Hey Ned,
Sorry to hear that you are having all those problems with the welding.
I don't think you have the wrong welder. Its probably more with the metal.
If it was anything like mine, the original sheet metal of the floor is
pockmarked from corrosion so the thickness varies across the surface. If you
are butt welding patches, you will undoubtlebly blow through the areas that
are thin and the thicker areas will require more energy to heat enough to
melt. Its almost impossible to work with this kind of metal. I would
suggest that you try to weld with a half lap. You can buy a crimping tool
that will put a bend in the new patch piece to raise the edge a bit. So the
patches will be oversized. Then when you weld, try to weld on the new full
thickness metal and just get it hot enough to drip (for lack of a better
word) over onto the old sheetmetal. That way the energy goes into melting
the thick metal and not directly into the thinner material.
If that doesn't work buy some replacement panels from Kilmartin. Then you
will be welding the edges of new metal to the frame, which will be coroded
as well but thicker to start off.
Good luck, I think you can do it. Just keep practicing.
Rick Neves,
'56 BN-2
www.rickneves.com
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