This weekend i'm beginning my excursion into cutting the rest of the rust off of my CRX and welding new material in. What i want to know is if there are any special precedures for welding on the body/frame. Through searching i found that as long as the battery is disconnected and i have the MIG ground within 2 feet of what i'm welding i'll be fine electrically. How about the gasoline thats in the tank , I'm going to be welding right around the fuel door/filler tank. The cap feels air tight but just want to get some input before i lite the place up.

Thanks,
Vince

 

well DOn't do it indoors just in case. Keep a fire extinguisher AND garden hose close by. You have to stitch weland remember you will need to treat BOTH sides of the metal because any paint and rust treatment on it will burn off and start corroding soon. THats why a lot of rust repairs rust through a second time, where panels have been welded. Most shops and people only think about the outside and do nothing about the inside. And shops know you will be long gone and more than a year before it can come back depending on the climate where you live and drive.

 

Thanks, what do you recommend for the insides of the wheel wells for after the metal is welded in? They come stock coated with a thick rubber type material which looks like it was sprayed on. For the outside i'm going to use a primer right over the bare metal once it is cooled down...i don't know what yet though.

 

Go to the Eastwood company, the have good quality rust treatment paint, and after that dries I would use a Wax-oil or some other non hardening coating to keep rust at bay for more than a few years. Leaving it alone and doing nothing is inviting rust to return from inside the car. That is why so many repairs fail to stop rust. I am not real happy with the POR-15 products, But they work in the right situations. I would try the other, and use the waxy type rustproofing and not the rubber/asphault based kind. If you are going to that extent to do a nice job try not to leave something this simple undone to ruin your work in a few years.

The heat of welding will burn off any paint and rust treatment on the inside, It also burns off the galvanised coating in galvanised body panels. Few people really even think about the bare anealed metal this sort of repar leaves on the inside where its not visible do to body panels.

 

Virginia dude is spot on. Also, if the car sits for a week or so before applying any of the coatings, take a torch and "burn " out any moisture in the seams and voids in the panels before puting the stuff on-especially the rubber stuff if ussed. It will stick (unlike other paint type coatings and the moisture is trapped and ready to start the rust over again. Remember rust needs- moisture, air and/electric current to start forming.

 

Sounds great guys thanks for your help...how about a galvanized spray paint? They have a bunch of can's of it where i work. I'll check out the Eastwood company though.

So back to the safety aspects...just make sure the fuel cap is on tight and have an extinguisher ready...and make sure the area doesn't get too hot...am i missing anything? If you don't see me on Hondatech after this weekend you'll know why

Thanks,
Vince

 

I was checking out the Eastwood Company website and found a ton of stuff to use. Virginia_Dude i just want to check if this is what you were talking about in your post. I should use this http://www.eastwoodco.com/item...earch and then this http://www.eastwoodco.com/item...earch . I just want to make sure i grab the right stuff.

Thanks again,
Vince

 

u won't need to worry about the gas.. i mean you can never be to safe.. but my friend and i had a cutting torch, the cut out the fuel door and nothing ever happened. so you should be safe

 

hey I work at a body shop and one other thing. all the other posts are great. BUT here at my shop we would remove the gas tank. I'm sorry to tell ya because its more work but you will not be safe with just an extinguisher and water hose on standby. The split second it takes for a welding spark to ignite any fumes will be a split second too long.

Even thought the gas cap seems tight keep in mind the filler pocket is vented for overflow and any residual gas or fumes still there will ignite very easy on you.

Do yourself a favor and drop the tank!!!!!

 

How hard would it be to remove on a crx? It looks like it's just held in by steel belts...anyone ever done it?

 

its actually not too hard. You got to jack the car up obviously and disconnect all the related fuel lines and stuff. Be careful to watch for any fuel slosh. If you do a search I'm sure you can find a more detailed list on HT

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AgentJam &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was checking out the Eastwood Company website and found a ton of stuff to use. Virginia_Dude i just want to check if this is what you were talking about in your post. I should use this http://www.eastwoodco.com/item...earch and then this http://www.eastwoodco.com/item...earch . I just want to make sure i grab the right stuff.

Thanks again,
Vince</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes you got it right. Problem is that area is so hard to get to. to do it right. perfect would be to scand and clean the area to clean metal but you have to settle with the best you can do to assures all metal is coated and not bare. Otherwise rust willl start and eat its way back out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by APEX CRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey I work at a body shop and one other thing. all the other posts are great. BUT here at my shop we would remove the gas tank. I'm sorry to tell ya because its more work but you will not be safe with just an extinguisher and water hose on standby. The split second it takes for a welding spark to ignite any fumes will be a split second too long.

Even thought the gas cap seems tight keep in mind the filler pocket is vented for overflow and any residual gas or fumes still there will ignite very easy on you.

Do yourself a favor and drop the tank!!!!! </TD></TR></TABLE>

well thats a good point, I was thinking undercoating or debriss catching fire, which almost always happens to me in spaces like that.

 

yeah I don't want to see anyone go down in flames like Michael J. " heeeeee heeeee heeeeee"

 

Yeah i'm just going to have to siphen back the 3/4 tank of gas i have in the car I'm glad i got a real answer...i think i can save the metal around the gas tank and will cut/weld a few inches lower but as for using a torch to cut off the fuel door I would be crapping my pants every second. As for MIG'ing i should be fine just disconnecting the battery right? and having the ground as close as possible to my weld...

Vince

 

There is a drain plug for the gas tank and removing it would be a pain in the ***. when youre done draining it just let it air out to evaporate the remains.

 

an empty tank is far more dangerous than a full one. Its the fumes that are explosive. empty and in the car is far more dangerous, just remove it for saety and reinstall later. Draining it is a false sense of security.

 

Yes, drop the tank. Its not worth lighting your car on fire to save 1h or whatever it takes to drop the tank. who knows maybe you can have a good look under the car like that also! and This will allow for the rust coating to be above the gas tank if it wasn't there before!

 

Yup pleeeeze remove the gas tank and yes make sure you disconnect the battery.

 

When I was welding the frame on my truck, I removed the tank.......better safe than sorry.

Also, when welding the panels, do not weld too long in any one spot. Allow the weld to cool, and weld another spot farther away. All the sheet metal swaps (patch panels) i have seen, were tack welded in places.....until forming a complete line. Not just a solid bead. This was done to keep heat down in any one place. Honda uses very thin sheet metal and it will warp easily.

 

Good advice...

An empty tank goes boom...

How about draining the tank of fuel... and then filling it up ALL the way with water or barring that diesel fuel???? Making sure to pinch off lines coming and going to tank

 

just to be on the safe side i would take the ECU out