Welding in 4speed hump

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ValiantOne

ValiantOne

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I should get to weld in my 4 spped hump this weekend.

Should I use stitch welds and fill the rest with seam sealer? Somehow welding the entire circumference of the hump seems excessive. Yes /no?

Also I was thinking of using undercoating on the bottom (exterior) side. I have already shot it with self etching primer. After cleaning the weld and touching up the primer can I undercoat over it or should I use some paint on it first?

Thanks,

CE
 
When I removed an original hump from a 65 Dart, I was kind of shocked on how sloppy it was installed. A few welds here and there and gobs of seam sealer! The actual cutout wasn't any better. I expect to weld the one for my wagon pretty much all the way around and seam seal it.
 
Here's what I did on mine. I drilled 1/4" holes all around the perimeter of the hump. Then I welded through the hole like a rosette. You can see a couple of the welds up on top.
Then I ground the welds down and used brush on seam sealer on both sides.
The giant hole is for a V-Gate shifter.


Ted
 

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Every other part of the floor and for that matter the whole structure is assembled with spot welds. You will be fine with either stitches or spots and then a layer of sealer. Undercoat will also be a good addition to the seal.
 
When I put my for speeding I put self tapping screws with some sealer around it. Mind you my cars are race car so I don't have carpet. But now when I want to take the gearbox out I just pulled those self tapping screws and I can sit in the driver's seat and take the two top bolts off the gearbox and pull the tranny like super fast and easy. I think while doing it makes it to permanent, there's a lot of advantages to be able to take it off when you want to.
 
Screwed in is interesting.... but it is not structurally as sound; one would expect the screws to work loose after a while with chassis twisting and bending. Not sure how Stitch weld; that will hold adequately. If you want a continuous weld, you need to do it in a few passes, with an inch every 3 inches and then go back and add another inch to each weld in the same succession. Trying continuous welds on sheet metal results in a lot of distortion in the parts. Access to the top of the trans IS good; maybe you could make up a smaller plate for that area.
 
Thanks all,

I figured stitch welds would be fine as there will be way more surface area than the spot welds the factory used.

If this car was going to be a race only car I'd do the self tapping screws too. It'd be nice to have that kind of access to the shift linkages. But this will be a street car that may see rain, and will have carpet over the hump anyhow, so it is going to get welded and sealed up real good.

What about undercoating over the self etching primer. Is that ok? Or should I use some sort of paint over it first? Or should I post that question over in the body work section?

Thanks,

Chris E.
 
Why not structural body adhesive? Attached and sealed in one move! They put whole cars together with the stuff!
 
Well I'm gonna fab mine up to be removable
Kinda like a aircraft panel
 
ValiantOne said:
Thanks all,

I figured stitch welds would be fine as there will be way more surface area than the spot welds the factory used.

If this car was going to be a race only car I'd do the self tapping screws too. It'd be nice to have that kind of access to the shift linkages. But this will be a street car that may see rain, and will have carpet over the hump anyhow, so it is going to get welded and sealed up real good.

What about undercoating over the self etching primer. Is that ok? Or should I use some sort of paint over it first? Or should I post that question over in the body work section?

Thanks,

Chris E.
Click to expand...
Oh boy, I just reread my post and I have to really watch this voice command - it sounded retarded. Yes I understand its not a race car but sometimes on these old cars we're going back underneath and into them for one reason or the other. maybe it might be you want to change it back to automatic one day who knows. Again I highly think a good sealent all way around for water and maybe some other kind of semi-permanent attachment. that's been my experience
 
nm9stheham said:
Screwed in is interesting.... but it is not structurally as sound; one would expect the screws to work loose after a while with chassis twisting and bending. Not sure how Stitch weld; that will hold adequately. If you want a continuous weld, you need to do it in a few passes, with an inch every 3 inches and then go back and add another inch to each weld in the same succession. Trying continuous welds on sheet metal results in a lot of distortion in the parts. Access to the top of the trans IS good; maybe you could make up a smaller plate for that area.
Click to expand...

I would think if ones chassis is twisting and bending they need to look at more than just the screws holding the for speed hump in? I just took my four speed hump out for the first time in a year and a half after sealing it and putting the self tapping screws in and everything came out just fine and was tight when I went to do so.
 
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