I used a cheapo stud gun on my MGB and it worked pretty good. It has a variable trigger so that you can hold it on for as long as you want for a stronger weld. Some studs I could bend off while others I had to grind off. Yours looked like a nice kit. Too bad it didn't work correctly.
@@D3Sshooter It is called Chicago Electric Stud Welder and is sold by a U.S. chain store called Harbor Freight. It is yellow and sold by other names and stores as well. I could not find out how many watts is uses but it did say up to 40 amps. It works best for smaller dents and have seen it used for metal shrinking as well as eliminating oil canning. Hope this helps...
Hi Steve. So difficult to emulate the guys to do this sort of thing every day, but you got there in the end. If you haven't already seen it, Carter Auto Restyling is a great channel for dent repair with simple tools - but a lot of skill.
That was a success Steve! You may find that annealing the dent area will make the dent raising a lot easier, the metal must be very work hardened after so many years, the dent sometimes comes out by just heating locally, good luck! It is looking much better already. Chris B.
Hi Steve I was always told when pulling out dents first in last out you need to work the edges up first and the centre usually pops up , as with the stud welder there is sparks and a bang when you pull the trigger
Steve - I can't speak to the thicker metal you have been dealing with, but I've had luck using a deflated ball (soccer, volleyball, basketball) behind an inaccessible dent. I just inflate the ball and it will generally do a good job of popping out a dent. Great work as always and my guess is the thicker steel acted as a heat sink on the puller and prevented a good weld.
He Onley Used The Welder for 1 Second, I Have Used The Same Welder and a 3 to 4 Second Charge Holds The Stud and It Won't Come Off Unless It's Cut Off or Twisted Off. As I'm Sure You Know This .
I know, and what I tested was just one... but that did not hold enough... I have tried it later on thinner material and that seems to work. I assume the MGA steel is just to thick
I remember those German made hand helt spotwelders where actualy pretty good, but they has probably not been in production since the 70s and they where like 3x the size and weight of those, holding time skulle be within a second or so for a good quality spotwelder, but i guess those made in china has a aluminium core and probably not as much humps as those old german ladies i assume. (I only used stationary ones on my old work because we did not had any of the hand held ones, but i remember holding time under power did not change as much on the industrial spotwelders, so perheps the DIY wersions does not go as high up in powerload, on the industrial ones the copper electrodes almost started to melt if one increrased the holdingtime under power for too long, at least they became extremely hot after less than a minute if one forgot to turn on the watercooler... but those where the old scool analog transformer ones made in Sweden for welding radiators, chassieworks and things like that)
Steve - I believe you either had a defective stud gun or you did not set the amperage high enough. You should see discoloration around the pin where it welds to the base metal as that indicates full fusion of the pin the metal. Your pins only looked like they had a surface weld and not a full penetration weld. Don't give up on this tool, it does work if the tool is good and the weld settings are correct.
Thanks for the comments, I tried all the settings on the amperage. In fact that stud was using the max I could set it to... Maybe , that gun is just faulty, I will return it...
@@D3Sshooter Right move there since you went to max amperage. Would still like to see you try again with a better gun as you are fair and impartial about your comments on the tools you use. Glad to see the other methods did work for you.
Arthur on TH-cam does bodywork...and he welds on tabs and stuff to pull at times..plus has a stud welder setup too.... you can mig a metal piece to pull without holes.... you also need to work from the outside of a dent into the deepest part last.. reverse of how the dent happened... it pulls the deeper stuff out too as you work it...
That el-cheapo kit for pulling panels out, you need to weld about 10-12 rings in a line, leaving about 10mm space between each ring. Then pass a rod through the eye of the rings and pull on the rod outwards. You can adjust the rod in or out and pull where you want more panel out. 🐞The one ring is not strong enough. They have included stud pulling, that would for sure not work! I think sometimes they just include shinny bits in the box to look full and attractive to the buyer.
Might want to try an actual spot welder? It would have the power to weld pretty thick sheet metal. TIG would also be very viable. Weld a link of small chain for a pulling eye.
Im not sure about that stud gun but generally they are good on any automotive sheet metal, however thin or thick. You might want to try a better brand before giving up on them. If that car has a galvanized coating, it will help to grind that off wherever you're putting a stud.
That stud welder doesn't have enough power , or try holding the trigger longer ,the sheetmetal around the stud should be blue ,i have an H&S auto shot and it works great but it cost me about 600$ CDN 10yrs ago
Really you needed to pull out the edge off the grill aperture, as that corner is pushed in. Relieving it would have eased the corner at the same time. This is a curve , so moving the peak of the arc would be more effective than pulling the corner. Also don't use point pulling, like you did with a hook, as you stretch the panel and break it!. Obviously the stud gun does not produce enough heat to secure the pins to the metal. I have seen similar devices work well.
