I cant smear bondo to save my life it either drys to quick or dosent dry at all or its to thick.

 

90 flux core welder work for body work?

 

i run .025 wire for welding on the body especially if you run flux core. .030 and up takes a little too much heat to start heating the metal and by the time its hot enough to weld it starts burning through. a small welder with .025 wire has always been best for me. save the bigger wire for heavier application. just remember when replacing panels, measure 10 times, cut once. and measure from every possible aspect so you know its perfect. its never fun trying to fill in an inch when you cut it too short.

best hint to give though, is remember to unhook the batterys while welding! ive forgot that one time and its enough to make me remember for ever

 

thank you. i was wondering if the .030 wire would be to thick. i will pick a spool of .025. thank you for the help

 

no problem. first time i ever went down a smaller wire size, it upped my production time in half and cut my frustration level down 10 times. due to less heat, it also warps everything alot less as well

 

Definitely use the .025 wire on low heat, and keep some wet rags around to keep things cool too.

There's a tool that fits in a air chisel to create a recess lip on the panels you're welding. They work so-so, but I'd still get one cause it makes fitting the panels easier. Try to get things positioned with sheet metal screws before you start welding, that way you can run the bead fairly quick to prevent panel warping.

Lower door panels, rocker panels and cab corners are fairly easy to weld without issues. If your quarter panels need much work, then just replace the whole panel, it's way easier to get good results (just hope the new one doesn't get damaged during shipping). The same goes for fenders.

Remember, metal good, bondo bad, and prime all repairs inside and out for lasting results.

 

Also you dont have to cut out the whole section Cut about an inch or so up from where its rusted out if not a little more than you can trim your new panel to fit the section you cut out . Also weld a little at a time start on one side weld a little than move to the other side this will prevent the body from warping and give you a lot less head aches when putting bondo on... A good body filler is Rage very expensive though when you put the bondo on a mixing board or on a piece of cardboard run a beed of activator from one end to the other that is the best way to do it with out it drying up to fast on you. Make sure you also use like 80 grid sandpaper and put some nice marks where you want to put the bondo so it has something to bite into.. Lay it on thick that way there you dont have to put so many coats on..

also evercoat is a good finishing bondo to fill in any little holes there might be where your done.. Hope this helps out some.