I think that's the way I'll go. I just had a 220v outlet installed for a welder.

 

i bought the 211 a couple of years ago and have done quite a few projects with it and i am amazed with what it will do. i have 220 in my garage but always just use it on 110. i got a discount through my job and it was like 950 for the welder, i had a tank but i got 2 free refills.

 

I thought I'd try to post pics of the welder I bought yesterday. Yesterday the gizmo to put photos in a post did not work and today it does. Go figure. I guess I shouldn't have zoomed in when I took the pics, they are out of focus except one. Oh well.

 

The metal on these floorpans is not really thick ,overlapping is a lot easier for a person to do as opposed to butt welding ,especially w/all the angles and upsweeps of the floorpan. Cut out all of your rust,lay your new panel over the hole,trimming all unneeded metal from new pan so it will lay in fairly tight;go underneath the truck(as previously posted) and mark your cut out opening with a Sharpie on the new panels bottom. Trim the new panel 1/8" bigger and fit ,trim,tap,etc,until it fits flush but overlaps slightly (you are doing this on the inside floorboard)on your old floorboard. Grind along the edge of new panel & grind along the edge of the cut out opening where you will be welding. Weld every 4" or so around the edge,possibly holding it down tight in places as you weld around the outside.Hammer tight,screw tight etc.,any places that do not fit together real tight.Then go around again & spot weld in between your previous 4" ones.You now have a floorpan spot welded in tightly every 2". Grind your welds,spread a product like "Metal to Metal" over the seam,sand smooth.Top is done,ready for whatever topcoating you choose.Underneath,grind the edge to smooth, either just seam seal or do the metal to metal again & sand. I have done a bazillion like this and they last forever. A beginner generally will go crazy trying to butt weld attempting to make it look decent. Good Luck!

 

Wow, a clean garage. I wish I had that to work with!

 

You're right, lap welding is easier, but butt welding isn't all that difficult. It just takes a little patience and careful measuring.
I had never done anything like that before I replaced the floor pans in my truck. Never even really did much sheet metal welding either.
If you do butt weld, invest in some butt weld clamps. They make nice, consistent joint gaps a snap. I got mine from Harbor Freight.
If you do get the butt clamps, there's a simple mod you can do to them so one person can set them in place on panels that are too wide to reach around, like the floor pans.
If you put a little weld bead on the lock. You can install the clamp with the lock vertical without it falling out. Without that little bead, if you can't reach around the panel, you need someone else to hold the lock untill you tighten the clamp.
Which way you go really just depends on what you want to do. Either way isn't all that hard.

 

Other handy metal working tools:

Grinders.. get two because switching btwn flap wheels and cut-off discs is a pain. On a budget? Get a 4.5-inch DeWalt for flap wheeling and a lo-buck HF for doing cut-offs. HF grinders have weak bearings and don't stand up well to side-loads.

Ear plugs!
Machinist's metal rule
Carbide tipped scribe (Harbor Freight)
Magnetic triangles (Harbor Freight)
Sharpies - black and silver
Adjustable locking C-clamps with deep reaches (Harbor Freight)
6- and 8-inch C-clamps (Harbor Freight)
Hammer & dolly set
Spot weld cutters. I prefer Blair.
Aviation snips
Metal files

 

And if you do decide to lap weld MAKE SURE you seal the outside of the joint with body sealer.

 

I finished painting the floor about two months ago and finished painting the walls on Monday. This section is only half of the garage, it's 30'x20'. The other half is the same size but has four rooms including the half-bath I remodeled last summer.





I put together the rolling cart that came with the welder. I do see one problem with the slot the chain goes into to secure the gas bottle; the slot is not deep enough and if you have the chain tight(as in the pic) it will slip over the fat top of the gas cylinder and not be secure. Before I cut the slot deeper I thought I'd ask here if the chain should be tight against the gas bottle?

It may end up being a moot point as my brother may get another gas bottle for me from work since they discontinued use of their mig welders. If he gets a taller bottle I won't cut the slot deeper.





Thanks for any help

Dennis

 

I've got the same set-up and the bottle is also loose. It's not a big deal in my opinion. Just use the next chain link.

Your garage is... well... totally porno for us gearheads. My garage is so small there's not even enough room to change my mind.

 

I won't worry about the chain then, I'll make it one or two links looser.

Glad you like the garage. I've done a lot of work in it the last 3 1/2 years.

Over one of the car bays I have an opening in the ceiling. Above that opening is an 8' I-beam mounted in the peak of the roof. There is a rolling trolley(1 ton limit) on that with a 1000 lb. limit electric hoist. It has saved much work. I thought I had pics of it bolted in place and finished but the only ones I can find still have the clamps holding the end pieces in place. Oh well, you get the idea.













While working out there I found some very well-preserved newspapers from 1956 with some goofy, new rock & roll singer






Also found an old Buick/Sunoco advert:

 

I have a three bay garage but my dad's a hoarder. You literally cannot walk around in there. I spent a week cleaning out one bay about a year ago. I was actually able to park my truck in there. I was pretty proud of myself. Now, though, my dad's used the opportunity of clear space to fill it with more junk. It's really hard and frustrating to keep something clean when youre living with someone who is too lazy to put things away and too distracted by shiny things to not accumulate crap. Gonna have to do some more cleaning, I guess. The truck is coming apart tomorrow.

 

[quote=1978f-250;14568087]While working out there I found some very well-preserved newspapers from 1956 with some goofy, new rock & roll singer[quote]

Hahaha, He'll never last! Nobody in their right mind would pay a $1.50 to see some guy beat a guitar and gyrate on stage. He's gonna fade away, nobody's gonna remember him.

 

This was my Father's garage. He died in January of 2011. I don't live at the house and nobody but me uses the garage so it stays uncluttered.

This is an outside view after I had the roll-up doors and the walk-in doors replaced with new doors. It's close to 60' long. I added much electrical, many lights, 14-20' long 2"x6"s for ceiling joists, and a floor over the carports along with a pulldown set of stairs to access the attic. I may get the driveway asphalted before winter but you never know.

 

Seems like a pretty good setup to me. I'd love to have that much space uncluttered.