my car is running now

are there any issues with welding on a car that is runs?

do i need to disconnect the battery?

if so, why?

Just disconnect both the postive and negative terminals. If you are within 2 feet of a computer unplug it from the harness and remove it from the vehicle. Old rule of thumb was 12-18 inches. I have seen computers go south at that distance. Better safe than sorry.

I have heard of the computer thing as well.

I typically disconnect the battery for a lot of work around the car.

What broke?

nothing broke, just need some more bracing on those monster Marchall driving lights, they bounce... need to make that bouncing stop, only need a small tack on each brace.

dflesburg:
Those monsters are going to bounce. One time I had to brace driving lights, to keep them from bouncing around so much that they would fall forward and point at the ground. I mounted an additional bracket on the back near the top of the back side of the housing. And then one on the front sheetmetal. Then I put a turnbuckle between the two. Helped with holding the adjustment a little too. But they were mostly for bling. Were too low to light up the highway much. If you really want to light up the highway, mount them on the roof. The higher the better, maybe on a light-bar which JCWhitney might sell. You could mount them on the top of your roll bar, and always leave the top in the trunk.
I always wanted to mount several of them backwards to flash at high rider pickups with their high beams on that always seem to like to stay on the back bumper of little low cars.

Just my 5 cents worth.

The axles sometimes look like they might be a good place to put your ground clamp cause of their convienent size. Don't do it! You'll score your axel ball bearings and/or CV balls and/or fry your engine ground strap esp if it is small. Mig welders typically put out 20-28 volts and can eat electronics after the ground strap is cooked off when the next lowest path of resistance is though your engine wiring.