Tig Welding Auto Body Panels

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I just replaced a lower quarter on a 67 Firebird and I used MIG to tack the panel in.  I would like to TIG some of the panel and I wanted to know what size tungsten and wire would you recommend?The lower quarter is all butt joint, with tight fit up.My Lincoln manual recommend .040 tungsten with a .040 wire.  I tried a .020 tungsten (it is all my welding supply had) with some .035 s06 wire from my MIG spool and it worked ok, but the tungsten was white hot and I was running 30 amps. Due to the size of the tungsten, I did not even sharpen it.I also tried 1/16 tungsten and it burned through pretty easy and not enough arc to really see what I was doing.Thanks!Build a Barstool Racer at BarFlyRacers.com!
Reply:i recently did a similair repair for mates engine bay make sure its tight fit up and use 1.6mm tungsten and filler i was running about 30-45amps and gettin full peno so he was able to grind it all back and have alot of meat on the other side and it would be a good idea to have a foot pedal because i found with such thin steel before i could cordinate my filler to torch a hole was already starting good luck with it
Reply:Lol I had no idea they had tungstons that fine.I have done sheet metal with 1/8 no problem but 1/16 would be recommended.Same as 1.6 mm like Bozzza said.Mig wire will work if you don't feel like you are feeding too fast. 1/16 should work really well though.Lincoln precision TIG 275Millermatic 140 MIG
Reply:Personally i don't bother with tungstens smaller than 1/16, just grind 'em to a finer tip (smaller included angle) for low amperage work... http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/tungsten/geometry.htm. Never had any arc stability problems even at <10 amps0.035-0.040" wire is ideal for coachwork, 1/16" filler takes too much heat i.e. you need to run hotter putting more heat (and potentially distortion) into the panelNot fully metalfinished but this is how i typically go about coachwork...  http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=23036
Reply:I have used 16th and just kept them sharp.  Mostly fuse the panels when they are perfectly fit. weld it like you own it
Reply:Originally Posted by lewrayI have used 16th and just kept them sharp.  Mostly fuse the panels when they are perfectly fit.
Reply:I'd think you would want some filler. Seems to me fusing it would be more prone to cracking and like hotrodder explained in the thread he posted it's better to have material too high than too low. I supose if you plan on using body filler you can get around that but I like to avoid body filler whenever possible.Lincoln precision TIG 275Millermatic 140 MIG
Reply:Originally Posted by yoshimitsuspeedI'd think you would want some filler. Seems to me fusing it would be more prone to cracking and like hotrodder explained in the thread he posted it's better to have material too high than too low. I supose if you plan on using body filler you can get around that but I like to avoid body filler whenever possible.
Reply:Originally Posted by hotrodderPersonally i don't bother with tungstens smaller than 1/16, just grind 'em to a finer tip (smaller included angle) for low amperage work... http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/tungsten/geometry.htm. Never had any arc stability problems even at <10 amps0.035-0.040" wire is ideal for coachwork, 1/16" filler takes too much heat i.e. you need to run hotter putting more heat (and potentially distortion) into the panelNot fully metalfinished but this is how i typically go about coachwork...  http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=23036
Reply:I use 1/16 gold tungsten well sharpened and control the amps with the pedal. I also use 1/16 filler.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:If you're needing small diameter filler mig welding wire works very nicely.