Spot welder versus what for sheet metal

[Lil'John]

I'm looking at doing some thick sheet metal work: Basically a 16 guage body and floor that I need to connect together ;)

Anyways, can anyone recommend a self contained spot welder?

Or, is there a better method for assembly?

I'm trying to go for water proof ;)

[Brad]

How is a spot welder going to make it waterproof unless you have a bazillion all next to eachother? Why not just weld it all together with a MIG?

[HalfFastFord]

Mig it all the way aorund or mig it and use body sealer. Get the good kind the auto manufacturers use though, not the cheap stuff.

[roverjohn]

Glue the panels in place and use a few pop rivets, or the riv nuts some here like, that way when you damage them they're replacable without ginding your welds.

[Lil'John]

As HHF mentioned, I was planning on using body sealer.

The reason I don't care to use pop rivets is because the floor is going to be further up the body than my rocker guards and I'd rather not have a bunch of exposed rivets the length of the body ;)

I'm a little leary on welding it all up but that may be what I will do. For me, the good news is it is thick sheet metal so the odds of distortion or burn through are lessened.

[SquattyD]

just mig plug weld every 1-3", then seam sealer.

[Brad]

Just move around and dont do long sections if you weld it and be sure to let it cool. Know anyone with a TIG welder?

[Lil'John]

Sadly no friends with tig welders.

[mustsellxj]

dont use a spot welder even some of the realy expensive ones that we have at work (for dealership work) are junk just get your self a 3/8 hole punch and punch holes then do a plug weld with a mig it will be twice as strong and more relable penitration.

[mustsellxj]

make sure you use a weld through primer where the 2 conect. the primer might also be knowen a high zinc primer this will stop from rust and help with the water

[crusty1007]

um yeah a spot welder would look 10 times better... give it the "factory" look.... but it will more than likely be covered in bondo and SEAM SEALER so i would say plug weld it.. they have a tool thats like a hole punch for sheet metal. u go along every couple inches punching a hole on the overlapping sheet metal, grind clean, spray a (believe) nickel/zinc based etch/weld through primer between the sheets... (it will pop and fizzle a little) weld through the holes and bondo up....

just for info my buddy just spent 25K on a good quality spot welder for his shop.... they over heat, use alot of electricity, and if there is more than one "employee" using it all the parts will get lost and broke....

they have smaller units in the 4-8K range that work good on honda thickness (beer can material) but not so great for thicker suff....

PLUG WELD AWAY!