thisismatt Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 54 minutes ago, Greaser2 said: What welder? Thinking of investing in a MIG. Get a 220v, or dual voltage. Lincoln or Miller, or Hobart. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 I got the Lincoln 220v 180 MIG. Blew my tax return on it because I couldn't ever justify saving up for it. It sat in the box unopened for a year. But one day was thinking about a project and it hit me that Hey! I have a welder. Each time I used it, few and far between, I would have to re-learn what to do but eventually it stuck. Could have got the 140 but too large is better. Get something that will weld 1/4" not often you will ever need to weld anything that thick. 1 Quote Link to comment
pidge Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 That’s pretty cool. Nice work man. -Pidge 2 Quote Link to comment
mainer311 Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 I generally don’t buy stuff from HF, but I have multiple friends with the Vulcan gas MIG welders from them, and they’ve held up really well. That’s probably the route that I’ll go. Then I just have to figure out where to get a bottle of stargon. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 I have a Millermatic Passport Plus and a Chicago Electric Dual Mig151T/1 from Harbor Freight, I use flux core wire in the HF welder and I use it 95 percent of the time as I weld mostly outside, yes the Miller makes better looking welds when using gas, but it is a pain to set up and tear down when I am done using it as I keep it inside my house as I don't want it to get stolen out of my garage, no one is going to steal that HF welder, and my neighbor has had both his stolen, and they came in more than once but he had moved his shop and didn't keep his welders at his house anymore, they could not steal his big Miller welder as one needs a crane to get it in a truck, but he lost more than $6000.00 worth of tools that first time. My HF welder runs fine to this day and is gas capable but I have never used gas with this welder, I bought it in the 90s, the only thing I didn't like was I had to buy tips from HF, but I figured out if I used a regular tip and turned it in with pliers it worked fine, the more I used the regular tips the farther they turned into the gun with pliers, they go in over a turn now with just my fingers, so I don't buy HF tips anymore. I don't know the quality of the stuff made these days, seems like a lot of stuff is made in China, but I try to buy stuff made in the USA now. 1 Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 Yes buy USA if possible 1 Quote Link to comment
jagman Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 You should take a look at the LOTOS welder. I bought one for the plasma cutter option. It will MIG, TIG and stick weld besides. For the price you can't beat the performance. We have been using it for two years now for cutting and MIGing mostly with no problems. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 15 hours ago, datzenmike said: Each time I used it, few and far between, I would have to re-learn what to do but eventually it stuck. Could have got the 140 but too large is better. Get something that will weld 1/4" not often you will ever need to weld anything that thick. Yes, you learn the settings for the different thickness metals. Also, welding in corners or upside down takes different settings than a flat butt joint. A weld bead is ideally supposed to be as wide as the thickness of the material. Run the bead in a circular pattern, with the first pass to cross the gap and then back up to fill it in. Make sense? We had a Lincoln 110v MIG for years as our only welder. I built four or five complete vehicles with that welder before we upgraded to a 225 amp 220v Lincoln. A 110v welder is good for most people and they are small too, which makes them easy to stuff in a corner. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 I spent 6.5 hours welding yesterday and thought about you guys the whole time. I like welding, but with all the calisthenics, twisting and bending around the frame I was welding up, I was sore last night. Glad to not be welding today. Threadjack over... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 With the new work schedule there is not much time to work in the garage during the week.... even though I have today and Thursday off i have to watch my son and play teacher .... I did have a question if this is a good idea or stupid.. The one thing I read was shit getting into the spherical bearing..... So my idea was this.... 5/8 heater hose... Actually fits nice over where the bolt goes and actually fits inside the eye... End result would be something like this.. I would have to fine tune the width and I thought I could pack some grease in when I put it together.... So is this a stupid idea? Not worth the effort? Or good? 3 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: I spent 6.5 hours welding yesterday and thought about you guys the whole time. I like welding, but with all the calisthenics, twisting and bending around the frame I was welding up, I was sore last night. Glad to not be welding today. Threadjack over... I dont envy that... I swear you need to be a contortionist to weld sometimes.... That's me biggest variable... getting in a position to actually do the weld and sort of see what I'm doing.... 2 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 Looks like a good idea. Grease may swell the heater hose like engine oil does... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 3 minutes ago, thisismatt said: Looks like a good idea. Grease may swell the heater hose like engine oil does... Maybe skip the grease then... its actually kind of a snug fit on the diameters so might not be able to get any grease in between anyhow.... 1 Quote Link to comment
mainer311 Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 If it has a little bit of smoosh to it, I'd try it. If anything, it'll just act like the UCA bushing. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 18 minutes ago, mainer311 said: If it has a little bit of smoosh to it, I'd try it. If anything, it'll just act like the UCA bushing. Thats kind of the idea... I figure it can only help.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 Also picked up these for the reverse light.... I have something similar back there already but when I was messing with the rear light bracket I found one of the bulb connectors was faulty... since its a sealed rubber terminal there was no way to really fix it.... just waiting on some clear bulbs now..... also dont worry about the size, these are purely a visual cue for others I am reversing, I also have two fog lights that shine out from under the bed so plenty of illumination to back up..... 1 Quote Link to comment
