can anyone explaine seam welding to me ? I'm currently building a crx for road racing.. I know seam welding make the car more rigid but I dont know what seams to weld, length of weld and weld spacing... also the process I will be using is gmaw is this a ok proccess to use? I am a certified welder I just never done seam welding and I dont know where to start... thanx to everyone who replies...

 

From what I've read in the past, seam welding without proper bracing can warp the chassis. I was very interested in this until I read about the warping. Maybe someone can post some pics on the subject.

Actually this is exactly where I got my info.

http://www.drifting.com/forums...=1097


Modified by opticnerv at 7:19 PM 9/30/2007

 

i did my s13 chassis last year, with out a frame rack and its fine. that is also a old *** post from 03-04, most people just strip the glue from all the seams and start welding.
may not be the best idea, but for people without access to all the nice equipment it usually suits them just fine.

I pretty much welded any where that there was a over lap of sheet metal, and also a few edges in my door area that where spot welded together.

Jon

 

I'm not too educated on this subject...but i THINK you are supposed to stich the weld....not run a bead along the entire seam. . .

 

Warping probably comes from people doing stitches right after each other, if anything. I would personally strip just a few parts at a time, stitch them with adequate pause between, and then work on another few sections. Make the sections descently far apart to avoid too much local heat.

 

I know for a fact its not a full lenght weld the size of the seam... does anybody know what is typically done? and how far apart are the welds supposed to be from eachother?

 

Does this really make a noticeable difference in chassis stiffness?

 

That doesn't look right...those look like tacks on there and don't look like they even penetrated the metal.....I have seen this done where it looks more like 1/2"-1" bead then inch or so space, 1/2" bead etc.. . . .

Edit: Here...like this:

 

that looks more of what I have seen.. now my other ? is what would be the best way to get that junk that covers the seams off? what is it adhesive, sealent, glue?

 

just use a wire wheel to remove the seam sealer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by m R g S r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That doesn't look right...those look like tacks on there and don't look like they even penetrated the metal.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

My unfinished car. HTH


Modified by qckslvr at 4:50 AM 10/3/2007

 

qckslvr: are you going to paint sand & paint everything when your done?

What type of welder did you use for that??

Is that rust?

Also, what are your plan for the car?

thanks,
Josh L
JDL Racing

 

qckslvr
those welds dont look so healthy

 

you are actually supposed to drill a 1/4-3/8" hole through the first peice of metal and then fill the hole with weld. unles you have a spot welder.

 

here are some pics of the R Crew EK with some seam welding...







http://www.rcrewracing.com/dan/ek9/ek9r%20003.jpg
http://www.rcrewracing.com/dan/ek9/ek9r%20007.jpg
http://www.rcrewracing.com/dan/ek9/ek9r%20008.jpg
http://www.rcrewracing.com/dan/ek9/ek9r%20009.jpg
http://www.rcrewracing.com/dan/ek9/ek9r%20010.jpg

 

These articles really inspire me:
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toyomatt84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">These articles really inspire me:
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.....html</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thank you sir! I've been looking for that article for a year now. Opera did a DC5 and an S2k like that. All they did was stiffen/reinforce the existing stuff. No bars to climb around. The cars supposedly handle like dreams and yet remain comfortable to daily drive, because they didn't really need high spring rates. The chassis did most of the work keeping the car planted.

I wonder if anyone in the US can or has done this? I'd really like to know.

 

I wonder what they used to put all them holes in that metal. That would take forever witha holesaw and a drill.

 

Maybe one of those nifty robot arms?

 

The seam welded part wil be sandblasted prior to painting. Mig welder was used.

From the pics, the welds dont look good. What do I know I am not the expert.

From close inspection, it looks ok. (I hope .)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rex_Z31 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you are actually supposed to drill a 1/4-3/8" hole through the first peice of metal and then fill the hole with weld. unles you have a spot welder.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would be another way to do spotwelding (usualy if you do not have a spotwelder).

Seam welding is something different

/Carl

 

Make sure you strip everything to bare metal, because that sealer stuff is highly flammable. Trust me I know from experience I put out at least 4 small fires from where I THOUGHT I got all of the sealer out. Also check the other side of what you are welding if hot enough the undercoating will catch fire too

 

holy **** did he use a SMAW welder? these look like a bad welder with a electrode sticking day

why isnt he welding with the seam? he's going against it, making **** harder for him no?


seam weld = full seam every inch of the chasis
stich weld = wat these guys all did here

 

i agree what I have seen is about a 1" weld or so whith a couple of inches in between each weld... I got the car stripped and ready to go I just dont want to F@*# up... thanx ya'll

 

on the parts of mine where you couldn't get all the glues out of the panels and the welds would contaminate i would do single stitch welds and on the cleanest more structural parts i would run about a half to three quarter seam with inch spaces between.

best way to remove seam sealer propane torch, wire wheel, and dry ice. Do not weld over that **** it puts off some wicked fumes that for me at least would really make me sick for a few days after welding up cars.

Jon