1969 Chevy C10

I just helped out a friend of mine spray his 69 cab yesterday orange and some intercoat pearl. The door jambs and front drip rail kind of tricky to get coated. Alot of weird angles in there.
 
Cut the rusted floor pan out far enough that I can start fitting the new pan.
Floor Pan removed.JPG


Floor Pan Patch fitting.JPG
 
Looking good, I love those trucks! I'm currently working on a cab rust repair very similar to that one, but other people's projects seem to keep getting in the way!
 
Had a problem with my MIG welder yesterday. I was having trouble getting the .023" wire to feed consistently. Ended up with a rat's nest of wire in drive wheel area a couple of times.
I had put a new sleeve for the small diameter wire in a while back and of course it was made in China so immediately I wondered if it was the problem.
Pulling the wire from the sleeve took a good amount of effort and the use of pliers. Got it cleared out and fed fresh wire into the sleeve only to have it bind up as soon as I started welding.
Fortunately I had the old sleeve that I had replaced and a roll of .035" wire. Put those in and it fixed the problem.
Now if I could just build some confidence in my heat and wire feed settings for the larger wire. :rolleyes:
 
Floor pan installed:
Floor Pan installed 1.JPG


Cut to fit and installed the inner rocker panel.
Had a time getting the two patch panels to mate up. You would think they would make the outer portion of the floor pan to same form as the outer floor patch panel (inner rocker) but no.
Here's a couple of pictures of my spot welding process. Start with spots about 3" apart and then add another round, etc.
Inner Rocker Panel spot welds.JPG


Still struggling to get the MIG set right. Suggestions welcomed.
Welding the seam between spot welds:
Inner Rocker Panel MIG welds.JPG


Still getting some spatter and takes a bit of grinding to get the welds flat.
Inner Rocker Panel Installed.JPG


Now to fabricate the add on portion for the kick panel patch.
Kickpanel Patch Fabrication begins.JPG
 
68, I don’t know what brand welding machine you have but every mig machine I have used will run .023, .030 and .035 wire with the same liner if that’s what you were referring to. The drive roller just flips over for different size wire.
 
68, I don’t know what brand welding machine you have but every mig machine I have used will run .023, .030 and .035 wire with the same liner if that’s what you were referring to. The drive roller just flips over for different size wire.
I changed the liner out after reading an article somewhere. The new one has a much smaller inside diameter and really didn't fit right. The brass fitting that is secured inside the welder was smaller in diameter and didn't center properly.
Glad I kept the original so I could reinstall it. The .023 wire was about gone anyway and all I had was .035 but it is feeding fine now.

Never had formal training in MIG welding and basically self taught by reading and watching videos.
 
I changed the liner out after reading an article somewhere. The new one has a much smaller inside diameter and really didn't fit right. The brass fitting that is secured inside the welder was smaller in diameter and didn't center properly.
Glad I kept the original so I could reinstall it. The .023 wire was about gone anyway and all I had was .035 but it is feeding fine now.

Never had formal training in MIG welding and basically self taught by reading and watching videos.
I have a Miller 211. And sometimes the wire gets jammed up in the machine and i have to pull it all out and reinstall. I dont know why. My friend who welds for a living came over and adjusted the spool and the little grooved wheel tension and its fixed. I dont know what he did differently than from what I was doing
 
The bigger wire is just a lot touchier with regards to feed speed on thin metal. Small increments in adjustment can make a big difference. Keeping the liner as straight as possible and having the pinch rollers set to the proper pressure can be helpful. Keeping a pair of dykes handy to nip the end of the wire is helpful, too. All that said, we run .023" about 99% of the time, it's just way more forgiving with the feed adjustment on sheet metal.
 
Thanks Crash, I will try making smaller adjustments. I like the .023" wire but didn't have enough left on the roll to be worth the effort. Ordering more soon.
 
To get a little more life out of the sleeve, occasionally pull out the wire and blow out the sleeve. In my Lincoln manual I remember somewhere they say that for every "X" amount of wire run through the gun you need to do that. Can't remember the actual amount but its a good idea to do it every time you change a roll. Most are teflon lined but debris does build up and cause the problem you experienced '68. Steel/copper dust from going through the rollers.

Every machine is a little different so it's just a matter of experimenting with different diameters. My 120V Lincoln plug welds better with .030 than .023. Spot/tacks are slightly nicer with .023 but not a huge difference. I had a Miller 120V that was absolute crap to weld with .030. .023 was the only thing it liked. Welded a lot with a Snap On Muscle Mig (made the best plug weld of any machine I've used) and it too did well with either .023 or .030. .030 is the largest diameter wire I will use on sheet though. .035 is just too much. If you did those with .035 you did good.:)

As for the spatter make sure you always use wire from a trusted source. I can't speak to lately but in the past I know the HF stuff was crap. Check your flowmeter/regulator as well. Make sure you are flowing around 15CFH. Less can cause excessive spatter. More flow than 15 CFH is a waste on sheet. Rust on the backside or undercoating can cause it too. Some of that Taiwan replacement panels steel is pretty low grade and that too can contribute to spatter. Your welds look pretty good though. Keep it up I know you are having fun.:)
 
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Lincoln SuperArc L-56 (ER-70S-6) Some of it is US made but the smaller size spools are not IIRC. Good thing is yo can get it at Lowes and HD. About $50 bucks for the 12lb spool. It is still excellent wire though. ESAB branded wire is good quality stuff as well. I've never had issues with any wire that I got through a trusted source like your local weld jobber.

Sidebar, prior to 2016 and Trump there was no American made wire at all. The "Buy America" regulation that Trump authorized brought some production back to the US but only available in very large quantities, like for bridge and road and buildings, where if Government funds are used it is required.
 
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Didn't get much done today since it's the wife's birthday.
Working on the add on portion to the kick panel. The flange for welding to the A-pillar on the patch panel I purchased is very small and trying to get it semi-lined up with the stock flange and my fabricated piece is a bit challenging.
I only have a cheap metal break to work with so it's not perfect.
Kick panel add on fabricated.JPG

Now to weld the two pieces together and then get the hole thing welded into place.
 
Installed the kick panel patch with spot welds. Didn't get the seam as tight as I would have liked.
Kick Panel patch spot welds.JPG


Welded the A-pillar patch into place, drilled holes and installed bolts:
A-pillar patch welds.JPG


Test fitting the rocker panel.
Rocker Panel Right fitting.JPG

On the A-pillar patch I had to cut a slot into it and reform to fit the stock profile. Looks like I'll need to do the same where the rocker panel fits to the A-pillar.
Rocker Panel Right fitting 1.JPG

I'll need to install the door and test fit before welding the rocker into place.
 
Since it going to be a while before I'll be ready to sand everything and apply epoxy, I painted the bare metal with some black paint.
All one color.JPG


I then reinstalled the door and aligned it to the cab the best I could. Ended up have to pound out the dents in the cab corner to get it somewhat close.
From there it was put the rocker on, take the rocker off, put the rocker on, take the rocker off, until I got it trimmed and tweaked to fit.
Rocker Panel Intallation.JPG

Tacked it into place and then removed the door. I'll finish welding it tomorrow.
Rocker Panel tacked into place.JPG
 
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