mobile welder coming tomorrow...quick dumb question

Hey guys! I have a quick welding question for you. I am in the process of installing an MII cross member on my 46 Chevy truck. Not trusting my welding skills I have found a mobile welder and he wants to come tomorrow morning and do the job. He claims he can weld in my cross member with his 110V mig welder. I told him I was skeptical about the penetration. He told me that he is AWS certified and that he would run a short bead, and if I didn't think it looked good he would switch over to his stick machine. So by now I guess you know my question.
1. will the 100v mig be enough
2. if not is the stick any better?
3. is this guy a poser and should i just give him the boot?

Thanks in advance guys for all the help your the best!

 

I am NOT a welder of any substance, but when my dad did the MII in his 51 he had a guy come out with a 220v.

.02

 

The only time I ever got decent penetration with a 110, we preheated it. Still hard as hell to control the heat in it even that way. DONT USE A STICK WELDER! They always look like shit in the end!!

 

I've never been a good welder so I always tack welded structural stuff and had a pro do it for me. When I did the frame on my 27 Mig welding was just getting popular so I took it to a guy who was an instructor in welding at a VoTec school. He said he would arc weld it instead. When I protested, he laughed and said "I guarantee you will be happy."

When I picked up the frame it was perfect. His beads looked like a machine had done them. So it seems to me the man behind the welder is at least as important as the equipment being used, maybe moreso.

Don

 

I build parts for Lincoln pipeliners, these guys are in my shop all the time, and can lay some of the prettiest welds I've ever seen, and can pass X-ray to boot, so don't be scared of a stick, that being said, a heavy 220V is always a good bet, I'd shy away from welding suspension parts with a 110V unit



i

 

Unless you are confident you can check the quality of his mig test bead I would go with the stick. I would worry about proper penetration with his mig.

 

Most mII setups I've seen pretty much surround the frame on the bottoms and the sides so the welds are in compression rather than tension, also there is probably 10-12 inches of weld on both sides, if he is a descent welder it should be fine.

 

Find someone else, no one calling themselves a professional would bring a 110 welder to weld in a cross member let alone do any kind of welding, they would bring their own power source to power a nice size mig, most would have a rig full of tools, a crane, compressor and have a tig, mig and stick for welding and OA and plasma for cutting, some guy comes to your house with a 110 send him packing.

 

Thats my biggest concern. I'm no welder don't claim to be. It just struck me odd that he wanted me to make the final decision. Christ he's supposed to be the pro.

 

just cause a weld looks good doesnt mean it is. You should go with someone that is well recommended.

 

yes i agree and agree and agree

 

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x2

 

The welds might look ok but I doubt the penetration will be good enough. A 110 just does not have a long enough duty cycle. Like the other guy said a good welder should have a whole shop on his truck.

 

Most of the cross member kits are 1/8" to 3/16" thick. if the guy is a decent welder he should be able to weld your stuff up with a 110 machine. With that being said, what size wire is he going to be running? .023 is a pretty small for chassis work, .030 would be about right, the 110 machines I have run tend to grunt a bit if you go any bigger than .030. Make sure your weld joints are clean. Most guys including me run their verts down when running a mig gun, you WILL lose penetration when doing so, if this makes you nervous maybe the frame can be man handled so everything can be welded flat. I think the fellows above meant to say 3/32 7018, 3/16 is a mighty big rod for chassis fabrication. Stick welding separates the men from the boys real quick, it's just a different tool, take a bit more skill.

Good luck,

John

 

I am no expert,but I have installed 3 mII front suspensions in early chevys using a 110 mig. I did my 39 chevy about 20 years ago,and have driven it many miles with no problems.I actually used a"pinto" crossmember in my own car. I also did a stock MII in a 38 chevy and a MII in another 39 chevy. I am currently building a T-bucket using 2x3 by120 wall rect.tubing.Iam doing most of the welding with my 110 Lincoln, but I am borrowing 220 mig for the heavier brackets and parts. yes I also have a Lincoln "tombstone" welder for the real heavy stuff.

 

Depends on the 110 welder. If it is a 90 amp Harbour Frieght special, then no but a good Miller, Lincoln, Hobart etc 130 or 140 amp 110 unit will be plenty for your crossmember.

