Builds Marvin - '76 FJ40 (2 Viewers)

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Patches

This body work is coming together. I'm deciding what I want to do for welding, buy one, pay someone, or rent at SJ Techshop.

At Techshop I can pay $225 for a class and unlimited access for a month between 9am-11pm 7 days. If I go this route, they have a water jet cutter there for future projects.

The Eastwood 110v 135a MIG is currently $299 with free shipping, then I'd need a tank of shielding gas.

Here are the patches I made from 16ga sheet metal over the weekend.

Left side:

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Right side:

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Little 1"x3" spot on the right, to the right of the amby door hinge where it rusted at the back edge of the wheel well. I drilled a hole to attach it to the wheel well.

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That sounds pretty sweet, might be worth doing the class just to get up to speed. Waterjets are awesome, i have to email files and get $100 worth of work together to do it. I'd buy my own welder for sure, I doubt there's a person on this board who regrets getting their own welder.

All I would say is maybe spend a little more money for a higher amperage unit, get one that runs lower amps at 120V and if/when you have 240V crank it up.
 
I doubt there's a person on this board who regrets getting their own welder.

All I would say is maybe spend a little more money for a higher amperage unit, get one that runs lower amps at 120V and if/when you have 240V crank it up.

Nice thought, but if I wanted higher power it would sway me away from buying, and towards one of the other options. The Eastwood at $299 is a great price point and I can weld almost anything I have planned if a little slow. The corresponding Hobart is more than double that price locally and the Eastwood gets great reviews. The next step up from there is a minimum of $7-800 + about $100 or more worth of extension cord to reach the dryer outlet. This is out of my price range, for sure.
 
Just don't do what I did and start with a harbor freight, I thought I really sucked at welding, after getting my Hobart I realized I only somewhat sucked. I ended up getting a refurbished Hobart Handler 180, been good to me for years.

Once you start welding you'll wonder how you ever lived without that ability...
 
Once you start welding you'll wonder how you ever lived without that ability...

I already know this to be true. I'm pretty well stuck at the point I am at now until I figure out what I'm going to do.

I take it you're referring to this unit?
http://www.eastwood.com/mig-welder-110vac-135a-output.html

If so, that looks like a heck of a good deal to me.

That's the one. Take a look around at various independent video reviews. Haven't found a dissatisfied customer yet.

 
A buddy who welds coincidentally responded to an old request this week, so I offered to pay him to come over and weld. He didn't show. I really wanted to use adhesives to install the sill to the underlying new steel, so I got my wish.

This is a lot more like how a new car body would be put together and the adhesives will keep water from between the metal layers. I repaired my bib this way on my '78 too.

The bed is rusty, but solid. I'm going to patch a couple holes, wire-wheel it and coat it with something like color-matched Monstaliner.

I added a 1.5"x1/8" steel 'shelf' to hold up the floor. JB Weld and rivets on this side.

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I didn't get a picture with that piece attached but not yet installed. I rushed through painting it so I could get it installed before dark. Here it is with just the sill brace installed. There is FIPG between the floor and the added steel. I decided I didn't need rivets on the bed side since it's sandwiched between the sill and the bracing below.

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Then I stuck on the sill with FIPG. It will still get tacked at the holes and welded to the sides of the tub where they intersect and the body panels when they get welded up. I'm ordering my welder today.

