Quote:
Originally Posted by crakarjax
Oh man, one time I changed the pan gasket on my 4wd suburban. Knocked the oil pickup tube a bit, causing a leak at the pickup tube o-ring. Talk about a PITA! To get the pan off you have to drop the front transaxle and a bunch of other things... 5 hours down the drain, on my back with oil dripping on me. So I can sympathize 
One thing I learned recently about sheet metal by trial and error is to make sure the metal is *clean*! Otherwise you'll have to burn the gunk out to get decent welds, which has a higher chance of blowing through.
I still haven't gotten how to get good penetration though, so I tend to weld both the front and back of my panels when I can. |
I had that problem when I was welding a lower door skin and forgot to clean off the coating on the inside. It was a nightmare to weld. I ended up taking a die grinder and cleaning as best as possible through one of the openings in the door.
I always try to check the other side for good penetration, but on the bedside that's not going to be possible. The metal I'm replacing is just so worn out that it's not possible to try and weld the holes. So far this is working out pretty well. Have not had a chance to go back in the garage and swap out the wire in the welder, but once I do I'll finish up that piece then work on the other part of the curve.