Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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Thanks for the question. I am more of a proponent of epoxy over using weld through primers.. I typically will use epoxy between panels where weld through may be an option, and use a modified bit to clean out the plug weld hole:





This is the same size drill bit I used for plug weld holes that has been flattened and backfaced with a roloc sanding disc to resemble an end mill cutter.





This shows how it works, cleans the paint from the metal surface, but having a flat face on the cutter, it doesn't affect the metal as a regular drill bit would. Notice most of the "chips" are paint....



And welded......




Where this pinch weld seam you referred to will be on top and less prone to water intrusion, it will be painted and sealed inside the cavity prior to welding the outside panel on. Where the lower seam will be more prone to water intrusion and rust, it will get some epoxy primer between the two panels prior to welding using the method shown in these last few pics....

Good process and very little burn off when welding leaving a better seal between panel . I do it too .



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The epoxy does discolor slightly, and I've found it is more tolerant of the heat if allowed to fully cure..

Didn't get much accomplished tonight but grinding on some plug welds.








I've had a few inquiries in the past as to my weld grinding process, so I thought I'd use the opportunity for another video.....


Grindingplugwelds.mp4 Video by rmccartney | Photobucket




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As always Great work

Iv'e followed your posts on the metal shaping sites, it's great to see them here.
Your tutorial style of posting is a great teaching aid to us amateurs! Thank's for taking the time to post!

I love the pic with all the vice grips lined up on the pinch weld! I never seem to
have enough clamping tools! LOL

Rich

Thanks guys!


Tonights repair was to duplicate one of these mounting blocks for the lift gate's gas strut.

The good one...





...not so good...





Used a hole saw to provide some radiused ends and the 3" cutoff wheel to cut out all the torn and ragged metal..





A piece of 19ga is tacked and welded....note the original color....








Cut out a piece from a steel angle, drilled and tapped the three 10-24 holes. This was bolted in place using anti-seize on the screw threads to prevent galling during the weld process.. then plug weld holes drilled and welded from the outside..








Plug welds cleaned up, checking the threads for burrs...





And for next time, we have one more piece to add while the bottom is still open, the floating nut plate for the tailgate latch....

Once again you make it look so easy! And once again I gain some insight on what it takes! TIA...............

Moving on to the next task, removing the "cage nut" from the old piece...





This was a good opportunity to demonstrate using the cutoff wheel for removing spot welds...


RemovingSpotWelds.mp4 Video by rmccartney | Photobucket


Here's the cage removed, the spot weld removal method leaves it nice and intact for getting good measurements for the new one...








A fresh piece of 18ga and some red Dykem, and our new cage is underway....











Slots....














All ready for some media blasting and epoxy paint...

Nice work Robert!!!!


PS--if you wind up needing some cage nuts for the door hinges (or hinges) on a tri-five I've got some here I won't be using on my '57.

Great work! I just used the same method to make some slots in the trans mount for my Excursion. I have a long way to go before rebuilding any tail gate hatches though. Haha

Dave, thanks for the offer, but that's one of the few things on this car in good shape!

Ryan, one of those McGuyver moments!



Tonight I trimmed the lower edge of the lift gate to get the final repair part fitted up.








Once both ends of the lift gate were trimmed, looking at the surface profile you can see we need a bit more crown at the ends of the repair part.








To add some crown, the lower flanges on the ends were folded flat and used the Erco to shrink the bottom flange.





The multiple bends toward the top were another story, a 1/4 beading die lightly pushing into a skateboard wheel, and the ends were pushed in and pulled up while exiting. Here's the results...

















Oh yeah.....you can see the top of the welding table again!





Next task on the list will be to form/fold the ends..

Another slight detour.... I need to stop looking for this stuff....or is it looking for me?

This pinch weld showed swelling between the two sheets, and a closer inspection showed some rather thick scale...








Out with the old...





Test fit of the new...





The exposed metal was media blasted, as was the inside of the newly made patch....and some epoxy primer added...








We'll let that dry and then get it welded in place.


And just to show the makeshift clamping system for cutting, grinding, and painting in an awkward spot......

Pretty cool.. 50 pounds of vice grips in the background replaced by a couple zip ties! LOL..

Were you using the 3" angle to form the piece also?

I did have two pair of vice grips at the top, the zip ties were a fail-safe. The angle was just a painting fixture to hold it while I brushed on the epoxy.. The repair piece was cut out from one of the practice pieces used on the phenolic dies. Already had the flange bent so it worked well.

Thanks for the info Bob. And as always.. THANK YOU!