I am gathering the info and parts I need to start body work on my '73 F100. I have never welded patch panels in before (I've done lots of other welding). I need to replace the lower rear corners of the bedsides. And I want to put in a fuel door off a '78, what is the best way to weld that in? What do you suggest?

Marty

 

You can ruin your panel VERY quickly if you
don't know what you're doing. Get a body panel
from a salvage yard and practice welding in
pieces. Also, do a small spot, stop, let it
cool, and then another spot and repeat until done. If you try it all at once, the panel will warp.

Ken Payne
Ford Truck Enthusiasts Admin
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Yeah,

get yourself a mig welder and practice on a panel like the other guy said..... migs are very low heat and are perfect for what you need to do.... a gas welder will be more likely to warp the surrounding metal..... good luck.

 

I have a couple more questions for you:

Is it best to cut the hole smaller than the patch panel to overlap them, would the patch panel go on inside or outside? Or should the hole and the panel be exactly the same size to butt weld end to end?

My brother-in-law has a stick welder that I could borrow (he's less than a mile away), but do stick welders work good for body panels? I could go and use a friends wirefeed (but he's 60+ miles away) - I would prefere the wirefeed, but it's a little inconvinient.

Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.

Marty

 

Aas far as the patch panel, they should be bigger than the hole, to they'll overlap. You can butt them together, but it's waaay too easy to burn through then. I've seen both MAC and Snap-On tools that you can use to knock the edge of the patch down about a 32nd of an inch, so the repair will be a little closer to flush, otherwise, you'll need a ton of bondo! It's just a little doohickey that you put the edge of the patch in, and bang it good with a hammer once or twice and repeat! Sorry I don't remember what it's called exactly...

Chuck

 

You definately want to use a MIG welder for the pach panels.