I have a replacement panel for my Civic and would rather do everything myself. I've never welded before, but a lot of my friends have. I just need a "cheap" welder for this panel and some other random spots. Would a $200 ebay special be good enough? THanks

 

You are going to want to MIG the panel using a bunch of spot welds to keep the heat down and distorting the panel. You could get by with a 110/115 VAC unit, but you will likely need it to be setup to run gas. Buying everything you need would cost ~$350-500. If you only are planning to do this one panel, i might suggest renting a welder from your local rental stores, and should only cost about $35-50 for the weekend.

 

Yeah, renting sounds like a better plan for me. So just rent a MIG gas welder?

 

The MIG will help with keeping out contaminants in the weld and will be much cleaner than with flux cored wire. I am planning on doing a similar panel, so I don't have first hand knowledge yet...but from what i've researched the best approach is to use a MIG and spot weld in place at one end, opposite end, then halfway point...keep tacking at halfway points to keep heat down. Use clamps or magnets to keep the panels as flush as possible. Then grind down once finished and use body filler as appropriate.

 

So just go to a rental place and ask to rent a MIG welder and they won't ask any other questions? Are all MIGs gas?

 

You will need to specify gas, as you can run flux cored wire in the same wire fed machine. Also, determine which voltage source you have available at the location of the vehicle (110 or 220 VAC). Most rental places will usually have a Miller/Lincoln 135A unit that runs off of 110 VAC and should work well for sheet metal. Make sure to get the smaller wire spool (0.024"). You can usually get a 2 lb spool for around $5-8. Also, make sure you have an outlet near the car on at least a 20A circuit. The welder will have a 8 ft power cord and 10 ft gun, if the outlet is too far away, you can use a heavy duty extension cable. But keep it only as long as necessary. Have a fire extinguisher on hand for safety.

So specify these things to the rental company:

1. 110/115 VAC
2. MIG with 75 Argon/25 CO2 Tank
3. 0.024" MIG wire

 

The way you cut the sheet isnt gonna make it any easier, too many 90deg angles and those are the ones that distort the sheet.

You should cut it and replace a bigger portion, for example take the whole 1/4th off from the factory spotwelds... but thats just me.

 

You'll be fine welding in the cut piece like that. Make sure you tack weld it in a pattern so that you are always welding as far away as possible from the weld you JUST did. Like torquing down your down wheels. It helps to minimize the warpage. You can also blast the welds with compressed air or cool them down with a damp rag to help cool them quicker.


PS. Mig wire come in .023/0.030/.035/.045

You will be fine with anything 0.023-0.035

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I need to do the same to my car this spring. I've had the panels for a year, but havent figured out who's doing it. I'd rather do it myself, since the bodyshops I go to don't care to do this kind of work unless its a magazine car.

 

Good luck with it. Ive been thinking abou taking this same ordeal on for a while. Let us know how everything works out.

 

As there is some good advice on here, theres a bit of overkill...

To weld a quarter you want to make sure you ahve good clean metal with a good ground. I would recommend cutting the panel about 1/2" wider than the part you cut out and flange it. Pop a couple holes in the body of the car so you can plug weld the panel (spot weld). Just a few spots to hold the panel on teh car right where you want it.

Mig with gas..I sure as hell wouldnt do a flux core job, way to much spatter. The key to welding it is keeping your voltage down just enough to weld the 2 pieces. Warpage will kill you if you dont be careful. Like everyone said you need to do 100's of tack welds to weld teh 1/4 on. Weld it every 1.5" or so. Thats spaced far enough away that the heat from the previous weld wont interfere with the new one. Go all the way down the seam every 1.5"-2" then start back at the beginning and put a tack that butts up to the first tack and keep doing the same until you fill the seam.

Again, you need to worry about grinding heat. When you grind, go back and forth over a 1 foot area, dont concentrate on 1 weld at a time. After you grind it all down...fill the holes with new welds and grind again. If I was you, Id just ask a bodyshop how much they would charge. They will probably say $200 or so since you have it cut off and the new quarter will be supplied by you.

The correct way to do a quarter would be to cut the factory spotwelds like someone else suggested...then you dont worry about warpage.


<---- has welded several quarter skins and patch panels

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would recommend cutting the panel about 1/2" wider than the part you cut out and flange it. Pop a couple holes in the body of the car so you can plug weld the panel (spot weld). Just a few spots to hold the panel on teh car right where you want it.

