I'm going to attempt some welding on my door, as a section needs to be cut out and repaired. It's all bent and mangled, so it's the only way. Curious if what type of steel I should get for this? Also thinking of making half-doors down the road...

 

Probably 20 ga. Your bigger problem isn't going to be welding in the piece, it'll be heat-distortion of the entire door from your welding. It's actually really difficult to weld in a piece and NOT heat-distort the metal. I've seen guys completely ruin an otherwise good door panel, or quarter panel due to poor welding. It can be done but with great care. Heat distortion can lead to 'tin-canning' which can be worked out, but it takes time and experience to do so. I worked at a bodyshop for years, done all manner of metalwork.

Post a picture of the damage, so I can see it, give you more thorough advice.

 

Okay, thanks... I do have a very experienced welder friend who is willing to help me which is good. I'll post a pic when I get home... it's not good, lol.

 

Well, hope he's good at welding sheet metal. Guys who do a lot of fabricating, it's a different skill than sheetmetal. I've had guys call me up with almost tears in their eyes to come over hand help fix a panel they welded (and warped the crap out of). The overall hot-tip that a person needs to use when welding sheetmetal are:

1) Go SLOOWWW
2) Do short stitches (using .023 wire on a low setting - Argon/CO2 is best)
3) Wait for the metal to cool down before making the NEXT weld.
By 'cooling down between welds', I mean let each weld get to room temp before going on to the next. If ya don't let it cool down between welds, eventually the entire metal repair shrinks as it cools and it'll pull in other parts of the door and can cause tin-canning. When that happens, most guys start to tear-up. But it can be fixed by performing metal-stretching or metal-shrinking (or both in different areas), and that gets into deep fabricating ...all of which you want to avoid altogether.

Also, don't quench the welds with a wet rag either between b/c that will shrink metal ...again something to avoid.

Just make a short stitch and let it cool ..not warm but room temp. then make another stitch. If it's a long repair (like a door bottom), you can stitch on one end and move to the other. But just go sloooowww. It's far easier to avoid problems altogether.

Yeah, let's see that pic!

 

thin ss and pop rivets?

 

 

That should be an easy weld in the jam area (where shrinking is pretty much not a concern). If I were doing it, I would cut and shape the repair piece flush to the existing metal.

What I wrote about really using care not to avoid heat-shrinkage applies mostly to working on outer panels. Door jams aren't really an issue.

Hope it helps. Let's see the finished repair when your done!!

 

Okay, cool. Still 20 gauge?

 

round of the corners of the cut, and patch..mig welding a sharp cornered patch in, you will burn out the corner

also, take time to make the patch fit really well

measure the thickness of the metal with a vernier and use the same thickness

 

I'm thinking 18ga would be better for that region due to stresses around the latch area ...and overall safety. But like AWG said, first measure the adjacent metal thickness. Also see what the matching area on the other door looks like for thickness. Is that latch any good? Looks like someone cut into it. May consider replacing during this job.

The new holes need to be tapered for the latch screws. You can 'dimple' the holes on your new patch piece you make by making a make-shift press/die situation. Drill the latch holes first, then set the hole of the repair piece over a nut quite a bit larger than the hole (about the outer diameter of the dimple ..maybe 1/2"?? whatever it measure out to) ...and then tap it into the cone shape with a center punch that has a matching angle.

If you can get behind those tiny holes someone drilled with a piece of copper (temporarily), you can more easily weld in those holes (flush). Ask your welding buddy to bring over a piece of copper or fab a piece from a section of copper pipe, I'm sure he'll know what I'm talking about. Even a penny would work on your job. They make 'copper spoons' for welding applications like that, but a traditional 'spoon' probably won't fit in the hole ..maybe he has one that will though. It allows a welder to draw a weld across a hole (with the spoon flush behind it), and when it cools, you can remove the copper spoon. Its a little time saver.

 

Really appreciate all the feedback here... yes, the lock actuator is toast and I have a new one in hand ready to install. It's going to be tricky lining up the holes, but I do have this patch plate already in hand, as well:


My plan is to pull out the ole micrometer/vernier this evening and measure the steel thickness, so I can buy the proper sizes sheet at the hardware store. I'll fab up a piece as well as I can (assuming this may take several attempts with the awkward shape and rounded areas I need to account for). I basically want to "close off" that entire hole and weld it up as one structural piece. I can then go back and cut out the "tab" area for the latch to fit through (the section above the two bottom bolts/screws in the pic above), and also then mock up the plate in the picture above to have the correct dimensions for the holes and the new lock actuator. I'll definitely have the holes tapered for the new hardware.

Think this is good plan to start... will def report back to you guys.

P.S. the plate is aluminum, so yeah....

 

Sounds like a plan.

Come back with a pic, huh??

 

will do. Measured it out... 18 gauge it is. now for some metal manipulation.

 

My first attempt at fabricating some sheet metal...next step welding:

 

I cant say strongly enough how much better the jobs goes by spending the extra time to make the patch fit perfect,
I use an angle grinder with 120grit, and file to get the gap all around to less than wire diameter, or even touching, especially if i cant get a heatsink behind

also, I wouldnt do that as my first ever job preferably, but get someone with welding experience if possible i think you said