Tips On How To Mig Weld Thin Metal Auto Body Panels

[@stephencrossingham6788]

Thank you so much. The best advice I have heard on welding car bodies! I put your advice into practice today and, what a difference. Solid, neat welds with good penetration and, never blew a single hole! It has given me so much confidence to press on with my project. Thanks again. 👍

[@Urchfab]

No problem Buddy, happy to help.

[@My911]

Hi, this is good to hear. Which Amp setting did you use?

[@SolarTara]

I started welding on my car this year. I had watched a ton of video, and basically it all boiled down to using the lower settings to get my welds, but so many preached tack / stitch welding. Well instinctively as I got on with the car, I started turning up the settings because I noticed it wasn't giving good penetration at all.. Finally, a video that puts it into perspective and confirms what I was doing. Thank you for this! I wish more people mention this

[@chrisadkin726]

No wonder there has been a high demand for your welding classes! Love your channel.

[@ernied3123]

I’m a beginner and I’ve watched a lot of videos but I just learnt the most from yours in a fraction of the time I wasted on the others. Thanks so much.

[@timcoppinger3373]

Man that was an interesting demonstration, I especially liked the use of aluminium behind anything with gaps, great video.

[@povilaslondon]

good luck if you can't put anything behind...this only works in perfect world where you have access from all angles

[@Grumpy-sy7wr]

Thank you so much. I've been trying ways to get my welds to run much cooler, because of the mentioned hole blowing, only to end up with big lumpy welds. Never occurred to me to crank it up a bit as you just showed. I shall give it a try tomorrow. Lots of rust patches to weld in.

[@royster3345]

Brilliant tip, I'm fresh out of a welding course and was playing with thin metal a lot to see what the paremeters were. Heat and blow through being the issues, but some great tips on more is better. Thanks.

[@Jim-fe2xz]

That's some very good tips all around but especially on grinding. I caused more warpage grinding than welding before I figured it out! Thank you for the great tips!

[@Sustainavore]

This is incredibly useful. I am brand new to welding and am planning to make my own flares for my sprinter van, and this answered a lot of my questions.

[@Themrjakecollins]

Where was this 2 years ago!! This video sorted out my sheet metal welds. Solid advice.

[@mikefrost7516]

I needed this advice about 3 months ago. Would have stopped me warping the crap out of the side of my van when I repaired. Great tips. Cheers Matt!

[@jtp682]

great video. I do have a question that nobody seems to be able to answer. After you weld in the new panels how do you protect the patch backside of the weld from rusting?

[@reverseuniverse2559]

This has been the most helpful mig panel vid I’ve watched and I’ve learnt valuable lessons here in 7 minutes over other vids Cheers for the help mate ☕️👍

[@davec200i]

Thanks Matt. Been watching your videos for ages, only recently got a welder and this has come at a good time!

[@Maverick0687]

I agree 100% with what he’s saying. Done it myself this week on my Miata “resto-mod” project. Turn the voltage up a bit. Short bursts. Less heat overall, less warping, better penetration. The suggested settings are more than likely if you want to run a continuous bead so keep that in mind. This technique that we’re using by increasing the voltage is for better results when stitch welding only. If you try to run a bead you will blow through. I’ve done that too.

[@davecoate9995]

Thank you Australia here, love your work!

[@jeremiah1st]

Thanks for the advice, for thin sheet metal I also changed gas from 100% CO2 to 75% Argon and 25% CO2, the welds get more buttery and better starting.

[@888johnmac]

good tips .. glad to see Stewart keeping an eye on Matt

[@matthewjones3328]

Well amazed!I've just tried this and wow how much better is my welds . Thank u

[@atthesummitMTBskills]

Just made the base for my king and queen seat and having the temp high really help stitch it together easily without warping. Be dry much a beginner welder but learning slowly. Good tips!

[@wpiescik]

Right on. I had discovered This technique, more or less. But I think I've learned ways to improve.

