4 Speed Pedal Rebuild Went South - Help!

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matthon

matthon

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So, my clutch pedal had broken off of the weld on the top. I took it all apart, got new bushings, rod, bearings, etc, and welded the pedal to the new rod.
Put it all back together and it was smooth as silk.
About 15 minutes later- the weld tore on one side from the over spring.
Now the over spring and the rear tab that the spring hooks on to rubs against the mount; the pedal won't come back up all the way, its tough to push, noisy, etc.

Second time I actually welded something, and it penetrated well and I had a nice bead going around. When the factory weld broke it took some material from the pedal so I filed it down and went around again- started looking like balls of metal so I stopped. I can't weld it from the other side because it has to sit flush against the bearing sleeve.
OK now you can laugh at my welding skills, I know it looks bad, but without going too crazy, I tried to make sure it would hold before I put it back in, stuck it in the vise and it wouldn't budge.

The spring came out with 7 washers only put in about a half inch- getting it back in was ridiculous.

What can I do to make this weld withstand the over spring?

Is there a better design than a welded on piece?
I got these parts from Brewers.

What is the best way to get the spring back in?
I filled it with washers to put it back, and it took hours.
Can I use a smaller spring?
It needs one or the pedal stays down.

I'm spent, and apparently a welding idiot.
 
You don't have enough heat and you're traveling to fast by the look of it.
 
Stick welding?? I am by no means a welder, but I agree with bigdemo1, slow down...make nice small puddles(circles) with maybe a little more heat. I cant help with much else sorry Matt. Any good welder will have her fixed for ya in about 5 minutes, maybe ya got one close by.
 
Your no way hot enough. When i weld I know I'm to hot or right on when I'm melting some of the material that I'm welding. If you have a 5/32 rod 6013 or 7018 run the amps up to 90-100 and slow down.
 
As far as getting the spring back in I stretched mine with my floor jack and inserted small finishing nails far enough in to keep both sides on the spring stretched and then positioned the spring in place. I used a small pry bar to open each coil and pull the nails out one at a time. It took me longer to contort myself under the dash than it did to reinstall spring. Hope this helps.
 
I completely missed that- geez I'm stupid.
This welder may not be the greatest thing, on/off, feed, and min/max, I had it at min of course- doh!
Max is 80 amps, is that hot enough for this?

Live and learn, I like doing things myself, but that damn spring needs to come off and on again- anyone have any input on that monster?
 
Floor jack?! That's brilliant dammit!
It didn't damage the spring at all?
 
Tup the guys are right you need to crank the heat up to weld that. If you practice you will find that when you get a good flow it will sound like bacon frying. Hope that helps.
 
find some scrap metal about the same size and practice welding that, when you think you have a good weld clamp it in a vice and try to break it
 
It looks like you are using a flux core welder MIG. It also looks like you are not getting enough penetration which is not enough heat. It take 150 amps to get enough penetration. At this point you may want to find a friend in the area with a bigger welder or have a muffler shop weld it for you.
 
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