REAL MAN TRUCKWORKS & SURVIVAL
VEHICLES, CAMPERS, and BOATS => General Maintenance, How to/DIY projects => Topic started by: husker77c on February 02, 2016, 02:59:02 PM
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I'm about to start the exhaust for the Zombie ford and as I've said in the past I'm no welder. I have welded on some trailers in the past and it seems if it's thicker steel I just set my welder on kill and they turn out fairly well.
The thin exhaust tubing may present a challenge for me. I have a Hobart Handler 140 wire feed but no regulator so I will have to do it with flux core wire.
Any tips? Or things I need to watch out for?
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Tack it together and go SLOW, short runs and let cool some between- the thin stuff really likes to drop outta sight (into tube or your boot :o) in a hurry!
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Flux core is probably better for exhaust anyhow. Try short runs, if it gets too hot & melts thru worse case scenario weld it with tacks stacked on top of each other like dimes stacked.....
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I'm a crappy welder but if I take my time it comes out pretty decent.
Don't get in a hurry you be fine.
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Try practicing on a piece of scrap to get your wire speed and heat right. Id start on 1 heat and about 20 feed speed and see how that works. Tack evenly, as suggested, then weld short strings on alternating sides. Clean it really well with a wire brush. Try to weld flat and not vertical. Vertical welds are tough, especially on thin stuff. Get your cuts straight. Filling in gaps on thin stuff is tough as well.
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Awesome. Thanks for the tips guys. Shouldn't be very many cuts. All I have to weld is a 45* off the downpipe, a 3"-4" reducer, and some straight sections to the muffler, think I'm going to do a turn down after I get it back past the cab. With the larger rear tank I'm going to have to find a shop to create a tail pipe. If I get it that far back the tail pipe can wait.
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Good luck. Have gas and migged exhaust. Mig is better, just take your time.
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What wire diameter are you running? For real thin walled tubing like exhaust the smaller wire you have easier it will be. If your not running the smallest wire your rig can handle it may be worth it to pick a small spool up.
As everybody else said take it rather slow. Tack it good all the way around first or you will have a large gap to fill when it starts pulling. As stated if that happens you will have a hard time filling that gap in thin wall. On the thinner stuff I generally like to use a half arc pattern pointing the heat back into the weld.
If you have some scrap to get it dialed in you shouldn't have a problem welding it all in as long of passes as you are physically able to get the torch to. Do make sure your surface are cleaned up well with a wire wheel.
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Good catch Bear. Smaller wire mo better for thin stuff
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I've got .035 wire. I will see about getting some smaller stuff. How small you thinking ? .030? Smaller yet? My
Machine can run 2 or 10# spools.
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Get. 023. That size Flux wire, on the lowest setting, can still burn through, but it's more forgiving.
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I run .035 in my welder most of the time but that is solid wire with a 80-20 mix. It's a challenge welding thin wall tubing but can be done with patience. It has been a long time since I have ran flux wire. There would be less wire there but not sure how much easier it would be.
I think .035 flux would work ok but it would be easier to weld with something smaller. Up to you if you want to try it or not. A 2# spool probably runs $15 - $20 for flux core I think and you should be able to find it an most home improvement and farm and fleet stores. They might not have as large of a selection/ size range as some of the weld supply stores though. Look at your welder first and see what the smallest wire your welder can take is. I have to swap a bunch of stuff out to run anything smaller than .030 on mine but it is a much larger unit than you have.
I have borrowed a buddies cheap $90 welder and ran .023 flux core before to do the exhaust on a truck. It worked really slick.