[@michaelg492]

I really needed this. Today I tried welding up a sill on my car using the recommended settings and all I got was too much buildup and not much penetration. I'll try again with this knowledge and hopefully with better results

[@MohdHameediBinOmar]

Thank you so much from Me Malaysia, now I can practice my welding skill and built a lot of handmade bush, washer, and retaining bar plates for my cub bike bigbike tire concept customization!

[@jayflowers2046]

Brilliant mate, in 7 minutes you taught me infinitely more on how to stitch weld my chassis. I used tig and had really mediocre results. *user error GLAD TO SAY ILL BE SWITCHING TO MIG AND FASTT and trying to get a hold of it 🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@davehowland5270]

I did my first wheel arch last weekend and did everything you said not to do i was amazed at how far you can warp a flat panel next week i will do it your way

[@basilwatson1]

yes I made a battery box from 0.8 and yes , it warped ( understatement of the year )

[@smifflarr]

How did you sort you warped panel?

[@jonny_s14]

Thanks for the vid. Just bought a 160a snap on mig and picked up a rotten s14 shell last week needing alot of repair

[@timothylockhart2009]

Wish I had watched this sooner. Just nearing the end of my first project welding and it was sheet metal. I ran into using too cold of settings. Getting huge mountains and they didn't even penetrate! Grind down and find id have to weld again but I had grinded the parent metal thin removing the welds. So then I got blown through! All that being said this is a great video I wished I watched sooner.

[@chewies9456]

Thank you! I was getting nice little buttons on some 22 gauge with 023 wire today after watching this. Tried dialing the welder every which way I could for 15 minutes going by the settings chart, then watched this, cranked up the heat and speed a bit and voilà!

[@Urchfab]

Glad it helped

[@hootinouts]

Excellent presentation. Thank you so much for sharing. I have to weld on the underside of my car where it rusted out and I have zero experience welding sheet metal on cars. My experience is welding thick from 3/16" up.

[@nicnatmat123]

Thank you for this absolutely wonderfully concise, informative video.

[@christopherastbury-mg2iz]

Excellent informative video. Someone finally explaining how and why we weld thin metals. More videos I hope will follow.

[@Urchfab]

They will. Cheers 🍻

[@jackrichards1863]

I often dont touch settings. Until i got a synergic mig. It's great to see this, which confirmed a notion I had that it doesn't matter much. Now I'm considering it may be an actual improvement. When i first welded all we had was arc. I learned a lot from repairing the ageing exhaustt systems with an arc welder and large rods. Once a mate got a mig i went and got one myself. Of course its a lot more user friendly and old exhaust pipe gets thrown in the scrap now. Japanese car panels are stil a challenge.

[@michaelberry3094]

I am about to start welding some Japanese car panels myself. If you would share- in what way do you find them to be challenging?

[@alankepler3124]

Sorry my english is not so good. Do you mean that a Sinergic Mig is a better option to practice this tip?. Or did I misunderstand? . Or it doesn't matter if it is synergic or manual, and only the technique of this tip matters?. Thanks. Greetings.

[@FabCoUK]

Good info Matt! How about a video on welding panels with corrosion, eg mot repairs where the steel you’re welding isn’t perfect?

[@jamesward5721]

Flux core. Use 0.6mm wire. It's very "This is crap steel" tolerant.

[@1one3_Racing]

Yeah this sounds right up your alley!

[@FabCoUK]

@@1one3_Racing I was think more as a resource for others, but sure, I can take the hint 😅

[@MrRobhadfield]

@@FabCoUK 😂 busted!

[@Urchfab]

That’s a good idea 👍

[@Leskeg]

Thanks for this excellent video. What amperage do you use for sheet metal 0.8 ?

[@paulwhiteman3625]

Very educational, Matt! Cheers for sharing your knowledge.🙏

[@philiptissington2872]

Love this toutoring episode very helpful , nice one 👍🏻

[@dynamicvehicleservices8170]

Hate having to grind thin stuff just thins it out even more

[@AXNJXN1]

Well done. Mutually, when Flux Core welding, I also keep the voltage lower and nearly twice the wire speed feed. It provides the correct balance of 'excess' metal to heat ratio, preventing blow through and keeps the base metal cooler. I have found FC welding is just as advantageous for this welding, minus the slag but for the 'budget' welder, you can get this done too! Just need to figure out your particular machine and it's settings. Point being, FC machines can do this job, period, just learn it well. Cheers.