greenthumb Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 I like the hose protectors for that spherical bushing. Well worth the effort imo. Rather than use grease, I would use neverseize or the like. I am not certain, but I don’t think it eats rubber like grease would 2 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 (edited) They make little rubber dust cover boots for those. I got some for my toe links on my M3 but they came with them. Where to get them I have no idea but I do know they are out there. https://www.google.com/search?q=spherical+bushing+dust+boot&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS894US894&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin96Sxg9foAhU7l3IEHe16DjEQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=2145&bih=1106 Edited April 7, 2020 by d.p 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 8 minutes ago, d.p said: They make little rubber dust cover boots for those. I got some for my toe links on my M3 but they came with them. Where to get them I have no idea but I do know they are out there. https://www.google.com/search?q=spherical+bushing+dust+boot&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS894US894&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin96Sxg9foAhU7l3IEHe16DjEQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=2145&bih=1106 I figured they existed but haven't found something that fits the coilover... also this idea just popped in my head .... I'll take some measurements and see if I can find something better suited.... The nice thing is you can actually get these coilovers out without unbolting anything else... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 I went with the idea and got 8 pieces cut and installed 4 on the passenger side.... Installing into the mount was a little snug but it didn't seem to limit the ability of the bearing to move around. I'm happy with it, should do what I want and I had some extra hose hanging around from the heater core installation, so no money spent.... 3 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted April 8, 2020 Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 21 hours ago, greenthumb said: I like the hose protectors for that spherical bushing. Well worth the effort imo. Rather than use grease, I would use neverseize or the like. I am not certain, but I don’t think it eats rubber like grease would I would not use antiseize because it has abrasive qualities and can wear something like that out. 20 hours ago, d.p said: They make little rubber dust cover boots for those. I got some for my toe links on my M3 but they came with them. Where to get them I have no idea but I do know they are out there. https://www.google.com/search?q=spherical+bushing+dust+boot&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS894US894&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin96Sxg9foAhU7l3IEHe16DjEQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=2145&bih=1106 20 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: I figured they existed but haven't found something that fits the coilover... also this idea just popped in my head .... I'll take some measurements and see if I can find something better suited.... The nice thing is you can actually get these coilovers out without unbolting anything else... For the boots, try looking in the desert race community. I would try Poly Performance, Off Road Warehouse and Kartek. The hose idea os a good idea, but grease may actually attract grit, which could cause premature wear. WIthout the grease is probably the best compromise. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 23 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: I would not use antiseize because it has abrasive qualities and can wear something like that out. For the boots, try looking in the desert race community. I would try Poly Performance, Off Road Warehouse and Kartek. The hose idea os a good idea, but grease may actually attract grit, which could cause premature wear. WIthout the grease is probably the best compromise. I did put them on dry, no grease or anti seize.... I actually wash and check things on a regular basis with the datsun.... since I can easily remove the coilover I'll run it for a while and the do an inspection.... 2 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted April 8, 2020 Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: I did put them on dry, no grease or anti seize.... I actually wash and check things on a regular basis with the datsun.... since I can easily remove the coilover I'll run it for a while and the do an inspection.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 I was able to get everything done today with the front end.... I still need to set the ride height tomorrow and torque the upper bushing bolts.... then a test ride.... I did pull it out of the garage to wash all the grinding dust off and completely forgot to take pictures.... It was nice to wash the truck and not get the interior wet for the first time.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 I got to take a nice ride in the truck today with my son.. he needed some worms to do some fishing.... luckily there is a local guy who has a small bait shop at his house... It use to be a little self serve shed but hes kind of operating it right now with minimal contact.... It's out on the back roads of town so there are some nice twists and bends, makes for a fun drive..... I have to say the new coilovers made that a much nicer and fun ride..... it's hard to describe, it just feels better..... The coilover has a single adjustment knob for damping and rebounding with 18 selections soft to hard.... currently only on #4.... and I'm using 400lb springs.... Just need to drive it a bit and find tune it... i might need to come up just little more on the ride height, and maybe a few more clicks on the adjustment but I'm definitely happy I did this upgrade..... 1 Quote Link to comment
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