MIG Welding Tips

[formeRiceR]

I know a lot of people here have experience with welders. I just wanted some tips.

I'm pretty decent with the MIG and I'm thinkiig about doing some body repairs by welding in some sheet metal and also thinking about doing a little stitch/seam (don't know which is better) welds around the front and back strut towers.

So my question is I what kind of gas are you using (Argon,CO2), what kind of wire are you using (does it matter?). Low/mid/high?? heat and feed????:duh:

thanks in advance....:hammer:

[DJPimpFlex]

if your going to be welding the chassis you need to use mig, cause its way to dirty and you'll contaminate the welds. Theres been a lot of threads on mig welding for seam welding the chassis.

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=107370&highlight=seam+welding

Thats a pretty good one. For body work you can only really spot weld it cause the heat will make it contract and not work well.

[formeRiceR]

are there any disadvantages of spot/seam welding???

[drifter808]

i've never been a big fan of the seam and stitch weld. i just put it on regular old welding and just control the bead. as for the body same thing. just do little welds that penetrate both panels and you should be good. for mixture i think im using a 20% CO2 and 80% argon but ti could be the other way around. i haven;t had to fill up my tank lately. as for wire im using a 030 diameter which has been working really well.

[Team Rootbeer]

as far as gas goes, it should be argon/co2 mix......

not really any disadvantages of seam welding, except maybe stiffer ride.....and less corrosion protection, bc you are taking off the factory seam sealer....but you could always replace it, so thats not a big deal

for sheet metal and body panels, as said above, you CANNOT weld a continuous bead, bc it will warp the panel. you have to spot it in.....takes forever, but in the end much better result.....when im welding on body panels, i usually go really hot, so that my spot welds are quick and dont have any build up and burn through good w/ minimum time........

hope that helps a little

[formeRiceR]

one more question:

which is better stitch/seam welding or spot welding?

[REDSH!FT]

it's more or less the same thing...you just want to make sure you don't spend too much time in one area as you'll warp the hell out of it


read up a little more on it

[Silverbullet]

ive never done MIG nor do i know the process but i'm used to doing TIG welding. As far as that goes, my advice is just take your time to be accurate.

[Silverbullet]

^ that acutally just applies to welding aluminum since its a little more difficult. Alum's color dosn't change so you can't use that to a reference for temp and it melts rather quick. Im assuming your doing steel if your trying to MIG weld. You should still take your time but its not hard at all. I hear MIG is literally point and shoot boom boom boom and your done. TIG welding steel is easy so MIG must be a walk. For me, its just about finding the rythem. Once ur in the mode, you will get consistant clean beads.

[drifter808]

yeah and when welding the frame have a wet rag there to cool the medal or you could warp alot of things.

[Jonnie Fraz]

As for setting up your welder, get some scrap material and play. I run real hot because I like full pen welds, and I run fast. You must set up for your style. For gas on mild steele I run 100% co2, I have heard good things about the argon mixes though, less spatter if I remember corectly. Practice practice practice, make sure you have a good ground, clean the metal where you can. With chassis welding make sure you are on leval ground, if the chassis is tweeked and you weld it guess what?
Hope this helps, MIG is easy. Good luck