[foonji]

Found two cracks in the floor of my tub while getting it ready to paint and want to fix them up a bit before doing the painting.

Both near seat mount holes. One is only a little 1cm long crack, and the other is about 10cm. (will get some photos tomorrow)

what do people think is the best method of welding to go with to fix these up?

[steve]

i'm no expert, but i'd just weld it, and if you're paranoid, you can add another plate on top of the welded crack.

[MART]

Use a wire brush type wheel , be it on a grinder or drill type back to bare metal , weld with mig , tig , check underneath so you don't burn anything.

Make sure the interior is gone , no need for a fire , watch any grinding sparks on any glass , it will burn and pit the glass , Cheers Paul.

[foonji]

steve wrote:

i'm no expert, but i'd just weld it, and if you're paranoid, you can add another plate on top of the welded crack.

That's what I was thinking, just weld along the crack.

MART wrote:

Use a wire brush type wheel , be it on a grinder or drill type back to bare metal , weld with mig , tig , check underneath so you don't burn anything.

Make sure the interior is gone , no need for a fire , watch any grinding sparks on any glass , it will burn and pit the glass , Cheers Paul.

Never used a mig/tig, only arc/gas. (have none atm though, have to ask some mates)

It's all stripped no so fire chance.


Depending on how it is with rust, I may add a plate.

Thanks guys

[ajsr]

as mart said
if you have trouble blowing holes, hold a chuck of copper on the other side of the panel it will help greatly, but it gets hot fast

[lump_a_charcoal]

I used mig, and it worked fine...

[steve]

I found if i blew holes in body panels, i just give short bursts, kind of like continuous short bursts along the crack/join. It gives a nice weld and doesn't blow holes.

(using a gasless mig)

[ajsr]

yeah steve thats good if you can weld.
but its pretty easy with a gasless mig to lay a load of shit on top and weld nothing if you dont know what you are doing.

[atari4x4]

also drill a 1/8" hole at each end of the crack to stop it going any further, then weld the lot up.

[steve]

ajsr wrote:

lay a load of shit on top and weld nothing if you dont know what you are doing.

ahhh reminds me of the old days when i was learning wih my stick welder, i used to weld 5 sticks on and bash 4 off in slag

Ya just got to keep practicing i guess, and get some one to show you to do it. There;s heaps of shit i have fucked up because i didn;t know what i was doing, and still do, then someone comes along and shows me a better way

[Fatzook]

You may have to clean under the floor back to bare metal also, as suzuki steel is very thin, and the gunk on the underside of the floor may contaminate the weld if you get full penitration when welding.

As mentioned above, also drill the start and finish of the crack, and the chunk of copper held firmly under the floor is also a great idea.

Pete

[foonji]

Good idea about drilling it either end, I didn't think about that.

If I can get a hold of a mig, I'll practice on something else first.

[jdk81]

I would hazard a guess at the cracks in the floor where the front passenger seat bolts in?

from memory as the door is open, the rear bolt hole closest to you has a plate under it. Start there when you begin. If you are going to blow holes you will penetrate and weld onto that plate first, it gives you a bit of practice before the fiddly stuff.

[steve]

and another tip, bruce suggested ages ago, if you want to put a plate over the top, use a thicker bit of steel, then start your weld on the thick plate and go across to the thinner body panel, so you're concentrating your main welds on the thicker plate, so it takes most of the heat etc, and you're just flicking out on to the thinner body steel.

[foonji]

jdk81 wrote:

I would hazard a guess at the cracks in the floor where the front passenger seat bolts in?

Thats the one!

[banga]

i have a mig on the sunny coast and i'm a qualified sheetmetal worker.
if you can't get copper then you can get away with a chunk of aluminium. definitely drill either end.