Firewall patches

More patches, weld quality is improving, small adjustments to wire speed and voltage help when gaps in the butt weld vary, also getting in a comfortable position with left hand steadying the gun and a good view of the weld pool makes for a nice straight weld - not always possible in the confined space under the dash!

Drivers footwell patches continue

And finished with a piss coat of Zinc primer for temporary protection

Onto the passenger firewall/footwell

Plug welded and tacked

Same patch viewed from the plenum

Slow but steady progress so far, little bites on a regular basis, hoping to have the shell welded up and ready to go to the media blaster in about 6 months - we will see!

First patch welded in

Managed to find some time to start welding in the patches i had cutout. I started with a small patch in the drivers side footwell, this is the process i will use to do the rest of the car.

Area to be welded cleaned first with wax and grease remover then paint removed with a 2" Coarse grade Roloc disc on an angle air die grinder to avoid any removal of steel

Patch positioned and held in place in this case with magnets

Ist Tacks

Tacks nearly complete, notice large gap on untacked edge - not good, patch cutting practise required!

Copper pipe heat sink placed behind gap to help avoid tacks blowing through

Tacking completed

Stitched welded in short sections, not pretty especially along the seam with the large gap, penetration not a problem with 20 gauge!

Welds ground down first with a solid grinding disc, then as i got closer to the panel changed to a flap disc to avoid grinding the parent steel 

And from the other side

Definitely not happy with the look of the welds, practise and more accurate cutting of patches should improve this - onward and upward!!

Welding Cart

As is traditional first welding project was to build a cart, nothing flash but keeps everything together and mobile

Even found a spraycan of red paint

Unfortunately any further welding has been put on hold as a car smashed into the side of my sons 1979 KE35 Corolla causing this -

Time to break out the big hammer!

Damage extends to the inner wing but not the chassis rails or suspension mounts, hopefully we can get it back to a drivable condition so i can get my car back!