I thought I would ask on here, because alot of you guys seem to be very knowlegable about fabrication. I know when welding aluminum TIG welding is the best, but I wanted to try some MIG welding aluminum. What I mainly want to do is cut my intake plenum open and reweld it, maybe some intercooler piping and miscellanous brackets and things. Here is what I found from reading:

-Use 100% Argon
-Only aluminum thicker than .074"
-Only certain aluminums are weldable
-Avoid large weave beads on aluminum, do multiple passes
-Increase travel speed because the base metal is heated during weld
-Some say you need double feed/or feed in gun to make it work

Right now I just have my basic HF welder, and thought I would give MIG'ing aluminum a try. I know they won't look as good, but be as strong. Any advice or experience would be helpful.

 

I understand what you want to do but you are not going to be able to accomplish what you are imagining with that welder. Watch some youtube videos of mig welding aluminum. Air tight starts and stops are tricky, it creates a lot of soot, I don't think it would be suitable for anything less than 1/4 inch and you really need at a least a 200 amp mig. Teflon liner is also a must, and to do anything serious a spool gun or push pull setup to keep the soft wire from kinking. You would be better off saving up a grand for a half decent china tig that can do AC.

 

Yeah that is what I figured, but thought I would try the mig welding to see how well it works. So for aluminum you need more amperage, but 200amps minimum? If I were to try the mig with my HF welder would the wire bind/kink up when trying to weld. I've been looking at the eastwood TIG welder, it's around $600-$700, they are a good company but it looks like just a basic one.

 

He https://honda-tech.com/forums/welding-fabrication-53/havent-posted-while-finished-my-personal-car-2935359/

is using one if these $800 tig, it says "make an offer" too

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Po...o-3910-pd.html

 

Pay someone to TIG it

 

I'll post up a pic of my welder at work.
I use it to do aluminum quarter panels (Mercedes, Audi, BMW)
And also aluminum frames.
It's more difficult with a mig gun ( not spool )

 

Save up for a tig if you want to weld aluminum in the future. Pay someone to do this for you, trying it without a push/pull is just gonna be a headache.

 

Okay, so I guess I will just save up for a TIG. What is a good price to weld a plenum back together? I really don't know what a good price on welding is.

 

At my shop it'd probably be an hour job, $75. Might be able to find someone locally to do it for a case of beer

 

exactly! I do simple stuff like that all the time for beer or 20 bucks. Im not supporting myself solely off fabrication so simple jobs I don't charge much for. Im sure you could find someone local to do it up!