Mike,

Thank you for the advice. I am using .030 wire, with standard 75/25 Ar/CO2 gas. Just curious, how does decreasing gas flow affect the weld? I will be able to access a good deal of the backside of the welding I am doing to put on a copper plate. See pics in next post...

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Okay, as promised here re a couple pics of the donor piece #1. There is a second portion of the donor piece not pictured here, Ill take some pics the next day I have in the garage.





I measured very carefully, it was just a big complex piece to get in there fit perfectly.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Yup, you're gonna get good with filling after this one!

You can use a copper sheet for most of it from the looks of the pictures. That is structural so you need to get as much metal to metal contact as possible.

Turning the gas down will help you when you are doing the "fill" between the bridges. It lessens the weld's tendency to "balloon" when you are trying to do the circular part.

dan,

not bad cutting the piece to fit! so how'd it turn out? any pics?

JUst make sure that you take your time. After your done go over the whole area with por-15 and start fillin.....happy sanding

Well its been awhile ... but the welding is done and now I am POR-15ing the area.

What I did was use 1/8" TIG rods as filler material where the gaps were over 1/8". Other than that I just went slow, tacked, ground and filled. Needless to say I got much better at welding as the task went on...

Some notes:
- I used a thick welding blanket on the inside of the car. I was paranoid and careful not to burn the inside of the car.
- I wore a respirator and earplugs 100% of the time. This made such a difference.
- If you are learning to weld, an auto-darkening helmet is absolutely necessary


Some pics of the highlights -

Example of tack-ing in the TIG rods:



Filled in area pictured above:



Front section ground down:



I am super happy with how it turned out. I am now sealing it up, undercoating, and getting ready to put the front fender back on. Its late now, but when the job is done Ill do a more complete post on techniques.

Thanks again to everyone here...
dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Looks great Dan!! Nice work and keep the pics coming.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I also have w124's w126's and w107's that I will gladly cut up.

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1988 Toyota Camry Wagon......CRUSHED
1988 Porsche 944.......SOLD
1984 300SD.....SOLD
1995 Honda Civic DX... Totaled 11/13/08
1991 Madza Miata 193K and counting.....Mercedes t3 Turbocharger in the works 10 pounds per RWHP FTW

Nice work! My ears are ringing from the sound of your grinder from just looking at the pictures.

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Peach Parts W124.128 User Group.

80 280SL
85 300SD
87 300TD
92 300D 2.5 Turbo
92 300TE 4Matic

Lookin' good!

Why the earplugs when welding? While running a MIG I like to use the sound as a gauge for my speed/power rates.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Good question...

Two reasons:

1.) On this project I went back and forth between welding and grinding frquently. It was nice just to flip my mask up and grind (I wear safety glasses and a respirator under my welding helmet)

2.) I was in contorted positions under the car to weld the rocker. Sparks would go everywhere, and the earplugs made sure no live sparks went into my ears.

Normally, if I am welding I now don't wear earplugs. I didn't for my latest floor replacement project.

dd

__________________
-------------------------------
'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

you can still hear the 'sizzle' when wearing ear plugs. but like dan, i was doing alot of grinding and welding, so it became a necessity to have them in.