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Author: Subject: Welding stainless to mild?
tegwin

posted on 12/6/06 at 01:39 PM Reply With Quote
Welding stainless to mild?

I have a stainless(419 grade) 2B with sliding pillar suspension.

I am going to cut the suspension off and fit wishbones.

The question is, can I weld mild steel to the stainless chassis and get a strong weld with a MIG welder?

Thanks.

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Donuts

posted on 12/6/06 at 01:52 PM Reply With Quote
do not do it.

lots of people say that you can with the right wire etc. but it will be a weak joint and you do not want your suspension to fall apart.





Fly Like a mouse, Run Like a cushion, Be the small Bookcase

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tegwin

posted on 12/6/06 at 02:21 PM Reply With Quote
I suspected as much....

If I can not MIG weld the stainless to the mild what can I do?

Dunc

[Edited on 12/6/06 by tegwin]

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MikeRJ

posted on 12/6/06 at 02:33 PM Reply With Quote
I guess the safest method would be to manufacture the suspension brackets from the same material as the chassis and get them TIG'd on.
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tegwin

posted on 12/6/06 at 02:43 PM Reply With Quote
The way I was thinking of doing the job was to weld four stainless box sections across the front of the car to take the wishbones...However, a quote for enough stainless box section sits at about £80...which is a lot!!!

The other possibility which would be much much cheaper would be to do it like this chap has:









Im just a little bit worried that it wont be strong enough as the chassis tubes are only really thin...?!?!

Any thoughts?

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gjs

posted on 12/6/06 at 03:19 PM Reply With Quote
There is nothing wrong with welding mild to s/s as long as you use correct wire or rods,it has been done for years and years in industry
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tks

posted on 12/6/06 at 03:20 PM Reply With Quote
yes you can weld it.

but you will need to do it with stainless wire.

Tig is preferred with pure argon!
and stainless sheet strips.
(same qually as the stainless you have got)

Tks

of course the weld will be weaker but stainless is weaker sow quet normal.

Mig is a bit cold, so i would use arc or Tig.
else make something up and just bolt it!

[Edited on 12/6/06 by tks]





The above comments are always meant to be from the above persons perspective.

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MikeRJ

posted on 12/6/06 at 04:32 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin


Im just a little bit worried that it wont be strong enough as the chassis tubes are only really thin...?!?!


I don't like that one little bit, the amount of weld between the bracket and the chassis is very small. Asking for trouble IMO.

How about making brackets from 3-4mm plate which are concave at the chassis end so it wraps around the tube something like this (obvioulsy you will need two per bracket).



[Edited on 12/6/06 by MikeRJ]

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907

posted on 12/6/06 at 04:53 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
I have a stainless(419 grade) 2B with sliding pillar suspension.

I am going to cut the suspension off and fit wishbones.

The question is, can I weld mild steel to the stainless chassis and get a strong weld with a MIG welder?

Thanks.




Hi Tegwin,

Are you sure it's 419 ?

Could that be 409 ?


Paul G






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tegwin

posted on 12/6/06 at 06:55 PM Reply With Quote
Mike RJ....

A step up from yours is to get some very short lengths of box section and concave the end as shown in your photo and weld those on...that way the holes are more likley to line up.......However, is that really going to be strong enoug? Im worried that the forces involve will try and twist the chassis tubes?!?

I was told it was 419....the person who told me might be wrong...apparently its the same stuff they make exhausts out of....Its still slightly magnetic and not very shiny

Dunc

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leto

posted on 12/6/06 at 07:34 PM Reply With Quote
No offense but... how about spending the summer shopping for another kit and get some nice donor parts and next winter putting it together?





“I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round”. (J. Cash)

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907

posted on 12/6/06 at 08:16 PM Reply With Quote
409 is what's used for cheapo exhausts.

It can only be welded using 309 filler metal. Anything less and it will crack.

309 is also the alloy used to weld mild steel to stainless.

hth

Paul G






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tegwin

posted on 12/6/06 at 08:34 PM Reply With Quote
leto....Because im not made of money!
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caber

posted on 12/6/06 at 11:58 PM Reply With Quote
Err this is the LOCOST site!

Not everyone is building at locost but some of us are! If your existing suspension is original leave it and sell the car, start again on a new build and don't be conned by some on here into putting a bike engine into it!

Caber

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MikeR

posted on 13/6/06 at 06:54 AM Reply With Quote
come on, its got to be easier to weld on a new front suspension than build an entire car and front suspension.
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MikeRJ

posted on 13/6/06 at 07:56 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
come on, its got to be easier to weld on a new front suspension than build an entire car and front suspension.


Damn right, especialy as this car is SVA'd and on the road. Suggesting that the OP build a completely new car is just silly IMO.

To be blunt, any halfway well engineered solution will likely be far superior to the engineering on the rest of the car (note that I mean RH's engineering, not your standard of build!).

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MikeR

posted on 13/6/06 at 08:07 AM Reply With Quote
you haven't seen my build
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tegwin

posted on 13/6/06 at 08:59 AM Reply With Quote
It hasnt been SVAd yet, but I dont see the point in spending hours setting up the sliding pillar suspension when it seems totaly crap....it has really bad bump steer tendancies and I cant see a way of removing that....

It also wants a new set of struts for the sliding pillar...so why bother..might as well do the wishbone converstion...

Just got to figure out how :p

Dunc

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MikeR

posted on 13/6/06 at 09:41 AM Reply With Quote
have you tried contacting robin hood - they might have some suggestions as i'm sure its now an option.

In fact isn't volvosport on here the technical person at RH now?

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timf

posted on 13/6/06 at 09:53 AM Reply With Quote
dosn't mnr dor an inhouse conversions aswell





A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him."
- Sir Winston S. Churchill, 1952

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leto

posted on 13/6/06 at 11:32 AM Reply With Quote
If the car isn't finished another kit is not an option, sorry.
How about a mild steel sub frame? If you can spread the load well enough the weaker welds and thin tub walls won't be a problem.





“I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round”. (J. Cash)

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Volvorsport

posted on 13/6/06 at 07:08 PM Reply With Quote
all RH chassis are mig welded .

we had a discussion about kits to re engineer the front and back to existing cars , from our point of view its easier to build a new car .

the box section idea for the wishbone mounts seems like the easiest option , give RH a ring im sure well sell you some box section for the job . we may have som esuitable wishbones for the job also .





www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus

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MikeR

posted on 13/6/06 at 07:28 PM Reply With Quote
See knew he'd help. Well done that man.
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907

posted on 13/6/06 at 07:48 PM Reply With Quote
Hi Volvorsport.

Just to satisfy my curiosity, is it 409 that's used on RH chassis?

Paul G






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Volvorsport

posted on 13/6/06 at 09:04 PM Reply With Quote
ill have to check tomorrow .





www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus

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