Tips and Tricks….
 

Not picking on ANYONE here --- but I was cruising a thread and saw this little project.

The reason I'm starting this thread is in a effort to save you guys some TIME and HASSLE when building your projects… SO this thread should be posts of TIME SAVERS -- and TIPS on what to do WHEN… to make a project go a little smoother.


So here's the first one…


CLEAN THE PROJECT WORK AREA TO BARE METAL BEFORE YOU MEASURE OR MARK OR CUT OR WELD…. It's so much easier to have a nice looking job when you clean to bare metal FIRST… less contamination in the weld…. easier on discs when you're not cleaning against edges… and just all around FASTER over all.



So in this first pic here -- The entire area to be worked on should have been cleaned JOB #1




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...ricks/file.jpg





It would make this a far better weld job if the area was bare metal -- all the pieces - both sides! The tacks go flatter… the arc and start with less voltage meaning less burn through etc.





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...cks/file-1.jpg





AND --- If you're going to weld on a gas tank…. Clean it with plain old soap and water --- and either fill it with ARGON or CO2 "inert" gas --- or drop some DRY ICE in it and wait for it to "smoke" before welding.

Good info.. An old timer once told me after washing out the gas tank, you can fill it with the exhaust from your car's tail pipe then weld on it..True or false ?

That would be carbon MONOXIDE… which can kill ya… so I probably wouldn't do it that way.

:unibrow:

:y0!:




Plant potato's DEEP ................... and EARLY

sorry.
Honestly PLAN your project out, maybe not to the extent of having every part number figured out. but a good idea. and DON'T change it, I see it so often on here and in REAL life. save the upgrade for the next project. if you stick to the plan you will probably have the cash left over to at least start the next one, instead of building the same car 3 times.
Take my Nova for instance, I knew exactly what I wanted it to be when it was finished and that is want I got. and I only spent 4 months building it. (no the shop did not build it)
I have only changes shocks and a rear end in 4 years and those were only for R&D. By not changing it I was able to buy a Grand National and do some upgrades on that too.

BUY GOOD TOOLS!!!

Yes you can. My grandpa used to weld BIG fuel tanks by putting a tube from the exhaust from a running tractor in the bottom drain of a tank with the top open and let it run for several hours. No problems...... But not sure if I'd do it!! LoL! :underchair:

Building your part out of chipboard to check fit. Its faster and you can make changes before transferring the design/layout to metal.

Use aluminum foil as a quick mask when detailing or painting parts.

Here's one I learned from the master himself -

Sharpen both ends of your tungsten so you can quickly change out when you contaminate it !

I suppose a corallory to that would be - sharpen up several of them so you you swap 'em out without disengaging from your weld site.

Or, maybe everyone else doesn't dip their tungsten in the work as much as I do lol.

Never thought of that THANKS!!:thumbsup:

I like simple stupid tricks like that which are hidden right under our noses!

Stacy David's GearZ show has some good ones> http://staceydavid.com/articles/tips