Quick spot weld question

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Nathan56989

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I have my 72 dart on the rotisserie and while removing the undercoating I found a few spot welds where the floor sections meet that are popped.
My question is, should I fully weld these seams to add just a little more rigidity to the body, or just drill the old weld and reweld in the spots. The car is getting a warmed 383 and MAYBE a manual trans.


Screenshot_20200329-194509_Gallery.jpg
 
I'd weld 'em. Granted, the spot welds are almost 50 years old, but they weren't up to the task, so why just duplicate them? Improve on it- you'll be stressing it more than stock, so you'll need better than stock strength. BTW, you are putting subframe connectors in too, right?
 
Yes, subframe connectors are going in. You can see one of them in the picture.
Thanks for your input.
 
I'd close up the gap and weld the seam. Stiffer is better. Looks like you have it in a good spot for welding.
 
Definitely. The rotisserie has been life changing. Things are going much quicker now. I'm too fat to be getting up and down on a creeper.
 
I would not weld the seams. Unless your an experienced welder (and I still wouldn't do it). You can create an edge that can stress fracture and crack, create pin holes and burn through for moisture to get in to. Spot welds are designed and used for a purpose and serve the industry well. Imagine the mess you are creating if you ever need to replace a panel. The over lap is destroyed. A good quality spot weld actually can create more surface area of the joint than the length of a weld. Staggered spot welds create strength across the span of the joint instead of linear along the edge. My wife (the mathematician), while I was explaining my answer to her. Stated a circle is stronger than a square or an edge.
 
Hey all, go to Tim McAmis Perfofmance Parts: Floor Strips. Watch this video. He has lots of great tutorial videos on youtube.
From back in the 70s, I remember my Mechanical Engineer friend telling that a straight weld would create a structure more prone to cracking. He would create weld joints just like in this video.
 
Hey all, go to Tim McAmis Perfofmance Parts: Floor Strips. Watch this video. He has lots of great tutorial videos on youtube.
From back in the 70s, I remember my Mechanical Engineer friend telling that a straight weld would create a structure more prone to cracking. He would create weld joints just like in this video.

I`d weld it up using the spot technique , and weld the new connectors to the floor pan too = stiffness !
Body flexing is what broke them loose to start with.
 
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