Welding automotive sheetmetal

By chaseteter Date 09-26-2008 02:02 Edited 09-26-2008 16:03

After scouring the internet for weeks, I sure am glad to have found you guys. I did some searching around this forum and didn't find the answer to my question, so here it is.

I have a car that has some rust. I need the area removed, and replaced with new steel. I would love to pay an welder looking for sidework rather than an auto body shop. What do you think is fair? What are hourly rates typically? What certifications should I ask for? I am willing to work with a newer welder. Would this be TIG/spot welding? And would I be mistaken if I thought the welder could do all that is necessary to prepare the area for painting?

Fortunately, I have a step by step guide of EXACTLY what I need. The only exception is that my car is a coupe, as opposed to the hatch featured here. That is relevant because of space between my bumper and the rust is larger, negating the need to disassemble the rear panel.
I apologize in advance if this doesn't belong in this forum, but I just didn't find many resources dealing with this topic.

Here is the step by step article on my repair: http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=24

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-05-2008 04:53

You would be best to find someone who does autobody repair on the side or full time. Unless a welder happens to do autobody work they will not have the equipment or skills to complete this repair to the paint ready stage.

By sickytwisted (*)

Date 11-23-2008 04:35 Edited 11-24-2008 08:03

I can do that all day long. I've been working on automotive sheetmetal since I was a kid. Childsplay man.

By 63 Max

Date 01-21-2009 00:08

chaseteter, go to a local harbor freight store a buy you a cheap wire welder. Practice welding on some sheetmetal about the thickness of your cars panels. When you weld in body panels you dont just go front start to finish. Tack in on then just spot it about every 1 inch for the first pass, then go back and spot it between each of first spots and so on & so on. This keeps the panels from warping. There's more to it then that but you should be able to get it to look desent if you take your time. I've been doing my own restorations for 20 years. My first one wasn't pretty and I had to use plenty of bondo to get it to look desent but I had to do it myself because back then I didn't have much money and now it's like a passion of mine. After a few of them it started looking much better and now when I do one it looks pretty good. If I wasn't a welder I would be doing restoration of muscle cars. Go to a book store and buy a book on it, it will show you the steps. Good Luck

By eman Date 05-28-2013 12:34

Auto body repair is very hard job. But you have proper machine and tool and training it is ok. You have gas welding machine, punch bending machine, press break machine and hand tools. The problem in body repair are deformation of layout, bending and distortion of sheet metal. If thier is happen the painting job get worst. But if your intereted this work never surrender. Practice make perfect.