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Don Foreman
 
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Default removing spot welds?

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 07:27:34 -0700, "larry g"
wrote:

There are special drill bits for spot welds and Eastwood sells them in their
catalogue. For reattachment you can rosette weld the panel back on with
your existing equipment.
lg


Like the other posters said. In case it isn't obvious, you can make
a "spot weld" with MIG if you have a hole in the top panel and metal
from the other panel behind it. Just fill the hole with weld metal.
After a little practice you don't even need to bother with a mask.
Just point the gun at the hole, shut your eyes and pull the trigger
for the length of time you've found to work well with your equipment.

The weld will be a bit proud of the surface, so it's easy to grind it
flush. With spotwelds an inch apart, you can stick a whole fender on
in about 10 minutes, once you get it in place with klecos or
sheetmetal screws.

Another very useful tool is a pneumatic punch 'n flange. They're
about $50. One side of the tool makes a dropped flange about 1/2"
wide. When you place the panel, the flange goes behind the part
that's already on the car, which has holes in it. The surfaces are
then coplanar. Do the spotwelds. You can then fill in the crack with
bondo. A gob about the size of a walnut will do a whole fender seam.

Not exactly competition-class "restoration", but it works, it's
quick, doesn't take much skill, looks perfect after painting, and
I've had repairs like that last a decade.

When possible, it's a good idea to smear some 3M body sealer on the
back side to seal the overlap.