[@MartsGarage]

Thanks Matt. I'm in the middle of a weldathon on my 100E at the moment. I will try and take your advice on board. Mart.

[@fredjones1238]

Mart , You're getting better with every panel mate.

[@Urchfab]

Keep at it Mart 👍

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Excellent presentation Matt.. Now heading up the garage after 4 treble whisky’s to unstitch the horrors Inhave bestowed upon my daughters Freelander over the past 3 years… Only kidding.. It’s 4 years!!

[@Urchfab]

😂

[@hipoman8087]

Will give this a try. Sounds like a very good tutorial !

[@deopersad2915]

Thanks Matt I struggle with sheet metal but this helps cheers 🤙

[@philhuggett4776]

This was absolutely spot on from what ive found since welding up my mini. The amount of people i see online attacking their welds with an flap disc does my head in. Great little vid

[@Urchfab]

Cheers mate.

[@russthebiker]

That was really informative, i got taught to use the stick welder as an apprentice But these mig machine are a world apart, need to get sone practise in with mine Andcusing more heat is good sense,remember people with the stick welder using to low a setting and getting stuck

[@mfwwhelan7561]

Interesting video. Sometimes I get a vertical tail sitting on the top of my spot welds. It happens periodically and is not present on all welds. All my settings are unchanged.I asked a lot of people but no one has the answer, My welder is an ESAB Caddy 200Amp. I'm using the usual Argon/Co2 mix. Generally I use 18 Volts and 5m wire speed. Wire is 0.8mm. Thanks, Mike

[@Urchfab]

Try turning the burn back down if you can adjust it. If not try holding the torch a little further away.

[@Suttybutty]

Absolutely brilliant advice you make it all look very easy top man 👌

[@StewSims]

Good video and it seems to have done well. Have you thought about doing a video on a small car rust repair from start to finish? Lots of us have probably fairly poorly slapped a patch on something, but few have learnt how to do it properly from a professional like yourself (e.g. avoiding the need for too much grinding, welding and filling). Would be interesting to see how you'd tackle it and hopefully pick up some basic fabrication and welding tips and tricks.

[@Urchfab]

There's a video in my how too playlist. its old but should help you out. Cheers

[@richardmueller9565]

also IF possible to have a backer like just said really works well!! like a strip or 3/16 bar good video!! I only have a ceap Hi/Lo harbor freight.. does 25 or 30 wire make much difference

[@waynecdm]

Amazingly helpful video. Thank you.

[@13Voodoobilly69]

Great tips. This will help me immensely.

[@ChunkyC]

Great advice. Getting much better results after doing this and switching to .6 wire, but I'm not getting all that great of a penetration. Do you think I should swap back to 0.8 or maybe try some different settings?

[@fprice212]

Great onfo, thanks becaise hell as sure im not paying 20k for a couple of rusted out floor panels in my '73 where i have amasing metal panels at home from "reclaimed" traffic signs.

[@brentonpaterson7047]

Perfect, thanks Matt, I'll give that a go.

[@dougwernham5209]

Thanks for the video, very helpful.

[@itsalldoable]

Great video, great information, great timing. Thank you Matt, I'm working towards a lot of welding next week so this will be really helpful. Cheers matey 👍😎

[@hbrannerudbrannerud6554]

Very good presentation! Thank you!

[@beezo2560]

Good stuff Matt. Savin' this one for reference. 👍

[@floydwilcox2640]

Your videos are great, thank you for sharing your skills. 👍

[@JB-NZ]

@Urchfab Thanks for sharing this video. Query, do you have anything against 0.6mm wire for 0.8mm steel like on a classic mini? I had been using 0.8mm but changed to 0.6mm, and I am running a slightly higher voltage than recommended, but I think I need to turn it up further. Curious though how 0.6mm will compare to 0.8mm wire though and if it will react differently to higher voltage. Thanks

[@My911]

Hi, thanks for this. Which Amp settings did you use for welding the 0.8mm steel? My Welder has a digital display for Amps rather than the traditional 1-4 settings. Regards Joël

[@ssnydess6787]

Nice, small suggestion would be tomention the sheet metal thicness in "gauge" dimensions, since most of your audience is probably US. Thanks!

