Hey everyone,
What tricks, tips and preventative measures do you guys take to prevent warping when welding sheetetal ? I have to add metal to one of my front door edges to fix the fender/door gap. Its uneven and I cant live with it. The other door is perfect. These are aftermarket Goodmark pieces I am working with. All the other sheetmetal lined up great but this one door...uuugh. I tried another fender and its the same wavy gap. I read and have seen how to do it and am going to try it myself. Just wanted to know if you all use any kind of heat absorbtion material other than tack and let cool method. I dont care if it takes all day just dont want to make matters worse. I cant swap out the door for another cause I already modified it to get the wing window to fit properly so I have to work with what I have.

Thanks

Go slow, do not lay down a bead, simply tack about the size of a bb and don't do two tacks side by side. Jump around and take your time, use your your bare hand around weld site, if its starting to build and hold heat walk away for a few minutes.

Thanks Jeff. Thats what I planned to do also. I was just wondering, I believe they sell some heat absobing putty or something at Eastwoods. Just wondering if it worked and was worth it.

Thanks

I used that putty a long time ago when i was gas welding patches in. It worked well. A towel soaked in cold water works pretty well too. Take your time. Dont try to run a long bead.

Thats how I used to do it. But I have found that I can lay a much smoother bead, get better penetration, do less grinding afterwards, and not have any warping by doing it this way (and I hope this doesnt cause an uproar lol)...I turn the wire speed and the voltage up well beyond what it should be at for body panels and repeatedly am barely tapping the trigger about as fast as is possible, non-stop. Its probably hard on the motor that feeds the wire, among other parts, but I only do it for short periods of time, as it also speeds up the process. I hold the tip with one hand and can keep it precisely where I want it. Its almost like soldering with a MIG lol. Once I found the right speed and voltage thatd penetrate just how I wanted without burning through, it became very simple to lay down beads that look textbook and penetrate just how they should, and without building as much heat as tacking a half-inch here and there. I know, I know, its probably the stupidest thing that youve heard in some time, but hey, it works for me! :clonk:

CDjr, it doesn't sound stupid to me, I'm going to have to do a couple, and I will try it.

Rob

CD....yeah once one gets the 'feel' understand what warps where why etc one gets reasonably fast....
The guys just starting out thu, take your time, watch what pulls where, and understand why...
Spot about an inch apart, tapping as u go...heat turned up, thu I have the wire speed turned right down sop one is almost tig welding rather than miging.

That's how I ended up welding in the patches for my doors..... high heat, low speed. It took some time playing around but I found a decent combination between the two, mostly by accident.

I tacked the patch in by skipping around the perimeter of it.... sort of like when you're putting a wheel on..... tighten one nut, go to the farther side and tighten, go back to the other side, etc. The sheetmetal didn't warp and if it did, it was so small I couldn't detect it.