How much do you all think it would cost to get a new rear sill as well as some work done to the rear quarters by a professional? I do not know how to weld.
$ of body work.
- Thread starter DenverCruiser
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You should use the guy that did the resto on my 77 body...he is awesome.
PM me.....
he is up near FT. Collins, would be worth the drive.
thx,
R.
PM me.....
he is up near FT. Collins, would be worth the drive.
thx,
R.
DenverCruiser said:
Back when I was wrenching a job like that would run between 4 and 6 hundred depending on the amount of prep and finishing work required. The shop I worked at had an attached body business and I remember they would charge a flat fee of $400 for Scout II cab mounts and $600 for both rocker panels, which is about the same amount of work.
Tell ya what though, welding is REALLY easy and fun to learn and practice. In Denver you can get a decent welder from Harbor Freight for around $180 (wire fed MIG) Or you could always borrow mine. Cutting tools are of course very easy to come by as well.
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- #4
Scott R said:
My wife bought me a stick welder to learn on. I have tried a few times welding some things and man it didnt seem very easy to me. I really didnt know where to start. Either it would bubble up or it wouldnt do much at all. ( I was not practicing on the Cruser just some scrap in the garage!)
Razor said:
Razor, who did you use?
I am in the Fort and am using a guy N of here (Owl Canyon) to get the '78 done...
And how much did it cost you to have him do your resto, Razor Rick?
Do it yourself
Miller 220 with 100% argon
Stick welding = really REALLY hard
cost of my project was $10 for sheet, maybe as much as $50 in cutting blades, like $20 in wire, and some gas.
Welders are good to have, i'm just lucky i have a friend who is willing to let me use his, and his rock driveway.
Miller 220 with 100% argon
Stick welding = really REALLY hard
cost of my project was $10 for sheet, maybe as much as $50 in cutting blades, like $20 in wire, and some gas.
Welders are good to have, i'm just lucky i have a friend who is willing to let me use his, and his rock driveway.
- Thread starter
- #9
Damn, so you are all saying the welder I have is useless. 
Not at all, ARC welders are very usefull! Welding to the frame for instance, scab plates for power steering gear box, motor mounts from a SBC conversion, skid plates. It's just designed for heavier steel than sheet metal. A stick welder can also be used to cut metal as well. I have an arc sitting right next to my MIG and TIG welders.
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- #11
Scott you mean something like this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=6271
Also, what is the point of the gas? To burn hotter? Where do you even get the gas? Sorry for the stupid questions but I just dont know where to start with welding. Thanks all.
Also, what is the point of the gas? To burn hotter? Where do you even get the gas? Sorry for the stupid questions but I just dont know where to start with welding. Thanks all.
DenverCruiser said:
The gas prevents slag and oxidation, and keeps the weld "clean", preventing inclusions.
Argon and argon/CO2 mixtures are available from welding suppliers - take a look in the phone book.
Kirk
Thats the one, it was on sale last weekend. As far as gas is concerned MIG used to stand for Metal Inert Gas which is a dead expression now since MIG is done gasless and with gas. Anyway the gas is used to disperse the oxygen from around the molten steel, giving you a stronger cleaner weld. You can get the gas from any welding supply shop, I use a welding supply shop at Santa Fe and Union across from the Uhaul place. A D-sized bottle of Argon will run you about $50 and last a good long time.
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- #14
Thanks Scott you are the man. I am pumped to try this out. Good thing X-mas is coming up, I think I will buy myself one. Then should I just buy some scrap 1/8" sheet metal and go to town on it? Are there books to read on how much voltage I need and such?
DenverCruiser said:
You will pretty much have a "high and low" swicth on the smaller MIG welders, which is just fine, the main adjustment is the wire feed speed. I usually shoot for about 3 when doing sheet metal. For practice you can weld on just about anything, I actually run a pratice weld just about every time I weld just to get my wire speed set correctly.
Not sure on the books, I mean I am sure tons of books are available, maybe someone here will have a suggestion. I was show real quick back when I started wrenching for GM how to do it so we could replace exhaust hangers and such. About 10 min of instruction was all I ever had, the rest you can kinda teach yourself. You're gonna have a great time with your new christmas present!
Yeah do it yourself, and if you get too thick of a weld on there a grinder works real well. Try the internet, there has to be tons of stuff on there. Heck there are tons of cruiser sites, there has to be tons of welding sites. But you shouldn't have any problem. Plus if it looks really bad you can always blame it on someone else..haha. Good luck, post some pics when ya get done.
Millers have a little chart on the inside of their door that tells you what voltage and wire speed you need given metal thickness, flux core or MIG, and wire size.
go to General Air in denver its by cal spas off or I-25 they'll set you up.
go to General Air in denver its by cal spas off or I-25 they'll set you up.
DenverCruiser said:
I was making my Christmas list at Home Depot and found a "Welders Handbook". I read it a couple of times. It is really good. Lots of facts on kinds of metals their melting points and how to weld them. It is with all the welding stuff in the Tools section.
best suggestion i got was don't buy a crappy welder...buy a well known name. i bought a crappy welder out of convenience and it was a waste of $250 bucks
Come to the Rising Sun Meeting Tonight at Stevenson Toyota West. Starts at 7:30, we get together at about 7. There are several people there, like Loge who can do that kind of work for you.