Floor pans
- Thread starter danza
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Platonic Solid
Founding Member
The question is: "Do you want the skills and the tools?", since a nice MIG welder - auto darkening helmet - tank setup would be around (a little less than) the $800 price.danza said:
I agree with platonic solid - consider if you would like to do it yourself. The tools to do this are cheaper than having someone else do it. And you can work on it until you are satified with the quality. Buy the tools, get some scrap metal and practice welding for a little while. I'm doing this right now. 
I would definately like to learn and the logic you guys present is pretty solid. I guess if the tools cost around $800 I might as well buy them and practice.
So lets say i buy all the tools and do it myself. Is the job forgiving. Say I make a mistake or some of the welding is crappy. Will i be able to tell.
Basically my point is this. I don't want to fall out of my car because i did a crappy job on the floor pan welds. I don't know how realistic that scenario is but thats my only concern.
Also, I dont' own any type of lift. Is that required or can all the welding be done
from inside the car.
thanks for the replies.
So lets say i buy all the tools and do it myself. Is the job forgiving. Say I make a mistake or some of the welding is crappy. Will i be able to tell.
Basically my point is this. I don't want to fall out of my car because i did a crappy job on the floor pan welds. I don't know how realistic that scenario is but thats my only concern.
Also, I dont' own any type of lift. Is that required or can all the welding be done
from inside the car.
thanks for the replies.
Platonic Solid
Founding Member
No doubt, the fastest way to get it done is to pay someone else to do it. Also, if you don't have the desire to learn this skill, you'd surely be wasting your money. That being said, there is a lot of welding involved in doing the floor pans. By the time your done with the interior welding, I'm sure your confidence and skill will be greatly increased. I would weld both sides, but it's certainly not structurally required. I wouldn't worry about falling through the floor. Once you've practiced on scrap pieces, gotten the wire feed rate and gas settings right, I'm sure you'll do fine.
A good place to start is to get the "Welder's Handbook" by Richard Finch.
edit: If you weld the underside, you will have to weld laying under the car, which isn't the most cumfortable thing to do. You might try asking the welder who quoted you $800 if that included welding both sides.
A good place to start is to get the "Welder's Handbook" by Richard Finch.
edit: If you weld the underside, you will have to weld laying under the car, which isn't the most cumfortable thing to do. You might try asking the welder who quoted you $800 if that included welding both sides.
65fsbkhipo
Founding Member
danza said:
In my shop, I charge 8 hours @$45 an hour per side. They are done right. Considering the amount of time it takes to remove the old pans, clean the surfaces, mate the new pans for a good fit, prep the new pans for welding and then actually install them...the price you were quoted is going to be a botch job with the pans laid over your original pans. Ask them 'exactly' how they will perform the work first.
Additionally a good MIG, argon gas, auto darkening helmet will run you about $1110 easy.
Platonic Solid
Founding Member
I guess "Good" is a matter of perspective. IMHO, "Good", for the average hobbyist working on one car (such as the poster), is a 120V 20A MIG with gauges ($500), Auto-Darkening Helmet ($75 on eBay), Tank ($100), Misc. clamps - wire - gloves ($125). I'm sure this setup would not satisfy a professional as yourself, but is perfectly adequate for most of us weekend grease monkey types.65fsbkhipo said:
Platonic Solid
Founding Member
I'm not sure how to respond to that. What exactly did you initially buy and how did it "not work"?HHStang said:
I should correct (or clear up a couple things):
I should have said 120V 105A MIG Welder. The 120V 20A (input) is the required rating of the supply circuit. (Most standard outlets in your house are 120V 15A - some garage circuits may be 20A). I ran a new 20A line in my garage. The welder I have is the Craftsman 20559 (which is no longer available) and I'm very happy with it. I got it on sale about 2 years ago for $450. This Hobart is similar (this is just an example, you may be able to do better on price elsewhere).
The biggest difference between MIG welders, as the price goes up, is duty cycle and supply circuit requirements. Mine is small, thus only has a 20% duty cycle (which means for every 2 min. of welding, it requires 8 min. to cool off). I haven't found this to be an issue yet, since I pause frequently to inspect my work. The 230V (input) MIG welders tend to have longer duty cycles (30%-40%) which I'm sure is beneficial if you're doing this on a regular basis.
Here's a low cost auto-darkening helmet similar to what I'm using.
I may by off on the tank/gas price. I remember having to put a deposit on the tank, since you are essentially renting it.
I really didn't want to get into a nickle and dime discussion on price though. If $100 +/- makes that much difference, then you're in the wrong hobby. I managed to get everything necessary to do decent welding, including an impressive clamp collection, for about $800.