&lt;---- has welded several quarter skins and patch panels</TD></TR></TABLE>

Won't that cause a slight ridge around that whole seam with the panel x.xx" (insert sheet metal thickness) above the rest of the body?

&lt;---- no quarter/skins welded

thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Won't that cause a slight ridge around that whole seam with the panel x.xx" (insert sheet metal thickness) above the rest of the body?

&lt;---- no quarter/skins welded

thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

no, when you flange, the existing 1/4 panel will be folded back, towards the inside of the car, the same amount as it is thick. Then you put the new panel over the area that was folded back and the new panel fills in the thickness.

here's a picture to explain: http://www.eastwoodco.com/shop...=1658

any of you guys (8mpg especially) have any input on this other kit or this technique in general?
-------&gt; http://www.eastwoodco.com/shop...=1668

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 743power &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

no, when you flange, the existing 1/4 panel will be folded back, towards the inside of the car, the same amount as it is thick. Then you put the new panel over the area that was folded back and the new panel fills in the thickness.

here's a picture to explain: http://www.eastwoodco.com/shop...=1658

any of you guys (8mpg especially) have any input on this other kit or this technique in general?
-------&gt; http://www.eastwoodco.com/shop...=1668</TD></TR></TABLE>

The flanging method also makes the welding 12347869798734% easier....trust me on that one.

No idea on the adhesive method. I prefer welding everything but hey I do it for a living so I might be biased

 

Though I have never used panel bonding adhesive myself, I know a couple people who have. Its supposed to work just fine BUT!!!! you need to have it squeaky clean. Its best to rough up the gluing surfaces with some 60-80grit to give the metal some texture to help the bond. Read the directions. When doing this, cut a 1" section that is larger than the panel and use it 1/2" on the existing body panel and 1/2" on the new panel. Like when you tape a box shut but it goes on the backside. If you do that, I would go over the gap with a fiberglass based filler instead of a regular filler. I personally would just weld it. I trust a half *** weld over glue. I would use panel bonding glue on a small patch like a truck cab corner or a small hole you are trying to shave.

Just flange the metal and plug weld it all the way around. If you dont ahve a flanger or want to buy a flanger, make your own flange like above and plug weld panels. I would suggest while you are at harbor freight, you can pick up a cheap pneumatic flanger/hole punch to punch the wholes for the plug welds.

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...41696

its even on sale.

 

Thanks guys, makes much more sense now, and I kinda thought that is what you meant, but I hadn't heard of a flanger before

Now, which peice do most flange, the existing body, or the new panel? Seems like flanging the existing body would be easy to use the tool on, since its fixed in place and you could go along that edge very quickly.

 

I usually flange the new panel however with the complex shape it may be easier to flange the body and lay the new panel over the top. You can drill the panels instead of punching them with a pneumatic tool if you get a hand flanger.

most of the time when people dont replace the WHOLE 1/4 panel, they buy just the skin and will trim it on a straight line. Makes it a bit easier. Here are some crappy pics of how I would normally cut a 1/4

 

Updates??? How did it go?

 

When i weld panels in, i usually do a series of spot welds until they eventually all connect, then i just grind em down with a flap disk

 

i replaced 2 FULL quarter panels on my civic.. bought them bradn new from honda.. and a crappy flux core mig did the job just fine.. it has a bit of a learning curve if you get a cheap one.. mine had 2 amperage settings only.. Lo and Hi.. but i still eventually got pretty good at it.. the quarters still hold up today.. and look as good as any body shop would have done.. just take your time and practice before you actually dive in,


i used a firepower? flux core mig.. very cheap welding system and it did the job

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM EJ1 95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i replaced 2 FULL quarter panels on my civic.. bought them bradn new from honda.. and a crappy flux core mig did the job just fine.. it has a bit of a learning curve if you get a cheap one.. mine had 2 amperage settings only.. Lo and Hi.. but i still eventually got pretty good at it.. the quarters still hold up today.. and look as good as any body shop would have done.. just take your time and practice before you actually dive in,


i used a firepower? flux core mig.. very cheap welding system and it did the job</TD></TR></TABLE>

gonna do the same eventually with a HF mig100. FluxCore fo life...

 

here are some pictures.. as you can see when i started i was pretty not good at using the welder.. but beleive me. you get a lot better after you grind so much and you dont wanna grind so much anymore haha

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1494644

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

gonna do the same eventually with a HF mig100. FluxCore fo life... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Just turn the heat all the way down, Drew your more then welcome to use my mig if you ever had to.

 

What about the untreated metal in the flanged seam? Could that potentialy rust?