So I'm doing my first patch welding and I'm on a budget(ie, dead broke)- just trying to keep my truck from rusting out from underneath me before I win the lottery and can pay someone else to do it right! I have a harbor frieght 110 volt welder... not made for body work, I know, but it's what I got. So, long post shorter, I've got my patch tacked in with about 1/4 inch spaces left between tack welds - how terrible would it be if I called it good at this point an sealed it both sides with Everglass and a skim coat of bondo? Thinking the Everglass would fill in whatever little spaces there are left and then I was going to coat the inside of the fender with Por 15. Thanks in advance for any advice.




Share on Facebook

 

With over fourty views and no replies I'm assuming that yes, this is a hack job, and nobody wants to be the one to say it's fine and thereby incriminate themselves as a hack also!��

 

Got any pictures of what you're working with?





Is the welder and welding wire already paid for? Why else would you stop there, go ahead and finish the job.. The factory doesn't send them out with little spaces that need band-aids to seal things up, and you have a welder to complete the job where you shouldn't need it either. Yes, it's a slow, tedious process. IMO finish the welding, use some good epoxy primer on the inside (Like SPI, etc) that is compatible with topcoats and less temperamental than POR. Check out the projects thread in my signature, it may help answer some questions on the process..

 

Thanks for your reply. yeah, that makes sense, it is just a painfully slow process and I only get to work on it for an hour or two a week, and between my poor welding skills and the challange of working with a cheap welder I was just looking for a short cut.

 

just keep going with your tacks, jumping from one side to the other until its all filled in with weld, grind them down, then use a skim filler to cover.
also look on the back side of the panel to see you are getting a good weld, you should see a dark area where each weld is.
looks pretty good though so far.