Another day, another truck

[Bruce]

Welding Woes

I think mine is a 40 pounder, I'll check later on today. I am having a tough time with dissimilar metal gauge's. I made a copy of my channel that the vac line runs up for my wypers.
On the very top of this channel was a captive type nut that was spot welded on. This critter must have been a cast piece, I had at it for almost three hours yesterday? I am going to try the 0.23 & shielding gas this weekend, I need to get past this part of my rebuild.
I am almost too embarrassed to post a pic of how it looks now, I think I might make another channel & doing a different type of nut attachment?

[Ron in Indiana]

Bruce, I take it that the nut is attached to the angle bracket? How about drilling a 3/8" hole in the channel and plug weld the bracket? It's similar to a spot weld this way without the spot welder. Seems it would be better than trying to weld inside the channel. It can be ground smooth then and be done. Start your weld in the center of the hole with the .023 and move out to the sheet metal. It's will happen quickly with only a 3/8ths hole but it should work fine. I have something of the same thing on the rear pockets of the 58 bed I'm working on. I'm debating using rivnuts since the tool will cost $250 to set the nuts. I have several to replace and I'm sure these won't be the last ones either.

Old Mopar I use the smaller bottle on my welder. I can't say for sure the size but it lasts quite a while for me and I do a good amount of welding. As with anything it's depends on the amount of welding you do. Come to think of it I believe I may have to refill mine soon. Time to look at the gauge.

[MoparFreak69]

Oldmopar,
Generally bottles are sized in letter incriments(sp?). Mine I believe is the K size, which is about 4 ft tall. I made a cart for my welder out of a wheelchair and made a small rack on the back so that the bottle rides around without extra moving of stuff.
Keep in mind that there are different gas mixes for different types of welding. Steel calls for an argon/carbon dioxide mixture for best results. The company I get my gas from has their own propriotary mix they call Norgas 9 that works great. Aluminum welds better with a lightly mixed argon/carbon dioxide gas while stainless steel I believe needs just argon for best results. I am going to get a small bottle of just Argon when I pick up a spool gun for aluminum welding compatability. My welder can actually weld stainless how it is set up as long as I have the right gas for it.
Expect a bottle of gas to be pretty spendy if you are picking up a bottle at the same time. I think I paid about $150 for mine, that is after a pretty good discount because I bought the welder at the same time. A bottle the size I got should last me at least a year, probably longer. We use the same size bottle at work and with a lot of welding throughout the year we usually only have to replace the bottle twice a year. This is a situation where a lot of fabrication and modification work is performed as well as constant repairing of farm equipment. As long as you keep your system leak free and shut the valve off after every use then you should be able to weld a considerable amount from only 1 bottle.

A tip for welding dissimilar sized metals together. Set the heat for the minimum necessary to penetrate the thicker metal properly. Begin the weld on the thicker metal and very quickly dip down to the thinner material then bring back up to the thicker material. You are basically performing the majority of the weld on the thick material with only a slight dip down to the thin stuff to avoid blowing through it. Think of it as an inverted heartbeat from a heart rate monitor with the pulses being where you dip down to the thin material. It takes a little practice but it becomes easier the more you do it. Ron also suggested a good idea if you dont need a full bead run across the joint go with the rosette weld. They are plenty strong, as strong as a spot weld, and can make a neater joint with less panel warpage due to less heat spread out.

[Bruce]

This Is Good

I'm leaning towards this, it sounds like it should work! I will check my stock of consumables for the .023 tips and make a run to my LWS.
BTW, My tanks is a 40, 25 % Argon.
Thanks To You Both,

[oldmopar]

Thanks for the information on the tanks.the dealer by me seems to sell by the cu' so I think I am still in the 40-60 size range but will decide once I get over there and see what they have. Will most likly have to wait until next month as I picked up a plasama cutter ( Hypertherm powermax 30)this month and it put a dent in my spending money.

[Bruce]

There's A Reason

I'm a chef (;~}) I am not unhappy with the outcome, it's strong as all get out. Some more grinding and some proper filler & sanding it'll be fine.

[Ron in Indiana]

Good for you Bruce. As long as you're happy and it works that's all you need. I'd like to learn how to chop, slice and dice like you pros do. Is it all practice like welding or is it the right tool? I've been cooking since I was in Scouts and maybe a little before so I won't go hungry but I can't "create" like a chef. Again it goes back to what you know how to do.

[Bruce]

Nuther One

Thanks Ron,
I try, thank-fully neither of us will starve! I still might do some fine tuning on this thing?
BTW, I started cooking in the Boy Scouts.
Regards

[Bruce]

Progress

Just a couple more shots

[Joe Flo]

Bruce,

It looks really good!. I like your lobster helper :)

[Bruce]

Lobster's

The lobster is sort of a homage to the first M-37 I drove in Maine.
I bought that thing as a paper weight way back then, brazed a piece of thread-all onto his belly and stuck him there.

[Ron in Indiana]

I see that's it's been a year since I started this thread so here's an update. I have the bed blown apart and new parts are waiting. I've been working on the body removing dents as I find them. The roof is nearly done with only a light skim coat needed and the obligatory sanding. The cab has been stripped out to assess the work needed there. I'm about ready to take the cab off the frame so it can be cleaned and painted before it gets to cold to paint. This truck has a 315 with an Loadflite transmission so I'm going to be exploring the push button linkage. We are in need of new buttons for the dash pod if anyone knows of some for sale. Go here to see new pictures http://community.webshots.com/album/...NTLyeZ?start=0

[Ron in Indiana]

With the rain we've had the last two days Jerry and I have made a lot of progress on his 58. We have the cab and front sheet metal off the frame. The cab is stripped out even further. I got the bedsides blasted and have been sanding them. With the sanding I'm finding all the dings and dents which I'm removing. I hope to spot weld the new bed angles on soon. We are in the process of locating a power steering set up for this truck. We could use any and all leads to find the parts needed for PS. Anyone know of a power steering unit for a 58 PG?

[MrMarty51]

That is a very nice project You have going there,I likes.
At least with these old rigs there is something to weld to,although it takes quite a beating to 'Move" a dent.LOL

[DrPepper]

Ron, are your '58 frame rails straight....

or curve in like my '57 by the engine? You are talking about power steering and I have been looking at and reading about the power steering on the '87 RamCharger I have stripped and I am thinking about installing a "crossover steering" set up on my '57. I will have to mount the PS box from the RC on the '57 frame and have a machine shop build a pitman arm for the passenger side. My axle is a Dana 44 with a closed knuckle and the pitman attachment is 4 small bolts at the drivers side. I find nothing available on the net so I assume it is not very popular. "Gross Understatement" It looks like there is plenty of room to swap out the Gemmer for the Saginaw and keep the pump and hoses on my 318. The crossover drag link is available custom built from a number of companies that make off-road equipment. Tie rod ends and all are off the shelf stuff.
Do you know of anyone else that has done a similar swap to a '57?
Thanks,
DrPepper