Welding a stock A body frame with a 120v fluxcore? Bad idea?

[Nicks67GTO]

For about 10 years ive had a 120v Lincoln fluxcore 120HD Home Depot special. Ive used it for a lot of diferent things and dispite the spattered ugly welds, they seems to hold up pretty good. Ive boxed in control arms, welded pertches on a rear end housing and many other things. No broken welds to date. I recently did a search for fluxcore strength and got mixed reviews. Here's my question....



Im looking to get my 67' GTO frame back from the shop here shortly. Im planning to go over the factory welds, weld up any seams that arent currently bonded and box it in with some 1/8" steel. Is the welder I have good enough to get the job done? I know the welds will have to be cleaned up and wont look as nice but this is a driver that will get auto x'd a couple times a year. Its not a SEMA booth showpiece so appearance isnt necessarily the highest priority. Im looking for function and strength here. I dont need welds cracking after I get this thing powdercoated and under the car. Ive read everything from fluxcore sucks to fluxcore is actually a better penetration than mig/gas.

Any opinions?

[Kenova]

I am probably the last guy you would want welding advice from. I just don't get to do it often enough.
Let's start with your welder. If you take your time rather than trying to do the job in record time, what you have should be good enough. Double check the polarity on your machine. I bought a new one and my son and I couldn't set it up for luv nor money, untill I noticed the instructions to change polarity.
Flux core is sometimes a necessary evil. There will be a lot of crap that you can't get out of the seams and the flux core can help clean up the welds. I have also heard of people using flux core with gas for a hotter and cleaner weld. Again, I have only heard of this but look forward to actually trying it myself someday.
When it comes to paint some don't like the powder coat paints because the can sometimes hide cracks untill they become much more serious. I'm sure there will be a difference of opinion over this.

Ken

[raustinss]

Nick...as a fabricator here's my two cents....you haven't said if you can run hardwire (s6 or something similar) and hook up a gas cylinder...with a welder that size it's not your overall amperage output it will be what the machines duty cycle is...as the machine works harder or longer periods of time the components will heat up and the weld quality will suffer, the machine will go into thermal overload. if you feel the need to attempt this job in one day don't be afraid to make sure the welder has proper airflow all around it..have a fan blowing air on it. Hell I've even heard of people taking off the outer case. 1/8" material is more then enough to stiffen the frame. I do.t know if your aware but there is Canadian company in Winnipeg that makes a beautiful frame brace kit for gm a bodies, it includes precise cut steel to box the frame and tubular pieces to help further stiffen it. They also help to form a tranny crossmember, driveshaft hoop and, exhaust hangers. I'd check them out if I were you. One final note I'd consider galvanizing your frame then painting it after... reasons being that you do t have to worry about any rusting from the inside out..powder coating can't get all inside the frame and such leaving bare steel to rust. galvanizing is very impact resistant and a paint chip would be easy to touch up. Hope this helps you get the job done best of luck Ryan
If you've got any other questions... [email protected]

[gotyorgoat]

Welding with gas is the only way to go. I have a Lincoln 3200 HD that I picked up from a pawn shop for $120 with no bottle. A 60cf bottle was like $80 and $60 to fill. It is so much cleaner and easier. No need to clean your welds when your done. The flux core might be ok for frame work, but I would never weld sheet metal with it. Just my $.02. I am not very experienced but I am on the tail end of metal work on my ride and the gas set up worked great for me.

[MonzaRacer]

Go do some research on welding at www.weldingtipsandtricks.com and if I remember correctly using straight CO2 on gas shielded wire would be a better choice but reresearch it on that web site.
Jody has lots of good information and demos lots of stuff.
Honestly I dislike critical stressed welds on 110 flux core.
Honestly for frame work you need more amperage, and also you want a welder with an internal fan. I have an Astro Pneumatic and my brother put a 110 server fan in it.
Works well enough, at work (Midas shop) we have a Thermal Arc Firepower FP135, a previous mech burnt up the power lead into the stinger where it hooks up inside, namely because it shouldnt have been used continuously and the thumb wheels got loose also.
I just installed a new stinger/gun and it works so much better and is longer too.
Good luck

[raustinss]

Gentleman....when mig welding your amperage is a constant...your voltage is what fluctuates....voltage is what's important when mig welding hence why the machines are commonly referred to as CC (constant current) when stick or tig welding it's the opposite CV(constant voltage). going back to mig this is why we adjust the voltage on the machines in this case I'd say no more then 20-23 volts...but that dependant on travel speed..metal...position...wire speed etc . Now it could be done with stick which I'd recommend not doing because it just sucks lol but a 7018 rod is good for all positions.....again please don't don't it with stick

[Nicks67GTO]

I talked to Marc @ SC&C about it for a bit the other day. He said while my old fluxcore is certainly not ideal, it will work. I have a buddy with a gas welder I forgot about so i might see if I can borrow his setup for a week or so. He also told me to take my sweet time with it and only go in 1/4" tacks waiting for them to cool because the old A body frames warp and distort very easily.