Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide - Gas, Arc, MIG, TIG

Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide - Gas, Arc, MIG, TIG, Plasma Cutting, Sheetmetal, more

♦ This book can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on your repair or restoration project.

♦ Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide is the only welding book tailored specifically for the automotive market.

♦ Welding is a difficult task to learn on your own without proper instruction, equipment, and guidance; this book will give you the guidance you need.

There are varying levels of automotive skill sets among the automotive enthusiast community. Some people can perform minor maintenance, some can perform major engine overhauls, and some can perform minor paint and detailing work. But to truly round out your skills in mechanical and body or chassis repair and restoration, sooner or later you will run into a project that requires welding. Once you have mastered welding, there is very little left that you can't do.

Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide is just the book to get you there. Other welding books vary quite a bit on focus and detail. This book fills the gaps, making it a practical book packed with useful information on the types of projects that a self-trained welder can complete and that a typical automotive enthusiast would want to undertake.

Topics include types of welding and metalworking available or commonly used, the tools required to perform welding tasks, the different types of welders available, basic welding techniques, grinding and cutting, various forms of sheetmetal work, frame repair and reinforcement, filling body holes and rust repair, tubesteel projects, and more.

With restoration and repair work costing a small fortune these days for frame, floorpan, and structural body repair, Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on your repair or restoration project.

If you have a pending restoration project, are considering tackling or acquiring a new project, want to restore a muscle car, build a hot rod or a rat rod on a budget, or simply want to improve your automotive skills, Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide will pay for itself many times over. No shop library would be complete without it!

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

CHAPTER 1: METALWORKING OVERVIEW

The Physical Structure of Steel
Commonly Used Alloys
Automotive Metalworking Techniques

CHAPTER 2: TOOLS OF THE TRADE

A Word About Renting
Safety Gear
Cold Tools
Bench and Free-Standing Tools
Power Tools
Welders

CHAPTER 3: BASIC WELDING

Welding Supplies
Preparing to Weld
Basic Beads and Joints
Welding Practice
Making a Heavy-Duty Shop Cart or Welding Table
Welding Practice: Thick and Thin Welding

CHAPTER 4: CUTTING and GRINDING

Using Abrasive Cutting Tools
Using Shearing Tools
Cutting a Sheetmetal Gauge Surround With a Nibbler
Making a Removable Sheetmetal Panel With a Hand Shear
Using Grinding Tools
Cutting With an Oxy-Acetylene Torch
Making an Anvil from Railroad Track
Cutting With a Plasma Cutter
Cutting Stencil Designs With Plasma
Plasma Cutting Roll-Bar Mounting Plates

CHAPTER 5: SHEETMETAL WORK

Basic Sheetmetal Work
Making a Box
Making a Bulkhead
Repairing a Rusty Floor
Stretching a Fender

CHAPTER 6: AUTOMOTIVE WELDING PROJECTS

Chassis and Frame Projects
Boxing and Bracing a Vintage Frame
Making Subframe Connectors for a Partial Unibody
Rebuilding a Front Suframe
Bodywork Repair Projects
Filling Small Body Holes
Shrinking Small Fender Dents
Shrinking and Stretching Curves in Sheetmetal
Repairing Rust
Making a Patch panel

CHAPTER 7: TUBE STEEL PROJECTS

Working With Tube Steel
Calculating Bends in Tube Steel
Working it Out on the Floor
More Projects
Making a Basic Drag Racing Roll Cage
Creating a Tubular Chassis Brace
Making a Custom Exhaust Pipe

CHAPTER 8: WORKING WITH CAST IRON and OTHER MATERIALS

Fixing Broken Cast Parts
Welding and Aluminum Oil Pan
Working With Copper, Lead, Tin, Bronze and Other Alloys
Brazing and Soldering
Source Guide

About the Authors

Jeff Zurschmeide is a freelance automotive journalist and the author of High Performance Subaru Builder's Guide from CarTech Books.

Russell Nyberg is the owner of Racetech Fabrication in Portland, Oregon. His custom-fabricated metalwork for hot rods, race cars, and special-purpose street vehicles is renowned throughout the Pacific Northwest.