ok guys i have never tig welded, but have mig a lot on my dump truck and went to school for stick...lol i am thinking of doing some work on a car with a buddy chassis work( ladder bar coil over or four link) and would like to know whats the best way to do it?????back in the day before tig was the in thing they would stick weld now everybody needs tig....would a go stick or mig (with gas) be as good as the tig?????? mild steel back clip thinking of going round tube not 2x3 for weight.....i went to school for welding years ago and do it from time to time on my dump truck with no problems...welded the top plate for the cylinder a few years back that can pick up 36000lbs and no problem there so i think i can weld ok with a mig or stick...... also whats the best shock .coil over set up to get ?????70 duster glass bumpers and doors, hood to come,deck lid to come,and the inter. will be all alum. when the back end is done...front will be aftermarket front end with coil over or strut...all drag car what weight springs and what shocks would be the best???? looking at the double adj. shock but dont plan to brake the bank (front and back)who has the best budget(if i can say that in the same sentence) shock???? and spring combo...looking to be about 2600lbs big block we hope thanks mike .. what can we do to remove weight from the car from you guys point??????less weight less problem...lol

I had a 1969 ROADRUNNER with a BB & 727 & DANA and it`s wt# 2,330 car only. I went with S&W strut front in kit and S&W ladder bar back in kit double adjustable and we mig most of the car but some of the front end we tiged and on the ladder bars and the car work killer for years before i sold it i went with S&W because they save me a lot of money and me a lot they are good guys i hope this you GOOD LUCK .

Well if you dont own a tig welder, mig it with mild
steel... if you want to loose weight use moly tubing
but then you would have to tig it

It takes practice to tig like the pros. I have both and if I need to do a good weld I still mig because I am better with it .
I have not mastered the tig yet .I can tell you fit is everything with a tig .If there is any gap it is not good enough.
Owned my tig (Miller 250) for awhile now mostly use it for aluminum. I may have to take a tig class just to get it figured out.

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It takes practice to tig like the pros. I have both and if I need to do a good weld I still mig because I am better with it .
I have not mastered the tig yet .I can tell you fit is everything with a tig .If there is any gap it is not good enough.
Owned my tig (Miller 250) for awhile now mostly use it for aluminum. I may have to take a tig class just to get it figured out.

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so there's three guys here (myself included) that have a great welder (miller 250) that's a better machine than they are welder. i sure wish i could weld like i REALLY want to, the "pros" lay down some awesome beads. of all the mechanical skills this is my weakest vs how i would like to be at it. i kept looking around for a class at one of the local trade schools but didn't really find anything. from my little experience practice has a lot to do with it. i don't weld often but when i do the more i weld the better i get. problem is when i don't weld for a while i have to start all over learning again.

i do personally know a chassis builder that can weld as good as anyone i've ever seen and i know he would help me but i'm in jersey and he's in ca. it would really be nice to have someone show me what i'm doing wrong, i love the appearance of a quality tig weld.

as for the OP mild is allowed to be migged so if you feel you can do a better job with your skills than go that route. that said tig is the better weld when properly done.

Get out there and practice...

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Get out there and practice...

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well if you did that it's guys like you i hate, man i wish i could weld like that. i'd weld things that didn't even need it. what bugs me most right now is that i'm at a stage in one of my projects that's needs a bunch of welding and i've been putting it off cause of that. i guess i really do need to just start melting stuff. i can usually put down a barely acceptable bead when in a good position but that tubing just kills me, that and having to deal with the pedal which can be a challenge. i was thinking about getting a fingertip control but seems most guys that do this often say it's not a real help

I wish I welded that. A guy I know that does trophy class trucks did that.

Tape the pedal to your foot if you need to get in out of position situation.

Any of you guys that have a syncro 250 that wants to donate it to my cause, I can send you my address. I've been looking for one for a long time. Missed out on one out here with all the goodies for $750... DOH!!!!

Mig welded a 10 point mild steel cage in my 300 this Janurary. Might not be as pretty as some professionally done tig stuff, but just as strong if done right - and for a fraction of the cost of having one done.

Years ago, before I could weld or owned a welder, I borrowed a small mig welder (110 volt) and fit some stuff I needed welded and tacked it together. After I got it stuck together, I had a friend of a friends cousins buddy come over to my garage one night and welded everything up that I had tacked. (This guy welded for a living). After that I got some more done and had him over again. The down side is that it took a while to get it done, but the up side was he did it cheap. (took him with me to the races a few times and fed him good, he was happy) Still some of the nicest welds on my car today.
And yes, like anything else, to make nice welds you have to stay in practice. Don't mean you forget how to weld, but if you want it to look nice, practice first.

Brian Dunnigan

A foot pedal is fine if you sit or stand in one spot,if not just set it with the dial.
If you are using mild steel a mig is fine,don't let anyone tell you you can't make a nice looking weld with a mig.If using CM then a tig is a must.

I can come pretty close to those beads but it takes
time(slow) to get them to look like that... I tend
to weld a bit faster... I've lost some of the nack
to do the real nice beads... you need to do it all
the time and since I retired I dont do it alot but
I just finished up a chassis.... the thing with tig
welding is to be comfortable... if you arent the bead
wont look nice... I need to practice more on alum to
get the nice beads and I use to love doing alum

If you have a mig and are comfortable with it then mig it. It wouldn't hurt to watch some youtube videos of guys welding chassis - there are some really good ones that Miller and one of the roundy-round car builders did. Some really good tips on how to weld around tube to get proper penetration and a nice looking weld.

Practice, practice, practice....

I dont tig every day, but I NEVER run a bead on anything unless I take a few practice passes, and before I start a bead on the good work Im welding up, ill make a practice sweep over where Im gonna weld to make sure im not gonna get halfway through a sweet bead, and bump into a cross piece, or move out of comfort.

With tig welding it takes more to get the feed, speed, and heat all timmed just right, and with aluminum the longer the weld the less amperage you will need due to the speed heat transfers throught he auminum, so its nice to have a foot feed "throttle" for the amperage.

Stainless, and mild steel arent as prone to this happening.

Kasey

thanks guys ..rob man thats some nice welds...

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thanks guys ..rob man thats some nice welds...

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yea that first one qualifies as "bead porn"

There is an old-school alternative that is really affordable to get into and is a good practice for stepping up to a TIG:

Oxy-Acetylene gas-welding. With a correct-sized tip you can direct the heat wherever you want to the surfaces you are bonding. Build your pool, heat the rod and get moving. Entirely possible to make welds like those in the photos above. It's well-suited to what you want to do.

It's getting to be a bit of a lost art, but I enjoy picking up the torch every now and then.

A MIG is a production machine, whereas the TIG or Oxy/Acetylene is an art.

If it was me and I had a choice between MIG and stick I'd use a stick. It's more difficult to make a good-looking weld with a stick but you get good penetration and I can't tell you how many mig welds I've seen that are beautiful but not strong. It's too easy to not get the penetration you need. It's a problem for amateurs who never did a guided bend test.
Gas welding in my opinion heats the surrounding metal too much and leaves too big a heat affected zone.

Now the real welders can take a crack at my comments.

R.