is a good spot.

[Don C]

What size mig wire are you guys using for most of your panel repair
.023", .030", or .035"?
Thanks.

[John Pierce]

I use 0.023" as the old 19 gauge Porsche metal on my car is no longer 19 gauge

Also, less pigeon dropping build up.

[JOP]

I use 6 mm or as you say over there 0,023" mig wire size when working on the 356
/ Per

[Trevor]

Yes 023

[Don C]

OK, thanks guys!

[JTR70]

Hey Don,

I went from .030 to .023 back to .030. Sounds like the guys here had a much better experience with it than I did. I too thought it best to go with the thinnest wire possible to reduce blow-through when joining new metal onto the old thin stuff. However from my experience .023 was too thin to allow enough heat to form a thorough weld with good penetration. My MIG is digital with a ton of fine heat and wire speed settings but I just couldn't get to the sweet spot with it so I went back to .030. It was either too cold with the molt sort of integrated but really just laying on top of the work.(bird-do-do) Then as I brought the heat up the wire lead from the gun tip would melt before it got the work and would mostly hit the floor like a firework. So I went back to 0.030 without a regret. Try it for yourself though. I'd be happy to send you my remaining spool of .023 wire. Justin

[Trevor]

After reading Justin's post I think I should clarify, I'm using 023 as the filler wire while I TIG, not MIG. I've tried 035 but found it too thick (cooled the puddle too much). Another reason I like 023 is that there is less weld bead to sand down (2" die grinder with 80 grit).

[Don C]

I'm retired now but did many years of Tig and Mig welding where I worked. We used .035" exclusively for Mig. I have a Miller Syncrowave 250 Tig machine in my basement but that won't help me out in my detached garage if I decide to start on the "slippery slope". I was considering one of the newer 120 volt Mig welders as they seem to be up to the task of auto-body work. I was just curious as to what others were using for wire size but in the end I'll have to see what works best for me. Thanks for the replies as it gives me a starting point.
Regards,
Don

[bbspdstr]

ER70 S-2
Don't discard those seemingly wasted ends and purging burps of wire, as all sizes of MIG wire can be cut into short lengths and used with TIG, in nice tight areas of fine work, like tacking roll cages of 4130.
(I am happily retired from THAT! Hanging upside-down and squeezing the pedal with my knees....whew, that's for the younger set now!)

Now, I have sold my big 220 MIG and just use a house current version for the old Porsches and have never exceeded it's duty cycle. Oh-two-three in that.

-Bruce

[Don C]

Good to know Bruce, someday I'll have to drop by your shop and B/S.

[AMP]

At my hobby shop I use oxy acetylene for almost all welding. I have a gas saver. It has a pilot light and you hang the torch on a rod that actuates a valve that shuts off the gas flow. The setting on the torch is saved so when you start again you pick up the torch and wave it past the pilot and start welding.

For those that have not seen one I will post a picture.

I have some of the old Alcoa flux for aluminum welding but I'm told the new stuff is better.

At work for mig I like the .030 (or is it .032??). For tig I like .032 and 1/6". ER70-S7 for mild steel.
But use the torch there too.

Great thread!