I came from the Automotive Aftermarket where I developed OEM replacement parts for the better part of a decade. As a kid my addiction to cars started with building a go-cart with my father who is a pipe fitter by trade. I then graduated to British sports cars, which broke the bank for a high school student trying to build off of a part time budget. Eventually, I found myself working on Jeeps and other off-road vehicles. Little did I know, a cheap Jeep Cherokee project would shape my automotive future.
Tag: metal fab
How to Tighten up a Weld Seam on a Patch Panel.
No one’s perfect, but we can do our best to strive to get the closest we can get to perfection every day. These ideals are the same whether you’re a cook, a machinist, a landscaper, or a guy in his garage building an old car or motorcycle. One big lesson I’ve learned over the past few years has been to slow down and take the time to make sure that parts fit together as nice as possible before welding. Just blindly rough cutting a piece and trying to make it fit another piece is going to end with an uneven weld seam and won’t end well!
Tips to Making Custom Floor Pans for your Car
Mark recently decided to take on a resto-mod oddball in a Chevy Corvair. This neglected Chevy bastard-child was rescued from a local scrap yard and had seen some questionable repairs and better days. His first step in the rebuild of the car was getting the structure of the car rebuilt and solid before he started customizing the car. The first area of concern was the floor; or lack of it.
Complex Rust Patch Panel Made Easy
At times rust repair can be ultra simple; cut the old rust out, cut a square of fresh metal and weld it in. But those repairs aren’t usually as frequent as we’d like. Rust seems to like to creep into a curved area or into a body line that takes more care to repair. I recently decided to tackle a large rusty area of the rear portion of the floor on Project Pile House.
How To Weld a Butt Joint
One of the simplest welding joints is the butt joint. It is not the strongest, but it is one of the most useful especially for automotive body work. This type joint is used whenever you butt 2 pieces together and then weld between where the two meet. Butt welding thin […]
How to Select a MIG Welder
So you are ready to get serious about your metal work, and you want to add a wire feed welder to your shop’s arsenal. Good for you, a welder is one of the most useful pieces of shop equipment. Below, we take a look at the features and specifications you […]
DIY Removable Exhaust Hangers
Adding a new exhaust system to your ride but don’t want to use the cheap parts store hangers and clamps? Lets face it we all know how horrible they are, aside from just looking tacky, they almost never last. The U-bolt clamps are just as bad, you better hope you […]
Sheet Metal Cutting Tips and Tricks
Working in sheet metal can be fun, and it can be frustrating, but if you like old cars eventually there will come a time when you will need to cut, and eventually even weld sheet metal. At first glance it seems as if it would be like working with paper […]
DIY Custom Spoiler End Plates
Car enthusiasts are always looking for a way to have their car stand out from the crowd but buying off the shelf parts will only go so far. There is a good chance that someone else out there wive the same combination of parts. The best way to give your […]