Crossmember renewal

[bmcecosse]

Has anyone come up with a 'how to' guide on crossmember renewal? A task I am faced with in the very near future I'm afraid.....

[ASL642]

Take a look at NeilMG's posts in his Traveller restoration? Very informative and good photos

[bmcecosse]

Oh yes - I have looked at that - very very impressive....he makes it all look so easy...

[ASL642]

I suppose it is it you have some form of car roller - we haven't

[bmcecosse]

That car roller is impressively simple - and it works!

[bmcecosse]

Finally had a chance to load up my MIG with 0.9mm cored (gasless) wire (and 1mm nozzle) and tried it out today repairing an old lawnmower... It's great! The gasless sytem works very well - the wire feed is SO much better with the thicker wire. It made the welding easy - a pleasure in fact! I don't know why the gasless system is so despised......it works a treat - and no worrying about expensive gas leaking away etc. Just lift and lay the torch as required. And (after a little bit of practice -( not having done MIG welding for several years) the welds are clean and solid. It has given me great confidence now to go ahead with the Xmember replacement on my Traveller.

[kennatt]

Yes BM
many times on here I've suggested that anyone buying a mig should always go for the gas,gasless ones,I use gasless most of the time and the gas only as a backup if I run out of fluxed wire.One great benefit is that you can run a length of wire out of the tip (about an inch) and point it into tight corners or gaps where you can't get the torch into and still weld away with it protruding,I think they are also GREAT.

[bmcecosse]

Absolutely - I think the 'inch of wire' will be good when I an filling up the 'spot weld' holes as I replicate the original method. The fumes seemed quite manageable (I was outdoors) although slight metallic taste afterwards. And the wire - bought on ebay - was really inexpensive with free and very fast delivery! I do have a big cylinder of argon which I can use if needs be - but it's such a hassle connecting it up - and I will NEVER be able to replace it, so it is being kept for when I absolutely NEED it. One thing I notice about the cored wire I have is that it is not 'copper' plated and so may go a bit rusty if I don't take good care of it. I think if the machine is not going to be used for a long time I will draw the wire back and wind it up on the drum - and keep it indoors. but this may just be because I bought 'cheap' wire.

[katy]

"cheap" is a foreign word to me, I was taught to use the word "inexpensive". (mother came from Glasgow)

[JPX877J]

As a Yorkshireman, 'tis not cheap, just a better price ;)

[bmcecosse]

In this case -I think it was 'cheap' not being copper coated.... The 0.8 mm non-cored wire I bought at the same time was indeed 'inexpensive' .... and is copper coated.

[win]

Can I please hijack this thread?.

I have a HANDY MIG S.I.P. 80amp. I have used it with 6mm wire and gas, with only mildly satisfactory results.
Does the team think, using 9mm cored wire with suitable tips, and drive wheels, may give more acceptable results.

Regards Win

[bmcecosse]

That would be 0.6mm wire.....and yes I had great success with 0.9mm cored wire (and 1mm tips). 80 amps is not a lot - but worth a try. ebay will provide the wire and tips at low cost I'm sure. My SIP has only 4 settings - no idea about amps but I am using the second from top setting - and mid range wire feed speed. I have reinforced the drive roller supports with Meccano strips as widely recommended for these machines.

[win]

Thanks for that, I will give it a try.

Sorry about the mistake with the new funny measurement's. They wont last, just another gimick.

Regards Win

[daveyl]

I have a '180' gas mig and it runs with .8mm wire and I've never had a problem. Until..I tried .6mm wire and instant 'birds nest' wire jam. It happened a few times and so I just binned the wire.
Interesting about using the gasless .9mm wire. Thick enough not to jam. I might give it a try if my machine can use it and always handy as you'd never run out of gas at the most inappropriate of moments.

As for the cross-member, I would like to know the best way to do it too. The cross member seems to be 2 lengths of metal 'spotted' together with a long strip underneath as a brace which is also spot welded.

It's not ideal but we just repaired my son's cross-member by cutting out a rotten square section 3.5inch wide (from the underside of the floor pan to the bottom). We lap welded in a new plate on one side and welded it on both sides.

AND then welded in a new plate the opposing side and 'Butt' welded that in place.

[bmcecosse]

Well I started to investigate the job today - while keeping the car mobile as long as possible so I can put it away in the garage when the weather turns nasty.. I had hoped 'all' I had to do was clear away the paint from the floor area inside the car above the crossmember and many spot welds would be revealed to be drilled through. Much scraping and very few signs of any old spot welds..... Can anyone tell me how many/how far apart I should expect the spot welds to be ??

[Jefftav]

On my car the spotwelds seemed fairly obvious as far as I can remember about every 4" but I might be dreaming that as it was 4/5yrs ago. If your xmember or floors have been replaced before then it may not have been spot welded back on.

[bmcecosse]

Ahhh - thanks Jeff. I was thinking every inch or so!! I have found a few - just thought there would be many.

[John.n]

Drill out the ones you can see I'm sure it will be apparent if the are many more. If there a a few left you will find a good spot weld will rip a slug out the parent material rather than the weld fail. A spot weld in dissimilar thicknesses of steel should be easy to spot as the thinner material tends to be indented as the thicker material absorbs the heat better. Therefore reducing the amount of material melted from the thicker sheet.
Regards,
John

[bmcecosse]

Aye - well I have been checking out all the little indents. Just trying to get as many pre-drilled as I can - while the car is still mobile enough to roll in/out the garage. Still on this subject - I suspect the vernier plates will be beyond redemption - does anyone having a drawing for them? Just looks like a bit of angle iron to me....although quite thin obviously. I finally tracked down my spare T bars and arms tonight - in case I need them - but no sign of the plates. It was some 18 years ago I stripped the parts from a wreck.......and 'carefully' stored them away for future use.