[@Urchfab]

Noted. Cheers

[@rsbharley4766]

Excellent info Matt, thanks for taking the to share. Cheers

[@Urchfab]

No worries

[@FrankInAShed]

Excellent info, cheers Urchy

[@FJOLLEDRENG]

Great advices - thank you so much 🙏

[@captainkirk1745]

Excellent info! Thank you kindly.

[@makethingsinteresting496]

Great info! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@jeff666p]

I have a question. I tried using the recommed settings on my welder but I get booger welds on the back side. If I try holding it slightly longer it burns through. I've tried increasing the wire speed and it didn't help much. I can't get the back side looking like you have done in this video. Would increasing the voltage be the solution or would it cause more problems? The recommed setting on mine is 16.5 volts and 177 wire speed. its a 140 amp 115v. flux core wire .03

[@ToniR_]

What if you pull a little, it will spread the spotweld and less grinding?

[@onewheelup1817]

What best budgeted MIG welder would you recommend?

[@watsonwatson8051]

More like this please, that was 👍

[@TK42138]

Brilliant advice.

[@micabeda]

Funny how it’s so natural for you.

[@Urchfab]

I’ve done it every day for a lot of days bud 👍

[@ifixeditmyself1926]

This was really helpful.

[@groovyboovy]

Handy tips, thanks

[@joewahrerMotorcycleMan]

Wait for it...I almost clicked off too soon! Thanks for your tips and your car rocks! What is it? Mini?

[@jerryhuff86]

Spot on mate❤

[@hespie1]

Great, thanks Matt.

[@psv1600]

very instructive, many thanks fro the clues 🤩😍

[@RickRose]

Thanks for the tips!

[@vinceolson2473]

Thank you !

[@ryanphotostudio]

@urchfab not sure if I missed it, but what gauge wire were you running? Thanks, I really liked the concepts in this video mate

[@Urchfab]

0.8mm Cheers

[@alhaah777]

Thank you.

[@tamidon40]

Genius. Love it.

[@DonaldReynoldsII]

Lots of gas used but cool new standard

[@BrianSmart1959]

Nice tip. That's what she said.

[@MuzzahA1]

You said copper works best, what type of copper works best, male or female?

[@kbtube8125]

i cut off the ball on the wire after every weld too.

[@markgutter8443]

A good help to me. Thanks.

[@Urchfab]

You're welcome!

[@nealesmith1873]

Great info!

[@snapon1948]

Hi what welder are you using looking for new welder

[@neiljarvis8911]

Cheers! Really good video, its a bit counter intuitive really.

[@djjmsimon]

When you can't get to the back of the weld, is there a concern about the heat affected zone corroding quicker? Assuming using weld through primer is helpful if you can get it on to the back of the existing old metal?

[@Urchfab]

Yes it’s an issue. Cavity wax or similar can be a good option for getting to the inside.

[@WHM_Engineering]

Any tips on welding perforated rusty sh1te to good bits? 😂 Great vid 👍 pull the trigger on what looks like good stuff, boom 12mm hole 😭😂

[@bfd1918]

Where to buy those welding equipment?

[@adsminibuild5791]

Great video thanks for sharing 👍

[@TheParaparGroup]

Extremely smart!!

[@richardmueller9565]

I not a metal worker by anymeans-- galvined meatl ..not work to weld to actual steel???Do you need specail wire for galvinized meatl?

[@Matt-Maelstrom]

What model of welder are you using in this vid?

[@Urchfab]

Bester 190

[@joshuatran3667]

Just in case you are wondering he is using 22 gauge steel sheets.

[@ronwalker9000]

Thank you so much!