Thanks man!

 

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/n...build-s14.html

If you decide to tub the front end, I tried to document the steps I took when I did it a few years ago. If you have access to a mig welder and some basic pneumatic tools you can knock it out. Same goes for tube frame core support and crash bar.

 

Thanks for the motivation haha. Actually I have access to some good tools (my next post will shed more light on this). I was reading through your build thread before I created this one, good work on the tubs. I need to finish going through it sometime..

Mind if I contact you with questions I may have?

 

Yeah that's cool.

 

UPDATE
----------


So I had been going back and forth with deciding what to do with the front, but after finding what all I have access to I think it's a no brainer. This post is a tool related post, with some of the stuff I have access to. I might waste some material until I get it right, but I'm pretty confident I can just do it all myself.

Now all I need to figure out is what size tubing I want, and ERW, DOM, or Chrome-Moly (anything I missed?) and how extensive of a tube-front I would like. The only tool I am missing to do the job right is a tube bender. However, I found a decent deal on a Protools bender, or I may just buy a new one since they're local. I'm justifying the cost in that I will be able to make a rear crash bar, and cages for both the S14 and my Miata (and crash bars for it as well).


I'm wanting to hear from you fab guys on what you think about these tools and if I need something else (or better). Thanks!


My grandparents have an awesome 3-bay shop, and here's what I've found


The welders




Welder #1 - wirefed DC 120v. Works pretty good, I did some spot welds for some practice.












Welder #2 - AC 240v, I'm not exactly sure how this one works .. the rod/stick is clamped in the gun I guess??






Welder #3




Supplies! The booklet was published in 1965 lol




Metal cutting bandsaw




Enco bench drill press




Parts wash and Harbor Freight hydro press (used this in an earlier post to twist my intercooler back to shape lol). The parts wash is great for cleaning the guns, on a side note




Big lathe from my great grandfather




Little lathe




Mill





andddd by far my favorite tool!

 

got enough tools to do all kinds of cool stuff, the miller mig should be plenty for what your doing, the stick welder can do alot thicker stuff but not as easy to use

 

Good to know, thanks! I assume you mean welder #1? What about the other Miller, I called welder #3 in the post, it looks newer but also I imagine it's less powerful since it looks portable.

The Lincoln AC welder can be used for aluminum right? Might come in handy in the future.

 

The only one you need is the #3 that's the better of the two MIG units. The Lincoln (arc) welder can't really weld aluminum even though its AC and it can't do sheet metal. 1/8" plate is about as thin as you can go unless you have a lot of practice and its not going to make very small beads. You'd realistically need a TIG welder to do anything with aluminum. You can do mild steel and some stainless with the correct wire/gas combo on the MIG.

Welder 1 and 3 are the same, just 3 is newer and a little better. They're both portable, 1 is just on a roller stand and has a tank hooked up to it. I'd actually swap those around.

If you're mostly doing thin sheet metal or thin wall tubing (22ga-18ga) .23 wire is best. Anything under about 16ga and .30 works. I usually use 75/25 (argon/c02) and solid wire for mild steel.

As far as what type of tubing, it doesn't really matter unless you're making a cage any mild steel tubing will work. I usually use 18ga tubing 'cause its easier to work with and I gusset if I need any real strength out of it.

One thing you should look into buying if you're working with tubing is a decent tubing-notcher and a couple of high tooth bi-metal hole saws.

 

^what he said, you can also set up the mig to weld aluminum with the right gas and a new spoolgun, but a tig is a much better option like he said, expensive though!

 

A spool gun to weld aluminum needs to be run off a 220v welder, the 110v welders I've found don't have enough ass behind them, not to mention they are messy, lots of slag and hideous welds. As longfellow stated, if you need to do any aluminum welding, tig is where it's at. I'd use #3 if it were me, just make sure you get the right gas/wire for what you intend to weld.

Stick welding is for structural items, i.e. railing, heavy gauge metals, items like that. A trick I've learned on using a wirefeed welder is if you're welding thicker items together, slow your wirefeed down if it doesn't have adjustable amperage. This will let you build up more heat and have a nicer weld. You'll most likely have to weld a small area, let it cool and repeat those steps, it is extremely easy to get impatient, so take your time. Before you weld anything, practice on pieces of similar items you intend to weld. Engine bay sheet metal, or sheet metal on 240's in general is thin and you can blow through it quite easily, ask me how I know...