I bought a rusty Lada Niva.
Needs a lot of structural rust repair.
Advice on MIG welding?
Thanks frens.
I bought a rusty Lada Niva. Needs a lot of structural rust repair. Advice on MIG welding? Thanks frens.
I bought a rusty Lada Niva.
Needs a lot of structural rust repair.
Advice on MIG welding?
Thanks frens.
here you go anon, good luck
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mig+welding+for+beginners
mig welding is easy as fuck, just practice on scrap steel to set your settings where you like them. just be careful running beads on shit like floor pans, because they are thin and will blow holes when too hot
>t. used to repair steel beam welds for a military contract
Thank you, anon!
Can you explain how "blowing holes" works?
I've only ever welded thick steel on an underpowered stick welder.
Is it too high an amperage?
Too high a feed rate?
Combination?
Thanks again!
I was worried about the flux core stuff, because it forms slag in a spot I won't be able to access later, I fear.
Looking for a pure gas MIG.
Yeah fuck flux core bullshit, it's "good enough" until you try gas, then you realize how fucking shit it's actually is. Gas is way more expensive to maintain obviously, but it's worth it.
Yep, I know what you mean; I bought a shitty $100 Amazon stick welder, versus a proper $300 used one (retailed for $700) - night and day difference.
The flux core stuff seems really oriented to "I weld once a year for 10 minutes", or outdoor repairs.
Doesn't seem good for precision or structural repairs in a high stress application like a unibody frame rail.
Do you reckon if I shop around used, I'd be able to get my gas, tank, and welder for under 500 bucks?
I see a few dual-purpose machines (flux core / gas) for $200 - I figure they'd be alright?
And again, what's up with the 120V MIGs?
Is that normal?
Alternatively, is it 240 or bust?
I have one of those shitty dual purpose whatever the fuck welders, cheapest trash you could find at the time, can run flux core and gas and again gas is obviously superior to flux core in every single way except accessibility and price.
I have a stick welder too that I mostly use for extracting bolts with stainless steel sticks due to not being skilled enough to do proper welds with it.
Getting a gas mig with a bottle for under 500 bucks is probably very doable if it is one of those dual purpose whatevers, you could maybe even manage to snag a proper big boy welder in whatever condition for that much money, but be prepared for it to be broken too. This is all from an Europeans point of view though.
>european
Ah, then it might be a matter of it being either twice as cheap, or twice as expensive for me.
>t. canadian
I'm leaning to twice as expensive, given that we have shortages of everything under the sun.
I'll probably end up buying a dinky dual-purpose one.
But that's just it, every single one I see it 120V *only*, and I don't get why that is.
Plus, being able to do flux core would be nice for occasionally doing little tack welds on old junk / rapid prototyping.
I mean, can't every gas welder do flux core too, just change the spool and don't run gas? Might have to swap the polarity, but that shouldn't be too big of a deal either.
Also I said I have a 120V piece of shit welder, completely forgetting that I live in fucking europe and we're 240V from the wall and was it 480V from phased power, my piece of shit welder can do 145 amps at 19V and was it around 55 amps at 15V, it's good enough to weld 1mm thick sheets to my piece of shit truck, but anything thicker and it starts to struggle a bit.
My bottle is like 85 bucks to fill.
I own my own but some airgas places only fill their own so you have to lease.
They actually swap my bottle for a filled one everytime.
If you find a used welder and the bottle is stamped with a company name it will be a bitch to swap out.
Buying a bottle is like 300 bucks last I checked (varies by size of course).
And just because a welder is "dual purpose" doesn't mean it has all the components installed- just means they cam be added.
Cheap but okay if you almost know how to weld.
mig welding is for dyel homosexuals who are obsessed with “le perfect weld”
just use a stick welder with 7018 and 6010 if you need to penetrate deep and or there’s a ton of crap.
MIG is very finicky with any surface corrosion or debris stuck on the surface and will make your life hell, 6010 will just blast through all the old paint and rust.
if your doing a 3F vertical angle the stick slightly upward and go a bit faster.
MIG is for industry homosexuals anyway working with stupid sterile metal in a factory where speed is key and they need to mass weld something.
Stick is garbage.
Even pipelines are using MIG out in some corn field in the middle of Iowa now.
The only advantage in stick is mobility with a 200 foot lead while inside a high rise doing structural beams on a lift.
I hear you anon, but I did stick welding, and I must say, it wasn't that good, 99% a skill issue though.
Well, maybe I really should learn to weld on scrap first and just learn it properly.
But, how to mitigate the slag / extremely thin floor panels being damaged if I stick weld?
Cheers!
>mig welding is for dyel homosexuals
>Stick is garbage.
i don't know which to choose
any welder knows that a mig weld is used solely for speed and lack of skill lol. a good looking mig weld will get mogged by a decent stick weld any day of the week. the spergs who want “le perfect weld” are gonna be the fags who think they can tig weld
Do you reckon a stick welder would be alright for thin metal?
