Welding my tractor hood

[1930]

Looking for ideas
I welded autobody for over thirty years, as the years progressed the metal became thinner.
I can weld a soda can but it will distort the can badly.
For some reason someone cut section out of my hood, I have another hood that is beat to hell but this area is fine.

I’ll need to cut out a patch, weld it and have the least amount of filler possible front AND back.

I never was a hack, always did good work within reason but working for insurance companies you can’t be Picasso, you rely on fillers that set up quick and sand easy.

Being around the louvers makes me think I should cut out a large section including louvers and replace it all.

I’ve worked with louvers and heat and then body fillers, it typically doesn’t look factory new.

Again I need it to look like it never happened both sides with grinding and possibly a little plastic for porosity holes.

Anyone here have this kind of experience?

 

[Williy]

Can you tack it so it don't heat up then grind it smooth???

willy

 

[1930]

Can you tack it so it don't heat up then grind it smooth???

willy

Absolutely but it needs to be welded solid however at some point.

 

[5030]

Gee, I can weld together 2 aluminum soda cans, ehd to end with NO distortion or a butt weld a tape measure that has failed back together with no warpage...

I suspect you working in a body shop, you used some sort of resistance spot welder and filler or O/A and brazing rod and filler again...??

What you need to do is get proficient in TIG welding with low amperage pulsed TIG and Argon shielding gas. With correct pre prep yopu can weld in a patch and with careful after prep, you will never know you added something. I just did a Kubota hood where the hood had stress cracked through the mounting steel barcketry and progressed into the hood sheet metal itself. A new replacement, unpainted hood was close to a grand. I pre prepped, welded and post prepped this one and had the local bump shop paint it for me (I'm a rattle can person) for half that, all in.

With light light gage ferrous metal, or aluminum or for that matter, any light gage material, TIG welding is the only way to fly. Using the correct Tungsten, filler rod and shielding gas as well as mastering the technique is paramount. Anymore, I find myself using a TIG machine more than even a glue gun MIG for sticking stuff together. Nice thing about TIG welding ferrous materials (steels) is the filler material is inexpensive as well as the Tungsten electrodes and you don't need a fancy water cooled torch, unlike aluminum where to TIG aluminum, high amperage is required and along with high amperage comes specialized equipment like a water cooled torch and specialized Tungsten. The best tihing about TIG is there is really no spatter and no heat warpage if done correctly plus you can employ the filler rod as filler (multi-pass) and eliminate most if not all the filler meterial. I could go on for pages about TIG welding but suffice to say, if you can O/A weld and braze correctly, you are half way there as TIG welding is a 2 hand operation, the big difference is your torch is electrical, not gas and you must keep the filler rod in the shielding gas envelope at all times. TIG welding takes practice to master and I always say, the best primer to TIG welding is O/A welding and brazing.

Modern TIG machines have come a long way with the advent of IGBT machines and digital controls. Even the less expensive IGBT machines come with built in weld parameters so you can literally dial in a process parameter and weld with them and you can buy a cheap Oriential machine that will do everything you require for well under a grand. Of course you'll need inert shielding gas and a regulator as well as consumables like Tungsten, cups and gas lenses for the torch as well as an amperage controller but most of those acessories will come with a machine anyway. Of course the old 'stacking dimes' TIG weld beads come with practice. Nice thing about TIG machines is, if the material conducts electricity, you can weld it, control the heat and minimize the warpage. Besides, it's fun...

 

[dodge man]

Keeping mind I know nothing about welding but am into cars. Someone I know who restores cars and does his own bodywork says he just welds a short bead, then moves to another area, welds a short area, and so on. This keeps any one area from getting to hot. You probably already know this though.

 

[TractorGunn]

Looks to me like you can tack weld that thing in there, letting it cool as you go, and tack as you go, to fill it in, then grind it, and finish with a skim coat, sand, and paint.

 

[5030]

Keeping mind I know nothing about welding but am into cars. Someone I know who restores cars and does his own bodywork says he just welds a short bead, then moves to another area, welds a short area, and so on. This keeps any one area from getting to hot. You probably already know this though.

Of course the unanswered question is welds with what? in Reality, you have 5 distinct processes you can use. MIG, TIG, O/A, SMAW and fusion welding. All have pluses and minuses. Having said that, heat and resultant warpage will always be the issue on light gage materials and of course how much post weld prep prior to finishing, you want to do or feel comfortable with.

Sort of like using Bondo as filler versus lead. Anyone can slap on Bondo, not anyone can use lead as a filler.

 

[5030]

One thing I have a habit of doing when I look at a used anything is, I like to run a magnet over the sheet metal in areas I suspect were 'fixed', to see what lies under the paint job. A magnet much like a bore scope when buying a used firearm can make a liar out of the supposedly honest seller and adjust the price accordingly....lol

 

[1930]

Of course the unanswered question is welds with what? in Reality, you have 5 distinct processes you can use. MIG, TIG, O/A, SMAW and fusion welding. All have pluses and minuses. Having said that, heat and resultant warpage will always be the issue on light gage materials and of course how much post weld prep prior to finishing, you want to do or feel comfortable with.

Sort of like using Bondo as filler versus lead. Anyone can slap on Bondo, not anyone can use lead as a filler.

I am familiar with stick and have quite a bit of experience with resistance.
I’m only proficient in mig but the intricacies of the welder never mattered to me, I wasn’t paid to do perfect work, I was paid to do a job that oftentimes the manufacturer themselves did very poorly on.
It sounds like I would need a tig welder ( again) and quite a bit of experience to do a standup job so once again I will just do my best with what I have.
There are many things I’d like to make a career out of, welding is one of them and I wish that I had nine lives to do them all.
Thanks for your informative post

 

[1930]

Keeping mind I know nothing about welding but am into cars. Someone I know who restores cars and does his own bodywork says he just welds a short bead, then moves to another area, welds a short area, and so on. This keeps any one area from getting to hot. You probably already know this though.

At this point I don’t believe that your friend doesn’t have warpage issues, maybe he knows something I don’t though

Looks to me like you can tack weld that thing in there, letting it cool as you go, and tack as you go, to fill it in, then grind it, and finish with a skim coat, sand, and paint.

Dial the welder down and deal with a poor weak weld, turn it up and deal with it warping.
This has been my experience
Of course I’m sure that some really proficient welders could really dissect the welder and material I am using to weld with but I have no experience with this.
I’ve always used the rolls of mig wire I was handed.
Thanks