[quote author=Dalamar link=topic=37575.msg810707#msg810707 date=1267571065]
Suggestion: when welding - like on your sub frames, you should take a wire wheel on your grinder, and take off the paint.
you'll get a much nicer looking weld and it will be stronger because you're not burning paint into it.
I'm also curious, and maybe I missed it in the reading - why do you do all the hole-saw cuts - why not just cut it out with a cut-off wheel in a grinder?[/quote]
I've been doing that in places and skipping it others. It really seems to make no difference. Some joints I've gone so far as to wire wheel, then chemical strip, then wire wheel, then clean off with a rag and parts cleaner and the weld still seems to be contaminated with the tiniest bit of foreign material in the joint. These last few welds do not appear as great as the first few because I haven't taken the wire wheel to them pre-picture.
I use the hole-saw method to visually help me sort everything out. It also leaves a lot more material in the floorboards in case you miss a bit, meaning smaller gaps to fix. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. After I have the piece cut to fit in said hole, I go back with the cutoff wheel and cut them straight, then the grinder and take away little bits until I get the tightest fit I can (given my timeframe and available patience...).
Well, you know I got a lot done when I'm not even uploading my photos until 10:30PM. Wow - I normally have 20-30 pictures on a normal day. I have 73 today. Corral is going to take forever to upload when I do on there.
Toys! Turns out I'm an idiot, again. That's an impact driver, not an impact gun stupid, read the auction better next time. Oh well, the driver goes back up on eBay, and I keep the two new batteries and charger, worth the price anyhow. Saw works pretty good. The LEDs are neat. Picked up some .030" wire for the welder and tips. First time I've used it with MIG. The .023" allows me to go down to 22AUG sheet but the .030" cuts wire speeds down from the high 80s into the 20s. So I should consume it a lot slower. Also the weld pool is considerably wider and stays hotter.
Finished that welding I was supposed to get to on the underside of the center section.
Before I really get into it, a comment about the welder and what I meant. Because the wire was feeding intermittently, it gave a pulse type effect. Think of holding the trigger for two seconds and then blipping your finger off, then two, off, two, off. Some guys do this on purpose to create TIG-appearing welds with MIG. First picture is effect.
When you're intending to do it in the car world, if you're selling welded products it can help you sell your product as the general public assumes TIG is superior to MIG and assumes all welds should appear stack-of-dimes like that one does. Typically TIG gives this effect. In reality, MIG is just as strong of a process (both, if done correctly) and the final appearance of a weld is really irrelevant so long as they have no contamination and good penetration. But, consumers are stupid and think TIG = better and stack of dimes will definitely help sell your product as the general internet audience is going to look and say OMFG look at those welds want want want. Unfortunately, when you can't control the pulsing, you get these type results...high build, poor penetration, no heat buildup. So essentially fixing my junk makes my welds look worse in most cases, but actually be a lot more sound.
Outlining and cutting the front outside seat brace cut. I think this was 9 1/2" or something like that.
Getting this bastard to go where I wanted it to, level in both directions. Also note, check level (in relation to car left-right) both at the center of the brace, and at the overlap of the brace to the SFC to ensure the brace is flush with the SFC.
After tack, weld. Top, then bottom. Or vice versa. I'd suggest weld the hardest welds first, the ones deep in the corners, and work your way out.
In the above picture, note the high bump in the floorpan. I determined (same reason I ground down those welds...) that since this bump was higher than the highest point of the seat braces or SFC it could become an intrusion into seat mounting or movement and had to be pursuaded. Recess cut, hammer, weld. Real light settings, something like 2/15 I was using.
You can still get nice results welding correctly. This was a 15 push C motion. What I'm using on most of my welds, but this one turned out especially good. It just comes down to practice practice practice. Fabricate well, get good tight gaps, then be consistent with your hand motion and once you have it going don't stop.
Onto the rear outside seat brace, this one intersects the centersection which is on a slight angle so it's a bit trickier. I think something like 9 5/8 on the short side and 9 7/8 on the long side.
Same deal. Draw. Cut. Fit. Grind. Fit. Grind. Fit. Grind. Fit. Grind. Magnet. Level. Level. Level. Grind. Level. Hammer. Level. Hammer. Level. Tack. Clamp. Hammer. Level. Level. Level. Tack. Weld.
