Made a mess of things

[Iron Cross]

I have a '73 Scout I started removing the rear quarter panels on and made a mess. I drilled out the the tack welded areas with a regular bit but 90% went all the way through and on quite a few of them I managed to snap the top part of the metal up.

I tapped, used a small drill bit and than a 1/4" bit and used impact hammer to seperate the areas. Just a mess.

I know this is bad even for a 1st timer. Is this something I am going to be able to fix with some metal body filler or a tack welder?

Maybe things just seem bad because I am new, I don't know.

Thanks,
-dave

 

[reuben]

Pics?

 

[That Guy]

Drilling through both layers of metal is not the end of the world. If you are using the same panel to weld back on, it just makes it easier to line it up again. If you drilled through and ripped out the side of the hole, that little tag of metal will just melt away when you start stitching it back together.

If you can't get them welded back together or are burning through, turn the heat down a little and/or use a copper scrap to back up the weld. Clamp the copper piece to the back of what you are welding and fill it in, the weld will not stick to the copper. Once you're done welding up the hole, peel the copper patch off the back and move it to the next hole.

Once you do it for a while, your skill will improve and you'll be able to weld up holes without the copper.

 

[Pascoscout]

For future endevors:

I found that a 5/16 drill works very well for spot welds. The best one I have found so far is a cobalt 2 step drill. Its got an 1/8" tip on it that steps up to a 5/16". I buy the dewalt band at lowes for about $10 a drill bit and they last for 50 or so spot welds. They allow you to position the drill on the weld to start and the hole usually gets the entire weld.

For the ones that dont get drilled out I use a small flat chisel and a hammer. I tried the air hammer but its too agressive and makes a mess as you found. The eastwood company also sells a blade for cutting spot welds, but a flat wood chisel works fine for me (I just sharpen it alot).

The best part about metal is that you can get it flat again with some body hammers and weld up holes with a bit of patience. I have fixed pieces that I though were beyond repair plenty of times.