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my cruiser is always forcing me to upgrayd my tool set.....I bought my little lincoln back in ought4 when I did the floorpans in the pig. MIG with CO2 bottle. I use it ALL the time on all kinds of projects. I luvs me my welder. having a welder makes working with metal easier than any kind of wood IMO. just about any proceedure is reversable. I stole your semi sleeve axle stub idea, BTW. after going back thru the pics, I was surprised to see I had cut it exactly where you did. I ALMOST farmed the fit and weld part out(and may still have to) but the wheel rims on both sides and a tape measure say it's done...that is if the multi passed reground and reburned 120 volt welds can carry the weight. I have used the MIG 120 volt to do spring hangers, bumpers and bed on my rig as well as all the body work. as long as the joints are clean and relieved, and care is taken laying the beads making sure you get good penetration, a small welder can be used to multi-pass heavier material within a certain degree. My MIG says with CO2 and 035 wire, it can penetrate 1/8"+ material and using flux it can go to 1/4". I just use the CO2 and MIG and bevel the thicker materials up to 1/4". If I were doing structural welding of thicker 3/8+ material, then I would try to borrow or rent a larger rig. I'd love to power an old bobcat or ranger generator/stick/TIG/MIG from my spare 2F:hillbilly: to me, it is one of the pricier tools that will have itself paid for many times over in a short period of time. the only thing that bugs me about my buzz box, is that you're getting the same dern thing for about half of what I paid:doh:
 
I fixed six holes in the bed floor by tapping and screwing in a stub of a bolt. Some I cut a slot for a screw driver and some I used a wrench to screw them in and cut them in place. I used JB Weld on most of them. They turn out nice. You can only find a couple of them once painted.

Sloppy JB and you can see the screwdriver slot.

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And here's what they look like grinded off:

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Keep in mind duty cycle to as you are choosing a welder. that eastwood is 20% at 90 amps. that means it can only weld for 2 minutes at 90 amps and then it needs to rest for 8 minutes. I bought my snap on welder used(they are ridiculous new) and its 100% at 300 amps on 110v.
 
Keep in mind duty cycle to as you are choosing a welder. that eastwood is 20% at 90 amps. that means it can only weld for 2 minutes at 90 amps and then it needs to rest for 8 minutes. I bought my snap on welder used(they are ridiculous new) and its 100% at 300 amps on 110v.

I missed the screaming deal at Eastwood, $299+free shipping. Holding back on that now.

Looking at this Millermatic 180: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/3594702039.html, which I know will treat me better in the long run. The Eastwood comparison is now $370 shipped + cart + bottle, so it's not that much difference in price and I know the Miller will do anything I'll ever need it to do.

There is also a Snap-on Mig/Tig locally, but it's $1500 which is well out of my range.
 
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The Snap On welder is really not worth it. I love mine and its a beast of a welder, but not really worth the money when there are perfectly good units way cheaper.

The Miller welder is very nice. Buy the welder, source a bottle locally, and weld up a cart as a first project.

Your tub repairs are looking good. Im going to have to start mine soon and i'm not looking forward to it. I plan on budbuilt sides, though, so my repairs will be far from perfection.
 
The miller comes with the cart and bottle and some wire for $750. The Eastwood apples-to-apples comparison price is about $600. I'm going to call the guy tonight.

The miller is 50% duty cycle at 110a.
 
I'd go used Miller over new Eastwood any day.
 
I have a 76 FJ40 I am wanting pieces of an old rear bed and mid bed so I can weld in patches rather than spending all the time and money to replace both sections completely? Where the rear bed is really pitted I was going to use POR15 putty. I cant see spending $800 dollars for both pieces from Coolcruisers.
 
Here's how my body work turned out on the rear. :) I could have done more bondo and made it smoother, but I didn't want it to be thick, like it was. Any bumps you see are metal. This is after tons of steps of which I didn't take pictures, bondo, putty, filling primer, a ton of sanding and finally wet-sanding with 320.

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I like the job you did looks great. Wish mine was that far along. I still got a bed patch to weld in, rocker panel patch and drives floor pan before i blast it. Do you know which is better, sand blasting, media blasting or soda blasting. I need to get my frame and tub blasted. I dont even know if soda blasting will cut through the rust.
 
Media blasting is generic. I believe you would usually use sand for steel like a tub. Soda and walnut shells are for softer materials. Not an expert though. The guy who was going to blast for me lost his place, so I'm going to be sanding the soft top bows and tail gate all day tomorrow. They'll match the rest of the green by tomorrow.

Got this Hot Rod Flatz color stuck in my head now. Single stage. Might just paint the whole outside.

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Maybe coated with this soft touch clear. :)

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