It only took me 2 minutes

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Coyote Jack

Coyote Jack

Member #55, I'm old
FABO Gold Member
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That's right folks, 2 minutes and I broke the Demon. Here is the story. I installed the rear quite a while back. This was when I was first learning to weld. I set the angle and then welded the shock plates to the housing. All along I was a little leary of these welds so I decided to test them out in the driveway. After a few stomps of the gas, you guessed it, the welds broke. No real damage, but I did lose a U-joint. I am glad that I was thinking of this before I took it on a shakedown run. Now that I can weld better I will reset the rear and start over.

Oh well, live and learn.


Jack
 
hehe

better to break it at home then down the road ;-)

wish i could weld/ had a palce to weld/ could afford the stuff to weld. good luck gettin her put back together, should be what? Next tuesday? :D
 
LOL....Just look at the welding experience you are getting though Jack !...Good luck on getting her fixed !
 
The good news is, you have it to the point where ya CAN tear the rear out of it! :headbang:
 
It's not that bad. Just a pain in the azz to do. You have to set the angle of the rear with the car resting on all 4 tires. It gets a little cramped under there for me. I'm 6' tall and weigh 220lbs. If the rain holds off I will do it tomorrow after work and try for round 2. LOL

Jack
 
Sorry you broke it Jack, but I'm glad you did it in the driveway, not at a downtown stoplight. I bet these welds will be better than the first ones - been there, but I've never had another weld break in the past 30 years. And I know what you mean about being 6' and 220 lbs, cause I'm much tooo TALL to fit under the car comfortably also. :)
 
You running an automatic trans or a manual? If your running an auto, read this thread (if you have not already). Exploding torque flights and why they happen

Now just a suggestion, if you have access to cement blocks (the kind like they use for blocking up trailer houses) you can use them to set the vehicle up high enough for doing things like, setting the pinion angle and tack welding perches/shock mounts or whatever. Just realize that if you use them incorrectly you CAN DIE. The way I do it is to jack up the back of the car so that the wheels are high enough off the ground to slip a block under each rear wheel with a 2x8 cut to the length of the block and placed between the tire and block (helps spread the load and reduce the risk of chunking out a corner of the block or your tires), set car down on blocks, make sure you have the park brake set or some other means of preventing the vehicle from moving, then do the same for the front. Make sure you set the block as I show in this picture (only one of a concrette block I had) so that the holes are facing the top, that is the way the block is strongest. If you turn the block so the holes are facing out the sides it can and likely will crumble (usually about the time your noggin is under there) and you wont be around to talk about what you did wrong.

And before ANYONE comes to bat to say "Oh my god dont use block you'll die" all I have to say is trailer houses and mobile homes have been set on them this same way for decades without problems and I had a Plymouth Satelite up on blocks this same way for years and do a lot of other car stuff that requires the car to be sitting on all four wheels under it's own weight in order to do the same adjustments and I am still here and have never had one crack, let alone crumble. If your not really comfortable trusting just the blocks once you get it up on them, you can add jack stands at all four corners just as an added safety measure (they will need to be tall though), I personaly have never worried about that though. I am 6' and roughly 240, so I know all about NOT fitting underneath to do pinion angle adjustments.

That said, I will add a disclaimer here, working on a vehicle that is supported, by whatever means you choose to use, IS dangerous and could have fatal results, use extreme care and good judgement when jacking and setting a vehicle up in the air for maintanence and repairs, follow my suggestion at your own risk.

cement block.jpg
 
Hay Jack if I was there I would weld it for you. I am a 5'7'' at 170lbs.
Smart move on the test at home! And glad it did not hurt anything ells.
I will take care of the weather so you can take care of the welding.
Hope all go's well Jack :thumbup:
 
Here is my plan for doing it.

I can get under the car from the backend to set the angle of the rear and my arms are long enough to reach under and set the protractor on the tranny. Once I get my angle set I will tack the rear in place. Then I will jack the backend up and set the axel on jackstands and take the wheels off to properly weld everything in place.

Permanently this time. LOL

Jack
 
Jack you did that wrong you should be braggin that your car makes so much H.P. and torque that you broke the welds on the rear!:thumbup:

Did you have to weld both spring pads on that rear? I thought it still had one on it when you picked it up.
 
Kev,

I guess I am just to honest. But, you know, it could have been the HP and TQ. As a matter of fact, now that you mention it, I'm sure that's what it was. Thanks for bringing that up. LOL

Jack
 
Well since you plan on tryin to squeeze under there again, and you wern't to proud to admit that you questioned your own weld, post a picture of the welds that broke and maybe some of us welders by trade can give you some advice on doing it a little better, my money is on the fact that you probably ran to cool and maybe a little lite on the wire speed. A pic is worth a thousand words though, especially when it comes to welds. (X-rays are better though :twisted: )
 
To late for that krabysniper. I already have it apart and ground down. I do suspect that you are right though as the penetration did not seam to be the best. This was done when I first started welding and I have learned since then. I have also had to go back and redo welds I did on other items from this time period. That is why I was leary of the welds in the first place and did the testing in the driveway.

Jack
 
Kev,

It did have a pad still on it, but that pad was in the wrong spot for some reason. I had to cut it off and reweld it.

Jack
 
Jack, coming from a welder, penetration is good to a point but I have seen a guy at work that loves penetration to a point of where it becomes dangerous and sloppy. What I do when working on something thicker then I have before(like right now making crazy stairs using 1/2" plates) I usualy try out on some small scrap metal from projects before to test what is the best. I know this is virtual impossible for you but just thought. I will also admit I am not the best welder for automotive things but for the stuff I do I am pretty good.

Some Lincoln mig welders usual come with a guide located where the wire goes as to what voltage and wire speed is best when working on different types and thicknesses. I dont go by this but never hurts to look at it haha.

No worries Jack, just a few more hours on the baby and you can tear up the streets!
 
Well, I have been welding on one thing or another since I was about 8 years old (I am 3 plus decades older than that now, LOL) I can weld blindfolded in any position, the key to a good weld, besides practice, knowledge of metulurgy, proper equipment, blah blah blah) is to listen as you are welding, if it sounds like bacon sizzling in the pan, your on the right track. It's so easy to weld, a cave man can be taught to do it, as long as the machine is set properly and the material is prepped properly. A good guide in PDF form from Lincoln Electric will help you to understand what is really going on when you are welding and should help you to understand what you may be doing wrong, would probably help a lot of peeps here who want to learn to weld or become better at it. Here is a link to it Lincoln Electric Welders guide
 
You're scarin me Jack. I welded my pads on myself. It did sound like I was burnin a pan of bacon. And fortunately it wasn't my first experience, but it is pretty hard to break even a crappy weld. Given the fact that there are 4 welds about 1-1/2 inches long on each side of the pads. I think your on to somethin with that TQ and HP thing...lol.
 
That's what I thought you meant. Surprised nobody else noticed that.. :lol:
 
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