I've had the Eastwood 135 for a couple of years now and really like it for sheetmetal and thinner stuff. It is continuously variable so you can dial the current to exactly what you need rather than choosing one of several presets like some of the other welders in this category allow. If you are going to be doing a lot of heavier welding like 1/8" and heavier you might want to go with the 175 class welders instead of the 125-135 class. They require 220volts but can penetrate a bit deeper and have longer duty cycles.


I also have an ARC welder that I use for heavier stuff so didn't really need the 175 mig myself.


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I have to go mig , my Heart Dr does not want me doing any high amp stick welding with the defib implant in my chest . From everything we have read spot welding and stitch welding with a mig shouldn't be an issue as long as I keep an arms length between the arc and my chest .

 

Did you move the hub centerline forward at all with the crown vic set up? A lot of people say they move it forward about an inch but its kinda difficult to get a definitive answer to this.

 

Yes it was moved forward to center the wheel in the fender opening.

 

just now got around to using the welder on some scrap i got at work and it does a good job. I just used the flux core wire. I'm going to get me a tank tomorrow and switch it over and see how much better it can perform.

 

Went and looked at the truck again last night. He's got it all boxed in and got the trailing arm brackets made and welded on. He's made the whole front to be removable if anything ever has to be fixed or adjusted.
He was starting to work on the steering and kinda run into a problem. He cut off the gear box to expose the steerimg shaft from the column but it's still to long and is causing the joint on the crown vic side to bind up and rub so he is going to have to cut back more of the steering column and to give it a better angle.
I didn't take any pictures because really it doesn't look much different then it did last time but really a lot more has gotten done. He's going to be able to devote his whole weekend to it so hopefully he'll get the motor in and hanging some fenders back on it soon and back to my house. 😃

 

changing to a shorter 65 and newer column is also an option

 

I did the same on mine. Cut both the steering shaft and the outer housing shorter to improve the angles. Not a big deal.

 

Got an update on the steering. Used a 3/4 heim joint to stabilize the steering shaft and got the rest all hooked up to the rack.


He got the motor back in but is running into an issue with the oil pan clearing. Any help would be awesome.

 

Order a new oil pan, pick up, and dipstick from summit. Also did some of my own welding on some scrap.

 

Got a little update. He was having problems with the oil pan hitting the crossmember and putting the motor at a weird angle which was not good.


I got the new rear sump oil pan and pickup and he got it all put on and now has the motor set back in the truck and making motor mounts for it now that it's setting at the correct angle. He's also hooked up the new power brake booster and run the front brake lines. Once the motor mounts are made and power steering is hooked up it should be getting the sheet metal back on. Hopefully this all happens pretty soon because I want to be able to get this thing on the road by mid to late summer.

 

how did you anchor the steering column to the firewall?

 

The original hardware for the shaft is still the holding it. A hole was drilled into steering shaft with a bolt run through and washers put on the inside of the steering column so it doesn't slide in and out. Hopefully I explained that good.

On the other hand I have another update. The motor mounts are fabbed and being bolted in place on the stock location of the cv clip. With the motor being a 289 it fits pretty much perfect with plenty of clearance for the steering by the headers. Also in the pictures you can see the new brake booster.

 

i'm surprised that you drilled a hole in the shaft. everyone i talked to about doing that said it's a weakness that you want to avoid. i'm only saying this because i'm also working on my steering column.

but hey, i'm no expert.

 

I'm no expert either. Lol I hadn't heard anyone say it would make it weak on anything I come across online but I'm sure that it does since material is being removed from it. I don't think it will become a problem though because there's not to much torque going on when turning the wheel. I'm hoping later on to be able to put in a tilt column and some different seats to give me some more room. Being 6'2" my long legs have trouble getting under the steering wheel getting in and out.