Anybody stitch welded their car?
12-11-2005, 11:00 AM
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 186
Anybody stitch welded their car?
I saw these Japs in BMI stitch welding an AE86 to improve body rigidity. But they have a special tool that compresses the body sheet metal and lays a nice tack weld. I think this is do-able with a MIG and probly a vice grip. any thoughts?
12-11-2005, 12:02 PM
#2
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 3,751
Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
Many people have seam welded there car. It's a long process because you don't want to overheat your panels and warp them. Being that you car is only spot welded together (trust me, RHD Conversion makes you learn this!!) some guys lay 2" Sticthes every 4-6" on the 2 overlapping panels.
The unit you are talking about uses a High-Current electrical weld that clamps the 2 panels together a fuses them by using this very locallize current to create the heat. Have you efvery seen a New Gas tank that is un-coated, exactly how they weld the top and bottom portion together.
The unit you are talking about uses a High-Current electrical weld that clamps the 2 panels together a fuses them by using this very locallize current to create the heat. Have you efvery seen a New Gas tank that is un-coated, exactly how they weld the top and bottom portion together.
12-11-2005, 12:31 PM
#3
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Join Date: May 2005
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Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
It's a common practice to do when you are building a car for motorsports. The factory spotwelds make a flimsy unit-body vehicle even more flimsy. Suspension pickup points move all over hell. In most instances( ie daily driver/lo-po), I don't think it's worth stripping the car and welding all the seams. I ,however, haven't done such to a car yet so, I can't speak from experience how big of a improvement it makes.
12-11-2005, 04:19 PM
#4
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Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
Originally Posted by Moving_Target
It's a so a common practice to do when you are building a car for motorsports. The factory spotwelds make a flimsy unit-body vehicle even more flimsy. Suspension pickup points move all over hell. In most instances( ie daily driver/lo-po), I don't think it's worth stripping the car and welding all the seams. I ,however, haven't done such to a car yet so, I can't speak from experience how big of a improvement it makes.
12-11-2005, 06:01 PM
#5
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Join Date: Oct 2004
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Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
Originally Posted by jdm monkey
Yeah I am planning on weekend road racing my car. It is a convertible that's why i'm doing every possible mod to stiffen the chassis.
BTW, you car = teh sex
12-11-2005, 08:57 PM
#7
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 65
Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
Is that actual Wheel to Wheel road racing or HPDE/Open Tracking? The cage and strut tower brace will help. I am not familar with how the front suspension attaches to the body to say a g-brace will work.
On a slightly different topic, look for some more race oriented front pads. Stock pads will suck after a few hard applications.
On a slightly different topic, look for some more race oriented front pads. Stock pads will suck after a few hard applications.
12-12-2005, 01:40 AM
#9
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 50
Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
the hb we built for rally took just shy of 20 hrs to fully seam weld, fab strut bars/braces, clean and prep for paint. made a huge difference. Just remember to wear a resperator, and cleann all the welds before you start
12-14-2005, 12:32 AM
#10
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,101
Re: Anybody stitch welded their car?
Originally Posted by Moving_Target
The factory spotwelds make a flimsy unit-body vehicle even more flimsy.
Beau
