i recently bought a $300 lincoln wire fed welder from home depot. this welder has worked fine for exhaust systems and other small stuff. it has no gas kit. i am curious if i would be able to weld together fenders. im looking to weld like a integ fender with civic, 50/50. thanks

my welder is a lincoln weld pake 100 hd


Modified by raider099 at 8:22 AM 8/16/2004

 

depends on your skill level...do you now have gas or are you fluxing? I hate fluxing...I just cant get the jist of it for some reason :/

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raider099 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i recently bought a $300 lincoln wire fed welder from home depot. this welder has worked fine for exhaust systems and other small stuff. it has no gas kit. i am curious if i would be able to weld together fenders. im looking to weld like a integ fender with civic, 50/50. thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can do it but expect to do a LOT of grinding to make it look half decent. Be careful, sheet metal warps really easily.

Tig + pulse is what I'd use. But I guess nobody asked.

 

you probly couldnt weld that thin with the flux core wire, you should get the mig conversion kit for it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1CYA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you probly couldnt weld that thin with the flux core wire, you should get the mig conversion kit for it </TD></TR></TABLE>

I still think it's possible, it's just going to look like *** and he'll wish he had not tried it.

Hehe.

 

i didnt think so because the flux core wire burns hotter and might burn though the metal,

 

i just got finished test welding a dummy fender. it was a old civic fender i cut in half and tried to weld it back. it seems like my welder will do the job but there will need to be a lot of grinding and then body filler.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Anthonyl469 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">depends on your skill level...do you now have gas or are you fluxing? I hate fluxing...I just cant get the jist of it for some reason :/</TD></TR></TABLE>

i do not have gas and im not sure what fluxing means!?

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

You can do it but expect to do a LOT of grinding to make it look half decent. Be careful, sheet metal warps really easily.

Tig + pulse is what I'd use. But I guess nobody asked.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ya i will need to do a lot of grinding, whay do you mean by pulse. sorry im a amateur welder.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1CYA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you probly couldnt weld that thin with the flux core wire, you should get the mig conversion kit for it </TD></TR></TABLE>

ya i hope to get it soon, you know how much it goes for? and how much is it to refill?

 

refill should be less than 18 bucks for a small tank...your welds will look ALOT better with gas man

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raider099 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i do not have gas and im not sure what fluxing means!?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

you're using flux-core wire now (wirefeed w/o gas). If your welder is adaptable you can start using gas and regular wire. It'll be cleaner.

 

you will definitely get alot better results with the gas. It IS cheap to get the tanks filled once you get them all set up, but thats kinda the problem- a 40cf tank will run you around $100, and regulators aren't cheap either. Keep in touch with the welding places near you- alot of times you'll find a gas kit on sale or if you're lucky you might be able to find a used setup in the classifieds or something...

as far as the project is concerned- if you're still trying to do it without the gas, heavier gauge wire will burn colder so if you're burning through then go heavier. You want to just tack the two pieces together, and jump all over the place like tack a few spots at the top then work a few inches away. This will keep the metal from warping and minimize the bodywork you'll have to do later. Also it's alot easier to get everything aligned perfect as you go.
In a situation like this I usually lay a thin strip of sheetmetal behind the seam and weld that in to connect the two sections from the back (unless you have access to a flanging tool which basically does the same thing) that way it minmizes the welding you'll have to do on the face of the fenders and again, less surface work later.

Post pics when you get it done!