Welding a Quarter Panel with a wire feed welder

Your Question,,,i have a 140hd lincoln wire feed welder. I need some welding tips on

how to weld on quarter panels. I am trying to weld a quarter panel of a nissan altima.

What do you think will be the best setting and wire to use on it? thank you

Answer:…. On the thin sheet metal like you are asking about, .023-.025" e70s6 bare wire with 75/25 argon/co2 is the best. The wire feed welder speed will probably be not much over 100 ipm (inches per minute).

All you have to do to figure out wire feed speed is press the trigger and count ...thousand one...thousand two...thousand three..... count to six , and measure the wire that came out.

Round to the nearest whole inch and add a zero.

That is your inches per minute or (ipm).

for example, 12 inches = 120 ipm.

Voltage should be set to match using a piece of scrap as close as possible to the thickness of your actual job.

Just adjust the voltage to get a nice bacon frying sound.

Another big big factor will be a good ground. Just clamping a crappy ground clamp just anywhere on the car will give you crappy starts.

Make sure to sand an area somewhere to clean bright metal free from paint or undercoat.

If you cant find a good place to ground, use the technique on this link and tape the copper braided wire to a place you have sanded to clean bright bare metal.

Better Mig Ground tip A good ground is really important when using a wire mig welder.

All vertical welds should be downhill. and You should only weld about 1/2" at a time skipping around in order to avoid distortion.

In fact, most body guys I have seen , never do more than a spot at a time and let cool or even speed cool with an air nozzle to prevent distortion.

A good fit is important also. Some gaps are unavoidable but keep gaps to a minimum.

If all you have is flux core wire, you just need to get some scrap sheet metal or a fender from a junk yard to set the machine. and practice zapping quickly on scrap until you can join metal and fill small gaps easily.

Leave Wire feed Welder and visit Home