Widebody LS6 rebuild., long time 914 world car desgned and built by B. massaged and refined by Paul, now entrusted to me to rebuild and repair the front end and make my own. Options

[dan10101]

Get a tank of pure argon yet for Tig welding aluminum?

Yes, My TIG uses pure argon. but I also have the option to use the Eastwood spool gun to weld aluminum. Also pure argon. Well, i do if I get my welder back.
The TIG is DC only, so it's limited.

[dan10101]

Back in Business!
I probably should just finish welding it, but I wanted to just get it solid enough to get it in a rolling state. I'm now at that point. The new welder is doing well, I'm dealing with my inadequacies in welding enough to correct my mistakes. I have a few more stitch welds to do and then I'll call it good enough to roll.

I hope to have 4 tires on the ground by the new year. Yeah, I'll have to pull it back apart to finish welding it, but at least then I can be up in the air and not on my back to do the underneath stuff. the rest will be the same if I were to do it now or later.

Doing it this way I can get an idea of the alignment and corner balance before I lock it in permanently.



Wishing everyone the merriest of Christmases...

[Rand]

I love this build. Respect respect. But the welds are making me cringe. Learn circles and how everything melts. Pooping along a line does not make a weld. Please don't take offense, I mean none.

[dan10101]

I love this build. Respect respect. But the welds are making me cringe. Learn circles and how everything melts. Pooping along a line does not make a weld. Please don't take offense, I mean none.

They are sitting a bit proud. I'll check for penetration next time I get out there. It is my best effort at a stitch weld so no C's but still I need to find a way to get more heat in it without burning thru. I used a copper backer and it seems to keep it from burning thru maybe I can turn up the heat a bit or let it sit a bit longer. I'm open to suggestions. I'll get the test metal out and try a few things. On this particular section I can run a bead or on the backside and now it should take more heat with the lumps I have there.

Anyway always open to suggestions.

[Andyrew]

Thin metal with high penetration = lots of little tacks. Timing your tacks to allow for slight cooling of the metal. IE zap. Zap. Zap. The "." Is a slight pause. Probably just enough to move the wand and an extra 10th. That pause will be determined by your blow through. IE a few tests. The less the pause the higher the penetration the lower the higher the pause the more prone to failure the metal will be due to the heat cycling of the metal.

Focus on having an angle to your stick (45deg to the material) as well as timing. You want the tack to be full enough to cause full penetration but not to create too much material. Overlap the tacks 33% for a nice looking bead and to allow you to put more heat in the next tack.

If you can run quarter inch lines then great but thin sheet metal or thinned metal from grinding can de difficult and butt welding makes that more difficult. This technique can be easily learned and slowly progressed into tiny C's with slight timing spacing for heat. (Or a longer C arch to allowed for slight cooling of material).



It's one of those things thats difficult to explain unless I'm doing it. You just sort of figure out what the metal needs at that moment and adjust the settings and your technique accordingly.


The pics you sent me looked like a great end result. I wouldn't spent too much time worrying about the technique. It's obvious your getting good penetration and your going to get into lots of spots very shortly where you'll be extremely limited on the technique you'll be able to do due to space and angle and positioning.

[Andyrew]

If you find your building too much material and not enough penetration on the tacks then turn up your heat.

[sixnotfour]

the backside tells the story..

[djway]

I find when I cant see the puddle that I wind up laying on too much material. When I can see well the welds are much better.
My helmet always goes to dark.
Volts
Wire speed
Motion of torch
find the right combo and you are golden.

[dan10101]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll break out the test metal and work it over some more.

[Rand]

Dan. Thank you for posting every step. This is what helps all of us learn, and this project is epic. Merry Christmas.

[dan10101]

Dan. Thank you for posting every step. This is what helps all of us learn, and this project is epic. Merry Christmas.

I hope someone gets something out of it besides me.
It's actually kinda funny that I've gotten help from myself with something I posted 15+ years later. Or something I asked and someone else posted the answer. But then again, I have a very short memory, so that could have been last year, (or last week).
My thoughts are rambling, I should stop... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif)

[dan10101]

I set a goal to get it on 4 wheels by the end of the year.
I'm happy to say it's rolling.

The main goal at this point is to make sure it is straight. That the corner balance is good and and that it will align. Initial checks look good, but that's for the new year.

So, Everyone celebrate the new year!
Make good decisions, eat better, exercise more, finish your project, be adventurous, love your family and friends and strangers!

[tomeric914]

I tack about 2" apart, then go back and tack halfway between the two spot welds and keep repeating until the gap is filled. It takes patience and practice, but prevents warpage and assures excellent penetration.

[Rand]

I tack about 2" apart, then go back and tack halfway between the two spot welds and keep repeating until the gap is filled. It takes patience and practice, but prevents warpage and assures excellent penetration

Yes! It's hard sometimes because you want to keep running that beautiful circular bead weld all day. But with sheet metal, gotta spread the tacks or it will warp hard.

[dan10101]

I tack about 2" apart, then go back and tack halfway between the two spot welds and keep repeating until the gap is filled. It takes patience and practice, but prevents warpage and assures excellent penetration.

I have plenty of welding to go back to once I've done my suspension 'test'.
Fortunately, most of my sheetmetal work won't show under all the fiberglass, but I'll give your suggestion a try. I don't want warping either way... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[sixnotfour]

So, Everyone celebrate the new year!
Make good decisions, eat better, exercise more, finish your project, be adventurous, love your family and friends and strangers!

]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

[My 914]

I agree! Peace. Happy New Year!

[dan10101]

Happy 2019!
Starting out the New Year with some good news.
The alignment looks good. I used the String Alignment theory to create my own version of a laser alignment using floor tile lasers. I stopped short of completing a perfect alignment but it’s there.


I also did the ride height and corner balance. Height looks good while maintaining a good balance.
I’m at 50.6% LRxRF 49.4% RRxLF and 42% front 58% rear 50.1% RS and 49.9% LS and just over 2500# total weight with my weight in the drivers seat. That may change slightly once I get everything back in the car but it’s close enough that I can work with it.


My next step was to take the suspension back off and complete welding. So that’s where I am now.
I’ll have a list of items to do so I need to get it going so I can be ready for the first SSCC event in March.
I had to get the jig out of my way so I put some paint on it and taped it up as best I could and rolled it up the hill and out of the shop. If someone is in need of something like this, hit me up. I could be persuaded to part with it for my costs. If not, it will become my new work bench.

[djway]

Any picts of the corner weight rig?
Did you try moving those scales around and get an average? You could be closer than you think.

[Andyrew]

Any picts of the corner weight rig?
Did you try moving those scales around and get an average? You could be closer than you think.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-626-1547018482_thumb.jpg)

You can see the scales and the metal arms. Its a multiplying rig with standard bathroom scales.


Measurements look great and so does the car!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)