What type of welding is best for doing body work such as putting patch panels on? The vehicle is a 1984 F150. Can flux Core welders be used? Is brazing acceptable? I am going to be doing some body work and would like to know the best type of welding to use is. I am also looking to spend as little as possible on the welder so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. thanks

 

MIG is probably the best welder for general automotive work for the average user in the home shed. My suggestion is would be to try and not spend as little as possible because a good quality welder will help you do a better job.

 

There are some situations where you might use brazing, but generally mig or normal oxy/acetylene welding would be first & second choices.
Using mig with a flux-cored wire will give a much rougher result than gas-shielded solid wire.

 

DO NOT BRAZE. It will get the panel too hot and warp it. As stated above, dont buy a cheap mig welder. Get a middle of the road one or just upgrade to a good one and then you can weld anything you want on the truck(frame or sheetmetal)

 

I've had a Hobart 110v mig a few years and have had good luck with it. It came with everything but the gas bottle, some don't come with the regulator and gas valve so you have to buy a gas conversion kit seperately. Northerntools.com runs specials with a free cart or free shipping from time to time. My local tractor supply carries them also. I'll also add that I just got the northern brand auto darkening helmet for $50 and it works great so far!

 

My Millermatic 135 is the cat's meow for welding sheet tin. I have tried to use flux cored for sheet metal in the past, but it puts too much heat into the material and often warps and burns holes in it. It's hard to control on thinner stuff, I love flux cored for fabrication and repairs on heavier stuff. And for the really heavy stuff, I use the ol Miller buzz box. On my wire feed machine I use a 75/25 mix with .030" mild steel mig wire, that thing just sings on sheet metal. I have heard of some guys using TIG, that takes some talent and I don't have much run time with a TIG machine myself. Yeah as said before don't go cheap on a welder, you will regret it.

 

Flux core is horrid for sheet metal repairs, expecially if you're using a cheapo welder. You'll burn holes with the wirespeed all the way down and heat set to min with a Harbor Freight wirefeed.

 

Seems like everyone thinks that a MIG welder is the best to use. What is the price range of a decent MIG welder?

 

What is normal oxy-acetylene welding? Is it just using a different type rod than brazing?

 

Get a nice Hobart Handler 140. Only thing you'll need to add is the gas bottle. Price will be right at $500 and you won't be sorry. If you can't afford that, wait till you can.

 

You use a steel rod ( instead of bronze for brazing).The parent metal & rod are both melted into a fully welded bead. You don't need flux. This was the way nearly all panel welding used to be done. But it's slower than mig & puts more heat into the panels.

Brazing doesn't melt the steel panels, just the bronze, which flows over the joint & then cools solid. For some situations it's useful, but isn't the way you would normally do the job. The bronze rods are also more expensive than steel rods.

 

Does this warp the metal doing it this way?

 

You'll get a certain amount of distortion with any welding method, but mig generally gives the least & is the easiest to learn. If you have someone who can give you a few hours help to get the basics right, it will help a lot - especially with oxy/acetylene

 

If you have a good mig machine it wil work. Dont use oxy-acetaline welding because like brazing it will get very hot with that thin of metal. The best would probly be tig but it takes some talent and those machines are expencive. I did some body work this last summer for a freind, and all i have is a old stick welder. I taked the peice i was using in place with the stick welder and used jb weld on the rest. i Filled it all in and sanded it down smooth. Its still holding stong.

 

back in the 80's we brazed patches and panels all the time.if your careful the panel won't warp. by far the mig was the best thing to come out,a lot simpler to use.but if your working in the open where there is a breeze you need flux core as the wind will blow away your shielding gas.imo