[Dan in Pasadena]

Gotcha on all the things you recommend. Especially the idea of picking up some scraps from a metal supply yard. I'll have to see what's local to Pasadena; there's got to be one.

I hadn't thought of the magnets, but DUH, of course that makes sense. Are the cheapo ones at Harbor Freight worth buying or are they crap? Can Harbor Freight screw up a magnet? I use HF for what I call "dumb tools" - rubber mallets, bungee cords, and I would include magnets, but maybe I'm wrong.

The welder came loaded with flux core wire....I'll have to check but I THINK it's .030...does that sound right to you? THe guy I bought it from demo'd it for me welding some 1" square tubing.

Last, I know about only using tack welds, BUT...how long to wait between tacks? When welding small dia. patches it would seem the tacks are so close together it'd bebest to have multiple patches going and move from one to another.

What's your opinion of hammering the tacks immediately? This dos what? Minimize the need for grinding? Or should I skip that? How can I weld on the engine side and reach around and back up the body hammer with a dolly inside the truck? My truck isn't apart.

Sorry to add more questions!