Mike's 1973 D22 Complete tear out. From the Roof down!

[RockwoodMike]

Yep!!..No wife to help..divorced..No kids..never had any...So for all of you who think this project is too hard..Try doing it alone!! It is not that hard..Just think it through on every step..

[Rickf1985]

I know how you feel, most of what I do is by myself since my wife is unable to help for the most part and I am the type that if it needs to be done I am going to do it no matter what. As my disabilities mount I have to admit it is getting harder for the brain to admit that the body is just not 25 years old anymore. D:oH!

[tmsnyder]

Reminds me of my cousin's house, he kept finding rot and replacing walls until all that was left of the original house was the foundation.  But when you're in the middle of it there's no way to know where you're going to end up.

[RockwoodMike]

Hey Rick, Is that any better?? Been watching welding you tube videos..weldingtipsandtricks is a channel to learn from!!  Next I am going to remove my own appendix from my side..There is a vid on that and it looks easy :)rotflmao

[Rickf1985]

Excellent!!! Other than a tiny bit of mill scale inclusion which is negligible there is nothing at all wrong with that weld. Weldingtipandtricks is an excellent site for welding videos. Weld.com is another.
Curious about your welder, I have the 180C which is the commercial version. The retail version the dials click into each position and the commercial version the dials are smooth and infinite. I never saw a "dual" version. Naturally when I need a picture of mine I can't find it.

[LJ-TJ]

Ok! Boys, Not to stray to far from the subject. For several months I've been trying to decide on a welder 220. I narrowed it down to the lincoln 180 mig. But there's to many. An opinion would be appreciated. For Farm use as well as Winnie us. Hm? 

[RockwoodMike]

Just to help with the decision, here is some detail shots of the welder..It comes with 2 cords..each with it's plug to switch it from either voltage ..Just twist and lock the cord to the back of the unit..Comes with a spool of .025 mig wire..Still using it, which shows how little I have used it..And a spool of flux wire..035...The gas regulator..and all the accessory pieces to switch wire gauges at the wire feed..wheels, guide etc.
Looking at the setting chart, it really doesn't add to the max thickness of steel that you can weld..going to 220 just speeds the process up in comparison to the 120..I bought it at the professional welding shop that supplies businesses with gas and tanks..A place that does nothing but welding..Not Home depot or Lowes

[Rickf1985]

Do the dials rotate smoothly or do they click into each position? Like position A, B, C, etc or just wherever you leave it? The latter choice is the proffesional model that I have and now I see what the dual means, 110 or 220. With 220 you get a much more stable arc.

[Rickf1985]

The difference between 110 and 220 mainly comes down to the amperage available to you. You are going to be limited to around 90 amps on 110 volts. Welding voltage is around 21-27 volts, which is a quarter of the 110 volts coming in. so 90 amps out divided by 4 equals 22.5 amps input at 110 volts. You are probably going to pop a breaker unless it is a 25-30 amp circuit. Where at 220 volts the same 90 amp output is a multiple of 8 so the amperage drawn from the outlet is 11.25. 180 amp maximum power will draw roughly 22.11 amps. 180 amps on 110 volts will draw 45 amps from the outlet!!


Hey TJ, So you wanna be a welder huh, well here you go. 1000 amp stick welding


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j61ezBX-EyA

[RockwoodMike]

Did you notice on the video, that the first guy with the long beard showed his welding..After cleaning the slag..But the other guys didn't show their work Hm? ..Did anyone learn anything on this??  How to act silly and make money on you tube doing it!! :)rotflmao My welder does not have detentes..rotates smoothly..I ran that bead earlier using the 110 plug on a dedicated 20 amp circuit with the dials shown at their positions..Didn't pop the breaker..with a 50 foot 10AWG extension cord ..

[LJ-TJ]

Well thanks lads. Like I said I didn't want to change the direction of the threat. Appreciate the comments. Looks like that's the route I'll go. No Rick I wouldn't insult real welder by thinking I'm a welder. D:oH! :)rotflmao

[RockwoodMike]

Working on the wall this afternoon..I just cleaned it up and set it up for the rim joist piece ..the 2x4 that gets screwed into the floor..pressure treated ..You just line up the lower aluminum piece to the upper..lining up the original screw and staple holes..Hold in place with a little tape to keep it from shifting then glue up the 2x4 with plenty of liquid nails..Weigh it down  give it about 2 days to harden up, then start building the skirt frame work..

