How Hard is welding????

A real pro I'm not quite sure I have the balls to weld body panels tho I don't Wana kill my car :/

dub-step said

A real pro I'm not quite sure I have the balls to weld body panels tho I don't Wana kill my car :/

Go for it mate, just try it on some scrap, if you do mess up a bit on the car, grind it down and start again  
Couple more tips for you, buy the best welder you can for your money that's your main tool and you want to get on with it. If its a crap machine it will put you off for life.
Get a good helmet, I got a air fed Speedglass, but they have a good range of others at good money.
Once you are up and running and start welding your beloved prep is the key, nice shinny material,a good earth and most of all no fire hazards in the way ie trim, sound proofing, carpets etc.

Take your time and enjoy  :wink:

Pulse welding is the way to go on thin stuff

Try and do a long continuous welds and you'll end up with a warped panel or a great big melted hole!!

Pulse welding is like a series of long tack welds, do a bit and the stop and wait for the glow from the weld to die down(when the auto darkening mask clears is a good indication)

Also make sure the panel is securely tack in place as well, don't put too much heat in one place, thats gonna cause warping.  Weld panels in in sections.

As you get better at welding the 'tacks' get longer and the pauses less.

If you're welding overhead then turn the power and wire feed up a notch.

As said above, prep is key, nice clean metal makes life a lot easier.

Don't go mad with a grinding wheel, you'll end up thinning the metal and make the job of welding much more difficult.  A flap wheel/strip disc/wire brush on the grinder is better that a solid disc.

All good advice above.

My advice also is to make sure you spend the time in making your replacement patch / panel fit as well as you can before doing any welding. The less gaps there are between the old and the new will make a far neater job and will be easier to clean up after.

Also do some practice runs on some different thicknesses of metal and you'll see where your welder needs to be set at.
You are looking for welds that penetrate into the metal so there is a small witness of melting on the reverse.
Not enough power and your weld will sit on top of the metal like a caterpillar. Too much and it'll drop out the reverse side of the metal.

Wire feed is quite critical - not enough and the weld will spit and burn too far into the nozzle and you'll be constantly getting the wire stuck. Too much and you'll feel the gun kicking back in your hand.

The most important thing while practicing though is to listen to the weld as said above, when you get it right you'll here it. Make a note of that noise as it'll be your friend.