Now, if we put the big level across both outside seat braces...Baddah bing!
Time for the inside ones. 11.5" piece cut in half. Measure 6.25" flip it over and measure 6.25" from the other side. Cut and you end up with just about a 45 degree angle. Weld endplates on, cut to size, grind the edges down. On one of them, account for the 1/4" taper that the center section has.
Same process for the rear one (the tapered one).
Front one, same thing. Can be a bit tricky you'll have to cut the floorpan and spend extra time grinding this one due to the way the floorpan comes up the center tunnel.
Very low on gas (did I get a full tank, that went fast?) so I did not finish weld the last three. At this point it was a good time to run out and get my haircut (first in months) since the hardware store is right next to it as is Dunkin Donuts (I should get a sponsorship, I've spent $3-$6 every day, sometimes two and three times a day, since I've had a driver's license and a car). Came back with some goodies. Always need more trash bags, hardware for playing around with side skirt mounting, and my personal fetish another magnetic tray. I think that brings my total including the ones I have at work to six. So useful.
So back to that passenger side lower torque box. This is where my night got really, really bad. Started on the piece that was still attached to the pinch weld with the new recip saw, prybar, and vicegrip.
As Gene said, there is no correct way to remove all this metal. Just start cutting. Recip saw + vicegrip cut out a random triangle. I was trying to be organized about this at first but you really just need to cut it into small, bite size random shapes. As you go more and more you get more room for your tools to fit in.
The decent sized center fin lost to the cutoff disk, vicegrip, plier, and recip saw. I was trying to be relatively quiet in respect to Princeton noise laws (after dark STFU). So I tried to use the cutoff disk as little as possible although it would have made some steps faster.
Random little strips left where the
LCA actually bolts to. Here I finally had enough material removed I could get in there with the cordless drill and my new step bit (the real skinny one I love).
This last MOFO, the thickest piece that forms a U shape that the
LCA actually goes into, that is spot welded to the floorpan and the frame rail, single handedly took longer than all the other pieces combined. Not only does it have an insane amount of spot welds to get out that are in impossible to reach spots and angles, it holds on for dear life after you get them out and it's stupid thick, it takes SO long to drill through them pushing upward with everything you got. I think my guns grew a full size doing this project. Anyway, it's all cleared out now.
I need to finish grinding down some of what is left of those spot welds and then chemical strip the area to deal with that rust. I'd like to chem strip it all then use the wire wheel to see how deep it goes. For crying out loud, it's on the inside of the main frame rails (not as bad) so it's nothing I'm going to cure now but it will give me an idea if I'm ever here again whether I'm going to need new floorpans or just to completely strip and sandblast this chassis. The passenger side inside lower rear seat belt bracket now falls under the "unnecessary interior bracket" rule. Luckily you can see the spot welds from the interior of the car so I started the drilling in there and finished it underneath.
Unfortunately my favorite unibit was killed in the line of duty. He will be missed, he was the most useful of the bunch and an insane timesaver.
Tossed up the Wild Rides lower S-box for a quick look. Tell me that does not look completely ****ing bad ass.
This is a picture of the ten million metal shards I was laying in doing this job, which turned this job from hellaciously difficult to absolute, pure hell. Everything from the tiniest little BB you get when grinding to razor sharp pieces as big as pencil shavings. Down your back, on your neck, in your hair. Not to mention you are laying in it, looking up, having new pieces RED HOT rain down on your arms, face, neck, hair. For once I was in full safety gear - wet hat, full face shield, welding gloves, long sleeves...and I still have some pretty nasty burns on hands, arms, and face, one a half inch or so from my eye. Totally worth it though, those S-boxes are INSANE. Just more motivation to get a lift. Or a house, with my own garage, with a lift.
Yanked the passenger side interior C pillar trim, speaker panel, sound deadening, and rear seat belt. Took a few reference pics for this week when I'm deciding on stuff that needs deciding on.
That is all. Stupid UPS is trying to deliver something that requires signature so I have to come home tomorrow after work no choice. I need to start getting over there more on days where there is little work and I leave early and getting projects done at work and at home (such as trans) on days where I leave at normal time (no sense in going over there if I get out at 5-5:30 since I'd be there at 6-6:30 and it's already dark.
Corral has a 20 pic/post limit. This is going to take a minute...