Spot welders

Craig Lewis

Craig Lewis

Well-known member
Has anybody here used the spot welder with copper tongs from Harbour Freight tools?
Do you know if it will reproduce the correct look of the spot welds attaching the firewall to cowl? ....I'm speaking of the spot welds covered by the rear edge of a 30-31 hood.
There's dozens of these style welders available when you start looking and maybe I need a higher amperage unit?...whatever the case it's hard to find a clear picture of the actual weld that each machine produces.
I'm aware of the capabilites of mig & tig but a real spot welder would come in handy.

http://www.harborfreight.com/230-volt-spot-welder-45690.html
 

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I have an older American made hand held spot welder that runs on 110 volts. It's too light a unit to weld the cowl or the battery tray.

I use the high school 220 volt water cooled spot welder to weld my battery trays.
 
I have one of the 220 units. I have not used it much but feel confident it would do what you want.
 
I've used the HF 110v unit and it works real good for light sheetmetal. The 220v unit would probably be better for your intended use however. They generally leave a slight dimple about the size of the tip diameter depending on how long and how hard you squeeze the handles. It's best to practice abit before attempting serious work.
Bill
 
Andy said:
I have one of the 220 units. I have not used it much but feel confident it would do what you want.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. If anyone has a picture of the spot weld their units produce I'd sure appreciate seeing it (if you get the time)
The thing about the factory Model A spots is they're quite deep and look like the tongs had a 3/16" - 1/4" round surface area, while the picture I posted above, from an original 30 cowl, has a rather "elongated" weld and I wonder if the tips might have burned themselves even wider & been overdue for dressing.
I have a gut feeling that the factory welders of the time had some pretty impressive juice behind them to make such strong and promanent looking welds.
 
Craig Lewis said:
Thanks guys. If anyone has a picture of the spot weld their units produce I'd sure appreciate seeing it (if you get the time)
The thing about the factory Model A spots is they're quite deep and look like the tongs had a 3/16" - 1/4" round surface area, while the picture I posted above, from an original 30 cowl, has a rather "elongated" weld and I wonder if the tips might have burned themselves even wider & been overdue for dressing.
I have a gut feeling that the factory welders of the time had some pretty impressive juice behind them to make such strong and promanent looking welds.
Click to expand...
Craig,
Did some spot welding on Model A tin in the mid '50's with a 110 volt welder wih 1/4 " probes. Made real nice welds when I filed the probes FLAT. Bill W.
 
Bill it sounds like you were using a regular buzzbox/stick welder? Did you use copper or carbon probes?
I thought about experimenting with my Millar 150 maxstar tig, as it's also a stick welder. If I grounded the rear piece of tin and just pushed a copper rod (mounted in the stinger) against the metal & hit the foot pedal it should make a spot weld ........on the other hand it might FRY my welder which was 5X the cost of a spot welder :eek:
 
Craig Lewis said:
Bill it sounds like you were using a regular buzzbox/stick welder? Did you use copper or carbon probes?
I thought about experimenting with my Millar 150 maxstar tig, as it's also a stick welder. If I grounded the rear piece of tin and just pushed a copper rod (mounted in the stinger) against the metal & hit the foot pedal it should make a spot weld ........on the other hand it might FRY my welder which was 5X the cost of a spot welder :eek:
Click to expand...
Craig,
It was a regular clamp on REAL spot welder with copper probes, pretty hot shot stuff for that era. Everyone wanted to try it as it was new & exciting. When moulding in 2 piece hoods, we'd add many spot welds to the flange inside the hood so we didn't have to weld the crack together before leading it in. I wonder if the lead ever CRACKED??? I can still smell the BEE'S WAX!!!! Oh! Dear! I'm giving away my AGE!:eek: Bill W.
 
Ive been using a Harbour Freight Mig-100 Flux wire welder to fill some small holes in my fenders and fire wall. I had hoped to do the same as what you are asking to my cowl after much practice with this 110 v. welder. It concerns me that these weld may not even be strong enough much less look correct.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
Craig,
It was a regular clamp on REAL spot welder with copper probes, pretty hot shot stuff for that era. Everyone wanted to try it as it was new & exciting. When moulding in 2 piece hoods, we'd add many spot welds to the flange inside the hood so we didn't have to weld the crack together before leading it in. I wonder if the lead ever CRACKED??? I can still smell the BEE'S WAX!!!! Oh! Dear! I'm giving away my AGE!:eek: Bill W.
Click to expand...

It's funny that you should mention that, Bill. I'm right in the midddle of welding up the seam on a 40 Chevy hood that I'm making into a boattail for my speedster. I'm using a mig welder to join and fill the halves.
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
It's funny that you should mention that, Bill. I'm right in the midddle of welding up the seam on a 40 Chevy hood that I'm making into a boattail for my speedster. I'm using a mig welder to join and fill the halves.
Click to expand...
Ross,
We used to weld 2 hoods, back to back, add a leakproof gas tank in the middle, and VOILLE', AN UNSINKABLE froggin' boat! YUM! YUM!:D Bill W.
 
Craig Lewis said:
Has anybody here used the spot welder with copper tongs from Harbour Freight tools?
Do you know if it will reproduce the correct look of the spot welds attaching the firewall to cowl? ....I'm speaking of the spot welds covered by the rear edge of a 30-31 hood.
There's dozens of these style welders available when you start looking and maybe I need a higher amperage unit?...whatever the case it's hard to find a clear picture of the actual weld that each machine produces.
I'm aware of the capabilites of mig & tig but a real spot welder would come in handy.

http://www.harborfreight.com/230-volt-spot-welder-45690.html
Click to expand...

I have been looking for the same thing and came to the conclusion that the one you showed doesn't have enough throat to reach the firewall because of the A pillar. I guess you could get a few from the top with the gas tank removed and a few from the bottom but I don't think you are going to reach the ones in the middle. I was considering mig welding mine in but would prefer a spot weld. Anyone else have ideas?
 
Craig Lewis said:
Bill please explain "froggin" ......inquiring minds need to know.
Click to expand...
Craig, you're missin' out,
Have you never savored GIANT battered & fried BULLFROG legs??? (RIBBITT!) For us Okies, those & Squirrel & Dumplin's are delicacies, REALLY! And, OH! YES! the legs DO jump when you pop them in HOT oil. When the jumpin' ceases, THEY'RE DONE!! Bill W.
 
Okay here is an idea but there may be problems with it. When removing the old firewall do so from the inside with a spot weld cutter to preserve the spot welds on the outside sheetmetal. Now you will be left with nubs on the sheet metal which can be ground down or you could drill holes in the new firewall to fit over them. Then weld around them or weld up other holes you drill in the firewall is everything was ground down flush. This is just how I might approach the problem. I have not done it so there may be some problems with it. I know from experience that not all of my ideas work out as planned.
 
Look around for an old Lenco spot welder.Every body shop in the country had them,when the migs got popular the Lenco's wound up stuck under a bench somewhere.I bought one from a shop that hadn't used it in over 20 years.We blew it out,kicked it on and it welded like it was new.I advertised on Craigslist looking for one and got a half dozen offers in a couple of weeks.The leads are only about five feet long,as they carry a tremendous amount of current.
 
I was just today looking for one and found,
got an old microwave laying around?
you could build your own for around $10
google "homemade spot welder microwave"
I think I'll give it a try.
 
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