Welding spring perches on the rear end, near gas tank

[WildBillyT]

I need to weld the spring perches (as seen here, right above the spring):

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e186/double_overdrive496/68_Nova_SS_Mar10/IMG_3938.jpg

Of course, the welder will be cranked up for big heat. I plan on having safety stuff (extinguishers, water) nearby and I'm going to drape a thick welding blanket over and around the tank itself.

Is there anything else I should do? Maybe a small fan blowing air away from the welding zone?

Regarding the welds itself, I plan on doing 4 crescent fillets (not all at once, in a few passes) around the perches themselves with a Millermatic 175. Do you think I need to preheat the tubes with a rosebud or not? I am leaning towards doing so.

[sweetbmxrider]

any scrap metal kicking around that you could use as a shield? brandon had mentioned they use welding shields at work so that could help if there is room.

[WildBillyT]

any scrap metal kicking around that you could use as a shield? brandon had mentioned they use welding shields at work so that could help if there is room.

Big time. That's a great tip. Thanks.

[transmaro93]

yea deff sheild around the tank if you can with some metal and welding blankets. also you do not want fans blowing where you are welding because it will blow away some of the sheilding gas and you will not get clean welds and failure of the welds could come of this... if you take as much precaution as possibly covering up anything that will contain fuel vapor you should be fine... just note other wiring and anything that can melt from the heat and slag that also may need to be sheilded... hope this helps... you should be good doing those 4 welds around it... how long were each welds going to be i would say at least 2 inches each if not more just for peice of mind... whats the diameter of the perch?

[WildBillyT]

yea deff sheild around the tank if you can with some metal and welding blankets. also you do not want fans blowing where you are welding because it will blow away some of the sheilding gas and you will not get clean welds and failure of the welds could come of this... if you take as much precaution as possibly covering up anything that will contain fuel vapor you should be fine... just note other wiring and anything that can melt from the heat and slag that also may need to be sheilded... hope this helps... you should be good doing those 4 welds around it... how long were each welds going to be i would say at least 2 inches each if not more just for peice of mind... whats the diameter of the perch?

Thanks man.

I was going to have the fan blowing diagonally under the car, not really near the weld. The perches are 3" in diameter, I was thinking of doing 3 1" welds on each side, allowing time to cool in between.

[transmaro93]

ohh yea that should be plenty strong those are small perches... good luck!

[1QWIKBIRD]

Why not just drop the tank? its two bolts? That would allow you to clean it, inspect it, repaint it, replace the old rubber line from the tank to the frame, check the sender and the pick up?

Chris

[HardcoreZ28]

I agree....drop the tank if you can....if not it sounds like you have the proper safety precautions in mind. This probably won't help in your case but I know when guys actually weld used gas tanks they pump argon/co2 into them to starve any potential fires of oxygen.

[79T/A]

I'm for dropping the tank. Or, getting the perches where you want them and tacking them in place, then dropping the axle. If you can get it out from under the car and onto the bench, the welds are going to be a lot better (Can't view the pic at work, so I'm assuming you mean the perches on the axle tubes that sit on the leaf spring).

[WildBillyT]

I completely forgot that I've got access to a foot operated trans jack now, so dropping the tank was a breeze, as was welding the perches. The only issue was the slag that clogged the tip of the gun on one weld, which screwed up the sheilding gas leading to a bad weld. No biggie. Took the car out and it is very solid now :D

Thanks for your help guys.