rocksteady_racer
03-26-2010, 12:47 PM
It is cheaper for me to buy a welder and materials to patch weld all the small damages in my car and seem weld the chassis correct?
As not being officially trained how to weld or do automotive work. I learn pretty fast and have done all the work on all 3 of my 240sx myself, my 96 maxima, and the countless friend's cars that I have fixed learning everything on the internet or by previous experience (since most cars are pretty similiar and you can diagnose almost everything on obd I with a vacuum gauge, compression tester, or multimeter and obd II computers tell you if the car sneezed wrong lol).
I clearly am not going to try and weld a roll cage in the beginning when I don't know anything about welding. But I do want to cut out my battery tray that's all rusted and weld a patch panel in, weld a crack in my fender, and patch up the damage in the back of my car that my battery tray caused so I want to weld the battery tray and tie down in.
How long did you guys practice before you tried repairs like this on your car? What kind of welder should I purchase that will be good for me now and in the future (to weld that roll cage (preferably chrome moly), my intercooler in and maybe intercooler piping in the future)? Has anyone taught themselves how to weld or has everyone had a shop do that stuff for them? Should I be ok doing the little stuff until I go to welding school? I'm a former marine so I'm pretty sure I can go to welding school for free but I need to patch my car up and go back to college in order to pay for my car parts and living expenses so I'd rather do the little repairs myself this summer as practice before I go to welding school so I know I'll have the basics down beforehand. I would get help from a welder friend here in philly, but of all the people, I know I don't know any practicing welders except for plumbers and they've kind of went off the automotive path too far to help me really.
Any advice from experienced welders or diy welders is greatly appreciated.
As not being officially trained how to weld or do automotive work. I learn pretty fast and have done all the work on all 3 of my 240sx myself, my 96 maxima, and the countless friend's cars that I have fixed learning everything on the internet or by previous experience (since most cars are pretty similiar and you can diagnose almost everything on obd I with a vacuum gauge, compression tester, or multimeter and obd II computers tell you if the car sneezed wrong lol).
I clearly am not going to try and weld a roll cage in the beginning when I don't know anything about welding. But I do want to cut out my battery tray that's all rusted and weld a patch panel in, weld a crack in my fender, and patch up the damage in the back of my car that my battery tray caused so I want to weld the battery tray and tie down in.
How long did you guys practice before you tried repairs like this on your car? What kind of welder should I purchase that will be good for me now and in the future (to weld that roll cage (preferably chrome moly), my intercooler in and maybe intercooler piping in the future)? Has anyone taught themselves how to weld or has everyone had a shop do that stuff for them? Should I be ok doing the little stuff until I go to welding school? I'm a former marine so I'm pretty sure I can go to welding school for free but I need to patch my car up and go back to college in order to pay for my car parts and living expenses so I'd rather do the little repairs myself this summer as practice before I go to welding school so I know I'll have the basics down beforehand. I would get help from a welder friend here in philly, but of all the people, I know I don't know any practicing welders except for plumbers and they've kind of went off the automotive path too far to help me really.
Any advice from experienced welders or diy welders is greatly appreciated.