Guest Anonymous Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 Hey, my 280ZX needs the frame rails and floor pans replaced, and a couple of panels repaired and some bolt holes fill, I'm planning on doing the work myself, will a 160Amp electric arc welder (no gas) be enough to do these jobs? Heres what I have: 1. Not much money 2. A short temper/no patience 3. Some experience with oxyacetelyne welding 4. All the time in the world Thanks for any help you guys can offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildky Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 beg borrow or rent a mig welder, makes a ton of difference, with a buzzbox your gonna have to fight to keep from burning holes and your gonna have to contend with slag, mig makes a nicer cleaner easier job of it, just my $.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 Your temperment will not be suited to arc unless you an extrordinary welder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 Thanks for your opinions, I'll give up on the arc welding idea and try and find a MIG setup, I really want to get my car back on the road and not have to part it out, its one of about 4 coupes in my city (there are about 10 2+2s to every coupe here), now I just have to find a pair of rust free guards and a pair of doors. Is oxyacetelyne not suitable for car work? I never see anybody mentioning it. I did a course at Polytech and we mainly did 2 inch mild steel tubing and err 2mm (I think) sheet steel. And that wasn't too hard, but we didn't do anything too complicated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 You can gas weld if you use some sort of heat barrier. It would be tolerable for floorpan work as it puts a lot of heat into the metal, but MIG welding is much better suited to sheet metal work. If you are an exceptionally experienced gas welder it should be no problem. It is how bodywork was done more than 30 years 25 years ago. FWIW, I cut up a ZX hood for the flush mount vents and saved scrap as repair pieces. I am patching a hole someone made for a switch in my dash of my '68 camaro convertible, and the ZX hood metal is THINNER than the dashboard material of the camaro... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 You may want to research a tool called a "stitch welder". This gizmo attaches to your arc weld lead and reduces "heat at the stick". I have seen these at: http://www.eastwoodco.com/ and other weld suppliers. I have a friend who uses the stitch welder to customize Harley fenders and tanks, with very nice results. He does this sort of work as a part time job, so he has logged many hours at this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.