Well that'll wake you up... or knock you out!

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I am putting together a car and in order to run big slicks I clearanced the trailing arm.  I did this a while ago without compromising the factory seam/weld but only removed like 1/8".  Since I now have the trailing arms off of the car I decided to redo it and bring it down a full 1/2" letting me run even more tire.  So, I grind the ridge down then clear the paint, squirt with acetone and wipe clean.  I start an arc, I sink my foot in, and BANG!  The whole trailing arm jumped off the table it felt like - though it likely did not, but I got jolted for sure!  Thank goodness for helmets and safety!Rear trailing arm clearanced by Jon Kensy, on FlickrTurns out acetone from wiping it down and PB blaster from earlier removal of bushings got into the arm.  Its formed sheet metal and must be air tight I suppose.  Note to self - if using acetone in what might be a sealed vessel, back purge or air it out good!Miller Diversion 180Hobart Handler 140 (Soon to be replaced with Miller 211?)Miller Spectrum 625 Extreme
Reply:Thanks for that post. It turned out to be completely different than what I thought it was gonna be. Good point.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Scares the crap outs ya for sure. Just did something somewhat similar last weekend. The float on the carb of my lawn tractor was leaking and half full of fuel and I couldn't find the leak. So, me being a dumba$$ figured I'd clean it up and warm it up with a propane torch and the leak, which was obviously small, would get damp, I'd drill it out to drain it and resolder it.Well, I should have stuck with the word 'warm', I got it too hot, the pressure built up inside the float,blew the seam open 'bout 1/4 way around the circumference of the float. The gas caught fire and sprayed out like a flamethrower aimed at my arm which proceeded to remove the hair from said arm as well as a thin layer of skin. I was holding the float with a pair of needlenose so I threw it away not really giving a rats behind where it went. Good thing because it went under my rolling bench and started to catch the rags afire I had piled there. So I grabbed them and threw then on the floor and put them out.Could have been worse I guess, I could have thrown it toward the oil change pan I was using to clean up the carb....with gas remnants in it from the bowl.Just like the op's post, sometimes the simplest things.......Mike
Reply:Acetone can be real dangerous, if you don't use the inside of your head...Used to work with building fibreglass products, and acetone is used extensively to clean equipment there - spraying equipment has the hoses flushed for example, and the waste acetone was sprayed straight into 20l plastic cans. One spring day one of the company owners decides to burn a pile of cut down bushes, however, a light rain has got everything soaking wet and even a good amount of diesel over all of it isn't enough to get a fire going - a few small flames, but nothing that really caught fire. I think you already have figured out his next step - he picked up one of the 20l can full of waste acetone. Unscrewed the cork and threw it onto the mess of wet bushes and slowly burning diesel... Acetone ignites, the can says boom and comes flying back hitting him straight on the wrist. Goes to the hospital and gets a load of screws to hold all those pieces of bone in their right places - they might have tightened some the screws he had loose to begin with too.  Never did mess with acetone and fire again anyway. Didn't stop another of the owners from smoking while cleaning tools in buckets full of acetone though.
Reply:It turns out it wasn't the acetone sir.  There is some sort of sealer the factory uses inside those arms to likely prevent moisture and rust.  I did not acetone the other arm, and just wiped it down and went to weld.  Same thing happened though this time I was ready for it.  I drilled two 1/4" holes and was purging with air.  As soon as I would weld I would get a HISS and spurt of the molten metal back onto the TIG torch.  Charming.Miller Diversion 180Hobart Handler 140 (Soon to be replaced with Miller 211?)Miller Spectrum 625 Extreme