Hey guys I was wondering, I've done just about everything to my own car before but I have never had a go at welding. Everytime I need something done I source it out to someone else and I was wondering...... how hard is it to learn?

I have an opportunity to pick up an arc welder for free and I know the weld will be a bit sloppy but for basic learning and chassis stuff I figured I'll be OK.

Any thoughts??

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pick up the welder especially if its free. just grab peices of sheet metal or random pipes and stuff that you DON'T need and just practice till you get your welds right. make sure when you do work on the car though that you ground it right before you start welding. practice welding plumbing pipes and random peices of metal shit like that till you get the feel for it. its not hard really just gotta hone in your technique. dont practice on your car cuz then youll get all nervous and weld right through the car.

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Ive never done any welding, but if the welder is free I would jump on it and learn

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pretty much right. I'm gonna get to start learning here pretty soon, but I'll have someone to teach me. If you're gonna do it yourself, I'm sure you can find one of those "Welding for Dummies" books or something similar to help you along, and show you the process.

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2001 Honda S2000
201.63 whp : 135.74 ft/lbs

Easiest welder to learn on is a MIG welder. With an arc welder, its fairly easy to burn through the metal. With an arc welder you can use it as a stitch welder or a spot welder, aka you can have many dots in a line or you can a spot here and a spot there. The benefit of using a MIG welder is that you have a lot of versatility. You can weld right along a seam for a flush fit, and lay down a nice bead. It's almost like using a metal squirt gun. You don't even need to get gas, you can get self shielding filler. In either case, a clean metal surface is a must (even more important with a MIG). Also you have to be aware of your heating of the metal so that you don't cause it to warp.

I know you can't beat free, but you can get a MIG for a few hundred. Oh, but with the arc welder you can use a carbon arc torch to heat up rusted on stubborn bolts etc. I gave myself a nasty UV burn using one in short sleeves so wear a long shirt.

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"Racing is a matter of spirit not strength."

Yeah, my friend is a welder and he taught me a few tricks. Mostly it's just lots of practice. Watch out for the slag.

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James C.


Check my vB garage

true that, i've got a few scars where hot slag has gotten around my clothing. smells like steak cooking.

another tip is to use some scrap metal to test before you do anything on the body panels or whatever, so that you know you've got your amperage right, and in the case of a mig, the feed speed right.

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"Racing is a matter of spirit not strength."

I basically learned on a 110 volt MIG welding on a hay bail elevator. My dad said "Ok, you've seen me do this and asked me about it and even welded a few pieces of steal together that I needed to use. Now its time for you to try it on something that has to support some weight. Now this is 18 GA steal so with this welder we want pretty high power and a wire speed of about 6. Give it a try." So I went at it and he corrected me as I went, but basically what I picked up is, you kinda got to go in a circular motion, you have to be careful you don't burn through the metal, it has to be clean, the ground must be good.

Another thing I do if I weld on my back or above my head is wear ear plugs, my dad had a friend go death in one ear from some slag going right down to his ear drum and burning it to a crisp. Once you get going it is fun to weld, but try not to breath the fumes, they can be hard on your nervous system.

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My Shitz

especially if it is galvanized steel

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"Racing is a matter of spirit not strength."