It s very possible to warp the metal on your car while welding the patch panel in place.
How to weld and patch auto sheet metal.
Move from the top to the bottom.
Mig or metal inert gas welding aka gas metal arc welding or gmaw also uses a gas shield and filler material however in this case the filler is a wire fed directly through the welder.
See all 13 photos with the bottom layer welded the next patch can be tack welded in.
The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten.
840 2570 l 840 2570 r 129 99 each from auto metal direct will replace the rotted out sections on our e body project.
That makes this a one handed process.
Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in case you do anything wrong.
So you can keep the other hand free for manipulating your materials and other tools.
Here is a tutorial how to video that show.
Continue the same way along the sides of the piece of sheet metal.
Sheet metal is a huge part of any hotrod build or autobody repair.
Weld about an inch of bead at a time.
Say if you are welding an 18 gauge stainless steel sheet that is 2 2 feet in size to repair the side of your tank start by creating a weld that is 1inch long then skip 6 inches and then create a 1 inch long weld.
Once complete the welds will be ground flush being careful not to thin the metal on either side of the weld.
Start with a weld on the top of the patch and let it cool a little compressed air helps.
Whether you re fixing a dent rust hail etc.