welding question

-
67Dart440GT said:
Good luck in the business.... Making that kind of cash is rare in an average body shop. You will learn 10x's more working in a shop for a year than you will going to a tech school for two years.... you basically get the basics in school. ICar and ASE stuff looks good on paper, but in the end any monkey can pass the tests.
Click to expand...

Well..... Im in the "Trade Act" program. My job was out-sourced to China so the US tax payer is paying 100% for my re-education (thanks guys).

I looked at my options and decided, hell they can't send cars to china to be fixed.

It also opens the option to do small custom work from home for a little extra cash.

But really..... I'm enjoying school including my non-automotive classes (math, writing, psychology), I may go for an additional degree or two.

Hell, the house is paid off, cars are paid off, don't have any kids. We don't need to make as much as we did before.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Well..... Im in the "Trade Act" program. My job was out-sourced to China so the US tax payer is paying 100% for my re-education (thanks guys).

Something I need to look into?

I looked at my options and decided, hell they can't send cars to china to be fixed.

Thats exactly what I thought! There will always be wrecked cars!:eek:ops:


It also opens the option to do small custom work from home for a little extra cash.

If you work in a "Production" shop, this will change your mind. It was common for me to flag 120-180 hrs a week by myself at a dealer and the Manager insisted on MORE-MORE!!! All this in a 40 hour week. I refused to work any weekends due to family obligations. With this in mind my wife and I invested in a small shop behind the house where my Cuda sits naked. No one wants to spend any cash to fix up their rides so I started on mine. I have been asked to paint all types of things but no one wants to pay. I did a Buddy job and had over $600 in materials(PPG) painting a jeep. Not much labor involved. Then I hear, Maaco does them for $299!!!:banghead:

But really..... I'm enjoying school including my non-automotive classes (math, writing, psychology), I may go for an additional degree or two.

Take as much as you can get. Options for the future! I picked this career and it bit me in the butt. Starting over really sucks..

Hell, the house is paid off, cars are paid off, don't have any kids. We don't need to make as much as we did before.

Thats a big plus here too! My land is paid for and only owe 10 more years on the house and one year on a car note, a 6 year old and a 13 year old(Girls). Thank myself for living the "Simple" life... Priorities are the "needs" and not the "wants". HAHA! Girls have a hard time with that quote...
Click to expand...

Whew!!
 
If I remember right. Cragar's had a steel insert cast into the spoke section- that's what they actually welded to the rim.
I understand the back to school gig- got laid off 18 months ago (why pay me $18 hr as a manual machinist when some 20 yr old will do it for $9.50) so state paid for school- CNC/CAD/CAM. I appreciate it but still- "A college degree conferred on one with no knowledge is closely akin to a silver saddle on a jackass..."
 
03ramit1 said:
Explosion welding is really a cool process. But for the sake of argument in a shop setting it's not possible. A cool vid for you though........

Explosion Welding - YouTube
Click to expand...

Cool thanks for sharing, when i mentioned this I was referring you can buy the explosion bonded steel and aluminum in a strip and weld the steel to steel and aluminum to aluminum with conventional methods.
 
CUUDAK said:
Whew!!
Click to expand...


Hey CUUDAK, I couldn't agree more about side work... Good luck getting any. It's always, yea I need someone to do all this body and paint work... It costs how much??? Ok never mind. Nobody is willing to pay and it is mostly down to the cost of materials. I don't even bother looking for side work, it's more of a pain in the ..... than it's even worth. Unless its a good friend or family member.
 
I'll pay good money for pair and body, bit I'm still in the fab stages and not ready for body work. I know how iWork I gotta wait otherwise illhave it all dented again. Lol
 
Purple Haze said:
Cool thanks for sharing, when i mentioned this I was referring you can buy the explosion bonded steel and aluminum in a strip and weld the steel to steel and aluminum to aluminum with conventional methods.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was told that getting a 4X8 sheet done can be upwards of $250,000. Buying only what you need is probably best. But in automotive work I can't think of a single use for it.
 
well that explosion stuff is cool and sounds like a good idea 250k is a bit out of range for some sheet metal lol. the reason i brought this whole thing up anyway is because im thinking of buying a set of those led strips to put in my bumper to clean it up a bit and, they are really easy to make into a custom look. the problem is that most of them come with an aluminum surround, so the options with buying them are:

a)weld some bolts to the back of the bumper and drill the housings so i can bolt them to it.

b)make my own steel surrounds once i get them

c) try some of the epoxy stuff that was mentioned

anything that i may be missing?

heres the link to what im mostly looking at,

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/leds_taillights.html

not sure which ones id want yet, however they all look to be built in the same general fashion with the aluminum (billet) suuround
 
hey cuudak can you post the part # of the ones you are using please. that link is like mine, just takes you to the full list page
 
scampy72 said:
hey cuudak can you post the part # of the ones you are using please. that link is like mine, just takes you to the full list page
Click to expand...

L72-SEQ is the ones I have used. Yes it is a Aluminum housing. I used a stud gun and welded all-thread to the steel so the housing would bolt in place. I cut the opening and glued the lens into the steel and let it dry. Then I spread some evercoat metal glaze over the entire area and sanded until i broke thru into the lense. Shot a couple coats of primer and sanded to the lense again. Taped the exposed lense and refinished that area with body color and pulled the tape off before the last coat of color. Last coat just covered the lense but with the lights on it shined thru and looked awesome. With the light coat over the lenses you were unable to see anything but a smooth surface when they were off. Seamless look!

Ooops! I did it again. Sorry for the jack!

Unfortunately I do not have any of the photos due to my pc crashed and lost everything.

Here is the set my Ram had,
 

Attachments

  • *** of dodge.jpg
    127.7 KB · Views: 91
thanks cuddak ill check those out!! the paint idea sounds great but im keeping my bumper chrome so it wont work for me, but maybe on another build.... ill keep this in mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top