Welding on Pig body's (2 Viewers)

[J Mack]

What say the brain trust, MIG (GMAW), TIG (GTAW), Stick Welding (SMAW) “obviously with puddle control” or do we look and some of the new techniques of bonding?
Are the Pig bodies made from a harder version of low carbon steel? Do we need to address that when we weld on them?
Do you need an assembled in the USA welder? What's the best welder color?
Right now I have more questions than answers…..

 

[gonzopancho]

Triggered

 

[bobm]

45 47 kicking in

 

[J Mack]

Timely...

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Just a few random photos from the body shop. Some are the stuff that nightmares are made from.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Here's a direct quote from Kelly about the steel hardness:

"This gutter steel is made from some sorcery. It's so incredibly hard, it smoked my flap wheel in less than a minute. I have to cut through each side of the spot welds with a cutoff wheel and break it off in pieces. Its insane."

Kelly said the steel is much harder than any 60, 70, or 80 series that he has worked on. Maybe it's age related? No idea.

On the bright side, all that rust you see in the first photo above is just there. It's solid an inch or two in from the gutter on the roof and down the sides. On the not so bright side, he has had to basically rebuild all the door bottoms, inside and out, including the tailgate. I think all, or at least most, of the hinge plates were cracked as well.

 

[RUSH55]

Would have preferred to use GTAW on several of these projects instead of GMAW, especially on the ones with no access to the back side.
One conclusion I came to on the subject is that if I do anymore patch welding, I’ll only be using 18GA sheetmetal. I used thicker gauge material in the past for various patching and filling, and find that it’s way more difficult to form or make any curvature with. 18GA is just thicker than the original metal by a gauge or two, forms easier, and doesn’t display the difference in thickness visibly enough to notice compared to 16 or 14.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I think Kelly is using 18 in most areas.

 

[Ol Yeller]

I wonder how much pig would be left if one was dipped in the tank

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I wonder how much pig would be left if one was dipped in the tank

I would guess between 90 and 95% and wouldn't be surprised if the number wasn't closer to 95 than 90. That's not to say we won't replace more than 5% given cracks, natural cut lines, etc. but I would still expect that overall number to fall under 10%. That estimate is based on my pig. Obviously there would be a wide range. My frame probably lost almost nothing after being dipped FWIW.

 

[bobm]

Would have preferred to use GTAW on several of these projects instead of GMAW, especially on the ones with no access to the back side.
One conclusion I came to on the subject is that if I do anymore patch welding, I’ll only be using 18GA sheetmetal. I used thicker gauge material in the past for various patching and filling, and find that it’s way more difficult to form or make any curvature with. 18GA is just thicker than the original metal by a gauge or two, forms easier, and doesn’t display the difference in thickness visibly enough to notice compared to 16 or 14.

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I spys a Ford cab in da gayrage

 

[bobm]

I wonder how much pig would be left if one was dipped in the tank

Pork Rinds

 

[RUSH55]

I spys a Ford cab in da gayrage

Old pics

 

[PabloCruise]

Old pics

I was thinking those weren't the pics from this latest go around.
Man, you have put some time in on that body...

 

[RUSH55]

Man, you have put some time in on that body...

Haggard old Landcruiser. Seems they were seldom rode soft and put away dry.

 

[PabloCruise]

Haggard old Landcruiser. Seems they were seldom rode soft and put away dry.

Agreed! Something about those Pigs that people just wanted to use hard!

 

[RUSH55]

For the sake of some conversation, I want to your guys take on this upcoming fender project.
Back in the day when my rig was first acquired, it had this funky damage between the drivers door and fender (no idea what happened. Overextended?) and a massive rust hole in the typical spot.
At some point, I pulled that fender, patched the rust in the quickest manner possible, slathered on a bunch of bondo and moved on.
Revisiting this now, and ideally would like to work the metal out without the need for Bondo, but there’s some obstacles.
The support rib is directly behind the damage on the upper part of the fender. I see some spot welds along the top, but nothing other than the pinch seam along the edge. How difficult is that support rib to remove once the spot welds are drilled out at the top?
If that can be removed without too much hassle, that would make the rest of the job easier. Then the rib can be repaired before reinstalling, and the fender patch I’m planning can also be more easily installed.

 

[J Mack]

For the sake of some conversation, I want to your guys take on this upcoming fender project.

What you think about peeling all the damaged outer sheet metal off the the inner brace then clean the brace up in place before adding the new outer skin material?
This method would give you a hard spot to shoot for to keep your existing door gap and contour.

While we are conversating what are your guys thoughts about drilling spot welds versus sanding/grinding them? I have used every type of spotwell drill, angular cutter, face mill, conventional drill you name it I've used it and have piles of burned up bits in a box..
A friend of mine who still does this stuff for a living was recently telling me about switching to the air belt sander that it is much faster, easier and does a better job. I bought the Astro pneumatic 3037 air belt sander 1/2"x18" as an inexpensive test.. this is the best tool ever I don't believe I will ever go back to the conventional method of drilling spot welds unless for some specific reason I could not use my belt sander.

 

[bobm]

What he said oops wrong finger fixed

 

[bobm]

I use screwdriver n