yxmj Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Getting ready to fix the 3 rust holes in the MJ’s floor pans…..Lucky for me my sons XJ has the same problem so I was able to hone my skills by practicing on his… :brows: Pulled the seats and carpeting…..cut out the rust spots….formed up some patches out of some 18 ga. ( I even got fancy and was able to bend the stiffening ribs that are formed in the pan for strength) and proceeded to weld them in…….just like hundreds before …….stated getting frustrated with burn through after burn through on the thin material…..then a bit of wisdom from my misspent youth hit me like a ton of bricks….(and I am not claiming to have invented this method….it is all over the web…I just wanted to relay how well it worked for me) :thumbsup: Went to the hardware store and picked up three 1” copper t’s like below….one I left the area shown by the red arrows just as it was…rounded….the next I put a piece of ¾” key stock in the vice…slid the tee over it and peened it down flat…..the third I not only peened the top flat….but then I took a cold chisel and formed an indented line from one end to the other…..On all three I inserted about 6” of old broom handle (Blue). Now with these 3 copper dollies I was able to fill not only the smallest pin holes but some good size gaps as well. We just cleaned to bare metal (all welding was done from the top) then placed the copper dolly as a backer on the bottom and proceeded to weld….The steel weld would puddle nicely penetrate into the pan and patch but the dolly acted in two ways….as a heat sink to keep the weld from burning trough and as steel will not adhere to copper …as a great removable backer that could be pulled away after the puddle cooled and leave a strong weld that was quick and easy to do. . :MJ 1: . Hope you have the same luck we did :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 HOLY SHET! That was one of the first tricks taught me when I was first learning how to weld. Forgot all about it until now. Never to old to learn, or remember something forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91Pioneer Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Yep you can buy those, cool Copper Welding Spoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 HOLY SHET! That was one of the first tricks taught me when I was first learning how to weld. Forgot all about it until now. Never to old to learn, or remember something forgotten. Yes but in this case it would have been nice if the memory had kicked in a little closer to the beginning of the job instead of the end... :doh: ..but on the brightside I am ready to do mine now :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 Yep you can buy those, cool Copper Welding Spoon Yes but could not pick them up at my local supply that day they had to order it in.....so my $4 worth of copper T's worked out OK :thumbsup: If anyone is interested and you google copper backing plate there is a company out there that has a nice copper plate with magnets embedded in it that looks like it would be an easy hands free method Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Would love to see pics of the actual tools you made.......... :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 I have some on the cell phone and will upload and post when I am on my own computer.....(no I am not on CCF @ work...that would be wrong) :rock on: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue XJ Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I've also used the copper on the show surface and welded from the back side. When you remove the spoon the weld should be nice and smooth, very minimal finishing needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 Would love to see pics of the actual tools you made.......... :thumbsup: Here are the new dollies I made up for myself The one one the right is just a 1" tee mounted on a handle.....the one on the left I peened a flat ridge ........and the middle i opened the tee up and peened it flat I guess the goal is to try to get as many shapes as possible so that you have a backer for whatever you encounter. Not shown here but i just picked up are an end cap for a 1.5" copper pipe as well as a 1.5" copper coupler......the end cap i will use as is a nice flat 1.5" circle....the coupler i am going to make a cross cut then peen it down into a flat sheet (should end up to be 1.5" x 4.75").....the flat sheet I am going to try to hold to the sheetmetal with a couple of rare earth magnets that i picked up ( this i saw was being marketed by another company and looks slick) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Pretty cool! Thanks for the photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oyaji Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Very nice practical contribution - thank you for sharing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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