[Rickf1985]

Did you notice on the video, that the first guy with the long beard showed his welding..After cleaning the slag..But the other guys didn't show their work Hm? ..Did anyone learn anything on this??  How to act silly and make money on you tube doing it!! :)rotflmao My welder does not have detentes..rotates smoothly..I ran that bead earlier using the 110 plug on a dedicated 20 amp circuit with the dials shown at their positions..Didn't pop the breaker..with a 50 foot 10AWG extension cord ..

Did they go to an inverter style setup? If so it will automatically regulate the output based on the input but even then that is a good looking weld for 110 volts. The true test would be to check the penetration.

[Rickf1985]

Come on now, A week with no progress! We are going into withdrawal here.

[LJ-TJ]

Oh! This is painful. However perfection takes a little longer. Withdrawal! That's an understatment.  It's like going to a Saturday Matina and following a Buck Rodgers cerial and finding  out it will be a month before the next sequal filmed.

[RockwoodMike]

Oh Man!! I am so sorry about this..I sold the thing!!..Got an offer that I couldn't refuse!!!!......................NOOOO!! Just Kidding :)rotflmao ..It is the problem with the time change and getting dark at 5pm..I am able to get some work in on it at the end of the day then it is too late to take good pictures..I just took these this morning and I will be doing more this afternoon..
Finished the lower skirt area..not completely..couple of little details but in essence it is done..Now needs to have the top 1/4 ply on top of that..Got some 20 gauge galvanized..Little lighter than the 16 that I used on the front area of the wall....So that needs to be put on..I will just use tin snips to shape all that..Not the plasma (BWA HA Ha) cutter..This all might look like the wall of a Brinks armored truck but it really hasn't added that much weight to it..every piece of wood is there for a reason..Mostly to secure it to the steel framework of the chassis..That frame work around that door hatch opening..It leaked there  before because the screws were secured only with the 24 gauge aluminum that the screws went into..Now there is actual wood!! Imagine that..Screws into wood..what a concept!! Here are some pics

[RockwoodMike]

I am BACK!!!I am doing the best that I can but it gets dark so early now..But this is what I was able to get done today..The plywood along the edge was really sagging..Added some reinforcement..
Did the best I could on the welding..function over form!!

[RockwoodMike]

And then this tire blow out mess..Right rear mud guard area..The wall is ready to be installed..Just need to fix the details first..while it is easy..The propane lines need to be fixed too..Do a little bit of modifying on that...

[Rickf1985]

The one weld on the angle looks perfect and the other looks too cold or you had the gas off, really looks like the gas was off, or the wind was blowing. You can't mig weld in the wind. On the fender it looks like you need more heat. Function over form only works when the function holds!

[LJ-TJ]

 :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao  I new you'd catch that Rick. Hey Mike your doing a fantastic job. Keep up the good work. I'm thinking there's a lot of us look forword to checking in every week now to see how your doing.

[Rickf1985]

I wouldn't have said anything if Mike didn't but since he did it seemed he was kind of frustrated with his results so I figured I would offer what I saw.

[RockwoodMike]

Here is a couple of better shots of the 2 welds made on that floor reinforcement Up close and personal..Watching videos on vertical mig and upside down mig, even these professional welders struggle with upside down stuff..Vertical is made going uphill..gun pointed uphill..that worked pretty good for me..but to get into position to make any kind of upside down weld involved being on hand and knees to support yourself..then trying to get it in there without it raining down molten steel on your hands and arms..For what I was working with and the limited skills that I have, I don't think that weld will be going any where soon..On the next attempt, I will open up the argon CO2 mix for a higher flow..That might work..

[LJ-TJ]

I smile only because anybody who has welded and had to weld up hill has run into the very same experiance. And yep! our welds looked about like that. Hehehehe

[Rickf1985]

I have had plenty of those welds. you need to turn up the heat and move fast. So you are running higher heat, faster wire and moving faster so that it cools before it has a chance to drop out. If you thin it is hard with MIG try it with stick! With stick I would be using 6010 or 6011 since it is a fast setting rod but it is also deep penetration so you always have a compromise.

[Gearhead88]

Wow !!!


I just read this entire build thread . You are one determined  and ambitious guy !!




You have some skills !!