Is it a skill issue / I should practice more?
3g/4g certs here.
You are a verified idiot.
They don't build roll cages with stick.
Fucking dipshit.
You're not using the wire like glue to bond the two pieces of metal together. People think its like the silicone bead in the corner of a fish tank bonding two pieces of glass. That's 100% NOT what you're trying to do.
The wire is just the heat source to melt the two pieces together and then you use the wire to fill gaps and reinforce the joint- all in one single action.
You want the material parts hot enough to have the filler rod flow into it to create a single entity- this proper temperature is right before it turns liquid and winds up as a pool of slag on the floor.
Yes, fortunately I have welded stick before, so I am not a complete newbie to welding.
I am very familiar with penetration and good solid joints, and good bonding.
It's not hot glue, but somewhat more comparable to taking two pieces of plastic, and melting them together until they join into one.
I guess that's why they call it "plastic welding" and not "plastic bonding."
I'm concerned though about what kind of steel to use - I figure these Ladas were made of mild steel sheet.
And how the hell do I bend the thick metal into the right shape I need?
Splurge on a metal bender?
Too thick for a vise and some pliers.
>how the hell do I bend the thick metal into the right shape I need?
Shrinker and stretcher. (That's not a joke, pic related)
Brake.
English wheel.
With a brake you can bend z-channels and use the shrinker/stretchers to form it into a curve for the channels that windshields and rear windows sit in.
English wheel takes much more skill and experience to form complex curves (think of making a vw beetle fender in your garage from a flat sheet).
I have a 240v Miller mig (almost the smallest 240v miller makes) that's does 3/8" plate and it only pulls 9 amps.
120v is more than enough for sheet metal
Order original parts, everything is availablel. You can pretty much order a whole car from russia. BUT keep in mind that the quality varies, soviets built their bodies to a tolerance of +-20 mm.
Prefer gas, "filled" wire is junk and contaminates welds.
Clean up everything to perfection, rust isn't weldable.
Yep, don't trust flux core because of the contamination. I'm only looking at gas stuff.
I will use an angle grinder to cut out the rust, then a die grinder / dremel to polish it up, remove any pitting.
Might use a beefy compressor to blow up all the old dust inside the frame?
Keep all the mud out too.
I wonder if there's a way to coat the inside of the unibody rails with a rust inhibitor.
Fortunately, for my money, I also got two identical parts cars.
>I wonder if there's a way to coat the inside of the unibody rails with a rust inhibitor.
proper cavity wax cans come with a tiny hose with a spray nozzle.
Google Tectyl if you want an example of what I'm on about
>welding in a garage
just make sure you have alright ventilation, but yes, if wind's directly blowing on your welds, there is no point in using the gas
>tectyl
Funny, I saw that stuff in a store just a few days ago.
That does seem like what I'm looking for - I suppose you can just fire away with it, even if it's into the frame itself?
And point noted, regarding garage welding.
I guess I'll set up a few fans pointed outside, and open both doors?
It's pretty windy this time of year, so I figure it'll be enough.
biggest rust issue on niva is transfer case mounts ripping out of the floor so check that out first
Mounts still intact, but the suspension bracket on one side rotted out and fell off!
Another big question anons - two, actually.
1. Why on Earth are these machines advertised as 120V? Every stick welder I've ever used needed a 240V supply.
Are these "pro-sumer" grade crap?
Or will they be able to make a solid bond?
2. I keep getting mixed answers on welding in a garage - half the people say never do it / have sufficient ventilation, whereas the other half says that you will fuck up the gas shielding if you have too high an ambient airflow.
Cheers.
Lada boys want the 1.7. Part it out and buy another one.
I got it for 2,000 - Ladas in a non-destroyed condition go for 11,000 here.
No way in hell I'd be able to afford one, even if I somehow parted this one out for 2x as much as I bought it.
ok sorry
you will learn welding and come out of this a stronger, better man
No worries!
I appreciate the words of encouragement, fren.
I'll get this guy fixed up all right.
niva does not require structural rust repair
niva is designed with structural rust in mind
niva can be made entirely of structural rust with little to no impact to rigidity, for the rigidity is purposely kept low from the factory
just let it die
>Advice on MIG welding?
Go on youtube, see what they do, and practice that's about it
As for the machines i would suggest you go for a new machine.
I don't know how is it where you live but where i do its a shitshow when it comes to machines
Most of them can't hold 150A for more then 2-3 minutes and you're gonna want at least 130A continuous, spend the money on the machine and the bottle
Im not sure how good those 30$ autodarken welding helmets are i heard some conflicting reports so maybe its best to get just a basic helmet
I wonder what offroad vehicle would be an easy body swap for that thing
It's unibody.