sheetmetal welding

**Kendrick** · 09-20-2011, 06:13 PM

I have to replace the pannels below the door of my car and a fiew patches around the wheelwells. what would be the best rods to use on this? there was a suggestion of 6011 reverse polarity and low amps. I get my welder in a couple days and will need to have the car done by the middle of oct so I cant wait on it to much

**Gadget** · 09-20-2011, 06:36 PM

I would think MIG would be a better way to weld auto panels. Wire is much thinner and there's no slag to clean. You also get a certain amount of cooling from the shielding gas to help reduce warpage. Just my two cents worth

**gilly** · 09-20-2011, 07:14 PM

I would have to agree with Gadget on the mig.I have never seen anyone stick weld a door panel.But i guess there's always a first time.

**Kendrick** · 09-21-2011, 04:57 AM

not an option i have oa or stick

**arandall** · 09-21-2011, 01:19 PM

Kendrick:
I did a bit of sheet metal years ago with Stick. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. As I remember it, I was using 1/16" 7014 rods. on D/C, with the amperage cut as low as possible. Also, to cut down on the amperage, since my machine was 220v, I made a plug adapter so I could plug into 110volts rather than 220. Of course, is was a transformer based machine. - - - I know the details are pretty sketchy - but that's all I remember of it. Hope this helps.

**KHK** · 09-21-2011, 10:38 PM

MIG is the way to do this. O/A to much heat, that will cause lot's of warping. Stick is tricky. Keep the amps low and weld in short beads, maybe 1in then leave a space of an inch then weld again have a co worker cool the welds with a wet sponge. Tough Job, Good Luck.

**SICFabrications** · 09-22-2011, 08:40 PM

kendrick, ever heard of HSS steel panels? they are made of certain alloys that make them almost "unweldable" the new vehicles are made of HSS steel.... i'll try n find a link... anyway, not TIG, nor SMAW will get you the results, usually it's gonna be solid wire MIG using er70 s-6 filler.... now to google that for ya

---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------

Let me google that for you <------ there ya go

**matteh99** · 09-23-2011, 02:28 PM

When I saw HSS I thought of high speed steel like the stuff drill bits and machining tools are made of. I couldn't imagine why you would want a car made out of that it seems like it would be very brittle. But I guess HSS in this case stands for high strength steel and isn't the same stuff.

**SICFabrications** · 09-23-2011, 03:16 PM

i know, right, matteh.... however, they are close to the same alloy.... just the drills have been case hardened, where the car doors have not.... its one reason why cars today are lighter than cars of yesteryear....