I checked out that welder Charlie, and I do not believe the tongs would reach in behind the seams necessary to do the spot weld. Very little clearance in there.

 

Looks to me like it would work if you held it upside down.

 

Holding it upside down should give the handle clearance enough to activate the weld, yes. But the actual tips are what I do not think would reach in behind the flange without hitting on the cab roof.

 

I wonder if there are any optional tips?

 

Ill do some research. I have seen one in the $600 range but thats a bit much for the use I would get out of it. I really wonder what the guys do who have done this install. And I wonder how they were made on the production line. I had to cut them loose when I removed the stock sheet metal, so I know they were originally spot welded.

 

When I replaced the top of my cab, I carefully bent the flange on the lower section down. Then I used a pneumatic hole punch on the top section, spaced the same as the original spot welds.

When the top was in place I plug welded the two together, making sure not to overheat the metal. Then I carefully bent the flange back up.

Sorry I don't have pictures. That was in the early 90s.

You could probably drill holes in the lower section and plug weld from the bottom. This would keep you from having to bend the flange down. The top section is difficult to get to with the flange in the way.

 

ET, Thanks. That is a great idea! I can get a pretty good spot weld as long as I can hold the welding tip square to the spot. If I angle the weld tip, the quality of my spot weld drops off fast. What size hole did you use for you spot welds?

 

3/16". In your case it's going to be a tight fit for the welding tip. There's not much room between the window frame and that seam.

 

I wonder how they did it on the assembley line. Maybe the had a resistance welder designed specific for that application on big windows. Since only 6000 plus assembled, thats something they had to do special for the big windows.