IFS Front End Welding

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 22, 2006, 8:12 pm

Has anyone here put their own MII or any kind of front ends on their slicks themselves? If so then what kind of welder did you use? I am wanting to put a new front end on my truck after christmas to lower it about 4 1/2 inches in the front and 5 in the back. I have a Millermatic 135 MIG welder which is a 115v welder. I am wondering if that is big enough to use? I have an oxyacetylene welder as well and was going to pre heat with that and then weld with the MIG but need to get advice first. This welder is a very nice unit and is supposed to be able to weld up to 3/16" metal.
Any idea's or info would be greatly appreciated on this! I still haven't decided on the front end yet so I still have a while before I do anything.
Thanks!

jimbob1021 · Post by **jimbob1021** » October 22, 2006, 8:32 pm

i have a snapon wire welder it is also a 115 volt welder works just fine with no problems i have installed two mustangII front ends and two nova sub's have had no problems with the welds bakeing just max out your wire feed and your heat on your welder and you will be fine. jim

ABA · Post by **ABA** » October 22, 2006, 9:03 pm

How did ya keep everything aligned Jimbo, frame jig or some other means?

jimbob1021 · Post by **jimbob1021** » October 22, 2006, 9:24 pm

tape measure you just got to make sure that the car or truck is level befour you do any cuting measure the wheel base measure from the cowl to the corners of the frame i do this more than one's write it all down so you can use it later

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 22, 2006, 9:36 pm

We have a 220v Snap On welder at the shop and those things seem to be a bit nice for a Snap On welder. Too bad it's not mine and I can't barrow it. I guess I will practice on a piece of metal of the same thickness and see how well it penetrates and go from there. I will still pre heat with my oxy welder that way it helps some.

Ford4jack · Post by **Ford4jack** » October 22, 2006, 11:06 pm

I am running .030 wire and the 75% / 25% shielding gas on my 115v unit and it works fine for the type of welding your talking about.

I find the 030 wire makes for a slower more controllable weld in my opinion

66fordtrucknut · Post by **66fordtrucknut** » October 23, 2006, 5:09 am

Me too, Snap-on mig/DC tig 115v. I use it on steel up 1/4 no prob. I use 030. wire on the heavier stuff ,023 on sheetmetal. You should'nt have a prob.
Charlie

ELpolacko · Post by **ELpolacko** » October 23, 2006, 9:09 am

The biggest problem with 110-115V welding machines is not necessarily the lack of ability but the short duty cycle.

Most all of the machines you guys mentioned will weld 1/4" plate well enough with a good operator. But after an extened period of time the small transformer in the machine will overheat and the weld quality will degrade.

Best suggestion, weld in short runs and take a good 10 minute brake between passes.

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » October 23, 2006, 12:47 pm

That's what I've learned to do with mine. Bought a Millermatic 10 years ago, works pretty good, long as I ain't in a hurry.

Ford4jack · Post by **Ford4jack** » October 23, 2006, 6:12 pm

Figured I would add extension cords are a bad idea whth these welders also Unless there very heavy guage and kinda short.

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 23, 2006, 7:13 pm

Thanks again guys, you have helped me out a lot! Yes I wont be welding for more than 15 minutes at a time anyways. This will be my first front end install and most likely I will tack in place first (wont take long) and then when I do the final welding I will take my time and weld a few inches, move to the other side and weld and make sure it hasn't distorted any and take a break. I don't mind waiting for it to cool off because it gives me a break to move to something else for a while. I still am trying to decide on what IFS kit to get first but wanted to get this question out of the way and looks like I got it answered.

MadMaxetc · Post by **MadMaxetc** » October 23, 2006, 10:13 pm

Your welder should do just fine.

To get good penatration you can chamfer the edges, that helps a lot. I do short runs and make sure I am not doing more than the 30% duty cycle, and all is well.

I have looked at a bunch of front ends for my 63 but that one I like most (well right now) is the Dakota. I am going to be running a 460 and it just looks the strongest to me. There are other clips that will work fine, but I plan to run mine on the 1/4 at about 120mph so I don't want anything ify under there.

Good Luck!

Keep us posted!

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » October 23, 2006, 10:18 pm

Buff or grind the areas to be welded. Bright and shiney for the best weld.
Jim

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 24, 2006, 7:13 pm

Well I am very glad I can use this thing, so now that is out of the way and I can focus on which IFS to get. I am looking at the Dakota and MII. Reason for MII is because Fat Mans is only 20 minutes from me and I know them there and also no shipping. But then I have to worry about the weaker side of things even though I only have a 351W but I do want to put a 460 in it and a C6 when this engine goes (which will not be for a LONG time since it's pretty much a new engine and year old tranny).

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » October 25, 2006, 9:47 am

i have the lincoln 115v 135 amp wire welder. dont have the gas bottles yet, so i have been using the .035 flux core wire. very happy with the results, both in sheet metal and on the frame. multiple passes insure proper penetration of the beads on heavier steel.
i have a snow plow frame to weld up, it will take lots of abuse and will be the heaviest iron i will have attempted with it.report next spring or when i break it.

i do have an extension cord for the welder, one i made for the purpose of using the welder and compressor away from the outlets inside.it is 10 awg, outdoor uv resistant, the stranded type.it is 50 feet long and wired directly to a breaker in my panel.there is an outdoor receptacle on the other end.
i wont use an extension cord for any of my stuff that is less than 12 awg, got a couple 14 awg for drop lights and such and little things like the 4" grinder.

the other thing for me is flexibility.take a hardware store orange extension cord and whip the ground once @ -20 to see the insulation crack like glass.the blue arctic cords are rated to -50 so we use those to plug in in the winter.

jimbob1021 · Post by **jimbob1021** » October 25, 2006, 6:02 pm

i have had my snap on wire welder for over 15 years and had not a minutes problem with it and i do a lot of welding with it i use a 80-20 mix with the o.30 wire i have done anything from body work to installing a sub frame or just fabing up something for a car i have even repaird my car trailer with it and i have hauled some heavy loads some over 13,000 pounds. you would all like the one that i use at work it is a miller with the wire feeder on top we use the robo packs of wire o.45 stainless wire . wire speed is running 375 heat is at 22.5 makes for a nice looking weld and all of the welding i do is by hand

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 25, 2006, 10:50 pm

I have 030 wire in my welder currently so I got that covered... I guess there is 035 as well if I remember correctly here (been away from the different wires for a while now). But yes the 030 should work then and that is what I have in it now so that is covered. I am using 70 30 Argon/ox so that is fine.

I can't wait to get all my money and put a front end on this truck, it will be very nice and should handle better.

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » October 26, 2006, 9:14 am

I use .035 with Co/2 and get great welds. Sounds like you got it covered. Good luck.

Shawn F. · Post by **Shawn F.** » October 26, 2006, 9:17 pm

Anyone here have and pictures of their MII or front end installs? I'd like to see some and see how you've done it jsut to get an idea what I have ahead of me. I brought my 54 Chevy down to Fat Man's to have them weld the front clip on because I didn't have a 220 volt welder and didn't know you can use 110 and they did it for a very cheap price and it looked like there was nothing to it but just measuring it up very well and so this time I want to try it on my own. Welding should not be a problem since I am comfortable with that and know what to do and look for. It's just seeing what measurments I need to take, I don't want to forget any.

jimbob1021 · Post by **jimbob1021** » October 26, 2006, 9:47 pm

i know you will want to weld the crossmember in at 2 1/2 no more than 3 degree's set back if you dont do this you will have a problem with what they call over steer. and you will have to measure wheel base befour you remove the old front suspension