Metallicar

Thank RacerX for this: http://www.lambolounge.com/Body/Paint/paint.asp#Stainles

The Aluminum Conversion Kit includes a teflon hose liner. It is a 10 minute job to install. You can do it. The kit also includes new feed rollers. The idea is is that the AL wire should be kept away from all previous steel wire and steel for that matter. I keep the kit in a large zip lock bag when not in use. It is best to keep it as sterile as possible.

I have the Lincoln SP135, and I bought the aluminum kit for it, it was $65.00. It performs very well for aluminum welding. Just remember to keep the the hose as straight as possible, the aluminum wire is soft and it can kink up. The Alum. Kit came with a pound of AL wire. Use that and some scrap aluminum to practice, practice, practice. Get a 4 1/2" grinder and the Sand Disc Kit. Use 50 grit discs to clean up your welds. Go to Metal Supermarket (they are almost everywhere, check there web site). You can buy Aluminum there for $2.50 a pound! I got a little side job making Aluminum Diamond Plate Tool Boxes, and it paid for my welder in one weekend! Have fun!

As a cheap, fast, and temporary fix for those leaky seals on the fire wall get a small tube of silicone caulk, The squeeze size, not a caulking gun size. Down the road, in the future you can peel it away to replace the seals. So far a fogging the car, to find the leak, here is an good alternative. Go to a Plumbing and Heating supplier and ask for a small smoke candle. They use them to check for leaks in hot air heating units. The small candle will smoke for about 1 minute. They do not leave a long term smell in the car. Set the candle in a small pot before you light it and put it on the floor of the car. The candle should cost less than $5.00

Good find! Here is another view: http://www.motorsportauto.com/images/gallery/Hostetler01.jpg http://www.motorsportauto.com/images/gallery/Hostetler03.jpg

Check out the gas filler and the bullet mirrors! http://www.greatbritishcars.com/exterior.html I hope this helps

Sorry Joe, Aircraft Stipper is made by Kleen Strip, not Krud Kutter. I can get the SKU for Aircraft Stripper at Pep Boys if you need it. I was confused by all of these chemicals. I do beleive that Kleen Strip and Krud Kutter are corporate related. http://www.krudkutter.com/

In the past year, it seems that Lincoln has introduced a revamped line of their smaller welders. Off hand I do not know what the differences are between the Migpak units or the SPs. Perhaps it is just marketing. One subtle difference within the SP line is that one unit has the four position heat setting and the other has the infinite control. I am not sure of the nomenclature. So my unit ($400) has the 4 heat settings, the $600 unit has the infinite control. For me, the unit I purchased was a very good choice. It was easy for me to overcome the learning curve of heat and speed, with the basic heat settings. For the money, it is wise to spend the dough on any unit that comes with the gas set up. Home Depot still has the 100s that do not have the gas regulator. It has to be purchased as an add/option. I also drive 20 minutes to Delaware for purchases like this, no sales tax, and the prices seem to be lower on average.

I recently finished removing the paint on my car with Aircraft Stripper. I used less than two gallons. It proved to be less messy than If I had sanded the old paint off. You know by now how much dust is created by sanding the paint off never mind existing body filler. I still had to sand the skin of the car when completed, but with the paint chemically removed, it was fast and easy. I also removed the fenders, hood, cowl, and any other part removable fron the car during this process. This way I am assured that I will see what ever stripper had run off the top surface, so I may clean as needed. Removing all the boltable sheet metal components also permitted me to clean every edge of every piece. After rinsing the bare metal off at the end of every day, I sprayed a product called "The Must for Rust" made by Kleen Kutter on the bare metal. It is phosphoric acid based, like naval jelly. It provides a phosphate film to provide rust protection (read the directions). This task proved to be fun. I enjoyed watching the old paint melt off of the car. The phosphoric acid dissolved the surface rust that had existed between the paint and the sheet metal. The car now looks like a Delorean (almost). It does have that film of phosphate on the surface.

Welcome! I purchased a Lincoln 135 last year. It is the hottest mig unit they have that runs on 120Volt power. It came with the gas regulator. It has been great. I paid less than $400 at Lowes.

I would think it would be better to have drain holes in them than to seal them up, unless you could make them exactly water tight.

Here is a good site for info as well... http://www.ketone.com/search_results.asp?PAGE=1&txtsearchParamTxt=&txtsearchParamCat=333&txtsearchParamType=ALL&iLevel=1&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&btnSearch.x=12&btnSearch.y=10 Scroll thru the pages you will find the epoxy primers for $97 a gallon. I have not done any business with this company, maybe some one else could provide some feedback about them. Listen to RacerX

Len, You better buy an air stapler or air nailer to put down that flooring! It may take the curse out of buying that compressor, plus the floor will go down much faster.

Congrats on the New Air Compressor- now you should be able to pipe that up to your nieghbors garage too and sell off any extra air you have!

If you like em' round, why not try BMW model 2002 or Opel Manta

Len- Take a look at the air tools you now own and the air tools that you want to buy. Look at the air consumption numbers.... very important! I looked thru the air tools that Harbour Frieght has on sale today, most need at least 4.0 cfm at 90psi. It seems to me that air compressor you are looking at will need to work non-stop to power up most dual action sanders, most impact wrenchs, most disc sanders, most air snips, etc. Air compressors of decent output are always a tough item to find in the economy range. SPIIRIT's Porter Cable unit sounds like the minimum for sure. While it is about $90 more than the "deal", that "deal" will probably frustrate you. You may want to check out some tool rental places in close range to your home. often you can find some decent used stuff for sale. If you are likely to not be near the garage during the week to work on the car, maybe consider renting a hefty unit for a weekend or two while you get some of the big sanding projects out of the way. Good luck

ToplessZ- If you are on your own (without someone who can weld), when delving into your first welds, Get some scrap metal and practice, practice, practice. I still think that if you go thru a couple of pounds of flux core and learn technic, you will feel very comfortable "re-learning" with the gas. You will get the hang of the heat settings and speed controls soon enough. Remember that the sound of the arc is a good indicator of how the weld is doing. Should sound like bacon in a hot skillet (sort of). Watch Junkyard Wars or Monster Garage and listen to some of those guys weld. Have fun!

It seems every welding supply has a different deal on tanks. Some want you to buy a tank, some rent or lease them. My supplier sells them. I think $60 for a bottle, and $ 16 to fill it. However, since my first use was to do some aluminum, and I bought an aluminum kit for my mig, He let me use the tank free, but charged my the fill cost. This is because I need straight argon to weld aluminum. Good luck! By the way, you do not have to have the gas. You can use flux core wire on your machine. It will need to be set up for that- Read the instructions! You can use the flux core for floor pans and other welds that will be concealed by sound proofer or undercoat. - Good practice stuff. Flux core wire is cheap at Home Depot too.

When I stand on one of those scales it always reads heavier than I thought it should

I have seen that grille on a few cars, sometimes in chrome. Are they mail order? Thank you

If you are going thru the trouble of making a mold, why not try fiberglass or even carbon fibre?