Most 140 amp 110 welders will do 3/16 to 1/4 single pass. I have never seen a passenger car hot rod frame thicker than that.

Your best bet is hit up your local welder supply house and score a nice 140 amp wire feed from Miller, Lincoln or Hobart. You can catch them on sale for 600 bucks ready to go, bottle and everything. Some shops will even finance a new welder.

Then, find someone who is a REAL welder who can teach you the basics or find a tech school that has a good program. You will always need to weld to build your hot rods, it is best not to have to rely on some guy to come buy whenever you need something done.

Spend the money and time, learn how to do it yourself and you will be much happier.

Good luck, -Abone.

PS. I am a certified welder, but that doesn't make me smarter than anyone else...

 

yeah, what he said...

 

Ditto ^^

 

moble welding rig = one ton truck ,lincoln diesle ,oxy&acet bottles ,jack stands and asss loads of tools .110 machine is a toy

 

thats exactly what i was thinking....

 

People... get real. A good quality 110v machine with a good weldor operating it will do this job just fine. Most of the newer "super 110" machines will do 5/16" single pass. Have the guy show you his American Welding Society paperwork, and see if it pertains to what he will be doing. If it is for submerged arc, and he is hardwire MIG welding your frame, then no, he may not be qualified. I have welded far heavier material than frame rail, and used it in situations that jeopardized my life. The reason I was willing to do so? I know what I am doing. I don't know what the love around here with stick welding being the only way to get penetration, but, it just isn't true. The biggest problem you will encounter is if your pro-weldor doesn't properly clean the material. Quite frankly, that is the reason most of the 110v machines get a bad reputation; lazy fabricators don't properly perform the task, and then want to blame the machine.

I have a Hobart Handler 140 that I frequently run off of my Miller Trailblazer in the field because of its' great portability. I constantly use it for load bearing fixtures. Anyone who wants to think that these small machines don't get used by pros, think again. I know of many large buildings around that have many many welds done with Lincoln 110v machines, and little suitcases running straight flux cored for portability. Pretty much all handrailing, roofing, staircase fixtures, etc. are all done with these little machines around here. Since this guy is a professional PORTABLE weldor, I would guess that is his reason for using a 110 machine, and if he is a professional with a good reputation that gets paid to do this for a living, I would trust what he has to say, or at minimum give him a shot to show what he can do.

 

Exactly correct!!

 

Thanks guys your the best I think I will sleep on this and see how I feel in the morning. He is supposed to get here around 8. I'll let ya know what goes down.

 

I wouldn't use a 110V welder on any chassis related parts unless it was an emergency to "just get you home"

I also wouldn't use stick.

220 MIG is the way to go, unless you know a good TIG welder.

 

AMEN to that.

 

Is his 110 a flux core welder? If its not too late, post his equipment. From that you can get somewhat of an idea his level of professionalism. Who are his usual customers?

 

My sentiments exactly... most of those guys have a few welders on the truck with a generator as well as an oxy-acetylene set up. Go to your local circle track, find out who is the track welder on race night and give him a call.

Bob

 

I'm a certified welder and there is no way I would be letting some dude do my front end with a fricken 110. GMAW is a cold process to begin with. Will it hold it together? Sure. For how long? Is he going to have bevels or flare bevels to compensate for the lack of penetration? Is he that ashamed of his stick welding that he would rather use a 110v than burn some rod? This does'nt sound right in any way shape or form IMOI. Good luck and hopefullly find someone who can really do the job right the first time.

 

Ummm, not a good start that you have confused the various names of the processes. SMAW is "stick", so, what are you trying to say here?

Like I've said before, I've done this stuff in the past. The machine is rated for it, and they go through a stringent rating process before rating them. If a machine is rated for 1/4", it can do more. The companies under-rate them to cover their own butts. Just because a number of operators won't or can't do it doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be done.

 

i am no professional at all, but I wouldn't hesitate to use my 110v miller140. Make everything clean, bevel the edges, .030 wire and you should be fine. I mean, it's only your front end its not thattttttttttt important! hahaha