An Expensive Spot welding tool would perform better..of course...same as a expensive welder works better than a cheap basic Mig/Tig/Arc welder... but depending on ones use and need...it can perform fine if used properly.... There are also tips fir mig welders to put those pins on too... never tried those yet....Eastwood sells them... Seen many using these style of cheap asian welders and they can get them to hold ?? maybe you got a defective unit..not abnormal ...why i buy new and where i can return them if disatisfied with the quality or performance.... 🇨🇦🤓🤟
Your approach is not fundamentally wrong, but there is room for improvement. Next time, try welding steel plate tabs to the very edge of the panel you need to pull. Use the gauge of the original steel. You will find if you use enough tacks, it will be a very firm attaching point and you can easily cut them off and grind the remains off. While the edge is pulled, you use a hammer and dolly to straighten the dents. It doesn't really matter which side you hammer on until you have a dolly firmly backing the area.
Steve..with your obvious infatuation with racing was wondering if you follow F1? as a yank NASCAR use to be my interest, but of late i am disappointed with quality of the new gen..but after watching Netfliz series on F1 i have become a very big fan of F1..
Hi , I do ... but funny enough i am attracted to NASCAR.. in Fact I am about to engage in EURNASCAR... looking at a car for the moment... strange how we like what we are away from
Your not holding it long enough to weld to panel....normally it should hold fine... some may be weaker and pull off easily...but like a poor weld in any method ..it had no penetration... not saying it is a good spot welder..just i watched how you did it and it needs to get hotter to fuse properly... i would tack it with a Tig or Mig and at least use the pins/washers and so on before giving up...use it as best to secure the fasteners and if you gotta weld it extra with what you got..then it might finish your work.... lots of times i seen guys give up blaming the tool when they are not doing it correctly..don't take this the wrong way...i never used that brand..tried some other chrap asian ones and once i got used to it they worked fine....the first few were coming off like that..but i umderstood how to weld so figured it out....i burned them on real good and fixed the weak welds .... 🇨🇦🤓🤟
Gary, this one has a build in timer.. so it does not matter how long I hold it. It just stops after x time. I tried the max setting in the video. I have tried it later on modern sheet metal and that worked a lot better. It was also half of the thickness of the MGA panel. Or I have defective unit... maybe I plat with it a bit
. ok fair enough.... i would let it reset and zap it a few times....😂 I believe you... yes the thicker metal of older vehicles requires special Autobody tools.... like Sledgehammers and different tools... no paintless repairs on real steel... 🇨🇦🤓🤟
That stud welder must be a dud machine. Watching yours compared to this one: th-cam.com/video/ZhC5frX8QvU/w-d-xo.html Yours doesn't even get hot around the stud (as long as you held the button until it timed out). It was a really big ask of any stud welder though for that big of a dent. I reckon they are just for the finishing off part after pulling/pushing with a port-a-power.
That doesn't even sound like yours Steve! This tool looks more like a toy! That shouldn't even be 1kW... To spot weld 1mm plate you need something around 2-5V/2-3kA, do the math and calculate the power of a minimally usable machine for this situation!
When it comes to the "Chinese stud tool" I wish that you/we don't go all in with the US Maga movement attitudes... America asked China for cheap stuff, and that's what they got, and what we got... production costs may be lower in China, but we still get what we pay for, that's the logics of free trade, isn't it? I wish we can be a bit more fair than we tend to be...
Thanks for the comments, let's leave politics out . I used to make video's for a business that sold cheap tools (toolmania, I am sure you can find some of those video's). At some point I stopped, as the tools were so bad and I was not willing to sugar coat them in the video's. The owner of the business did not like it , and we stopped the agreement . He explained to me (and proved it ) that the tools he buys are the cheapest one can get... In China factories they line-up the tool in grades, very cheap, cheap, and ok. The same tool comes in one of the flavours, and is of course build accordingly. `they all look the same, but the part are of different quality' . Thus, he buys the very cheap versions, so he can compete with other shops that might sell the better version.. Those tools are all brand less and when bought in bulk, they put your business name on it... Thus, don't expect a lot...and that is why I am always sceptical about those tools.. My Mac and IPhone are also made in China and that is top quality and top price. At the end you get what you pay for.
I’ve seen the washer trick to pull the metal done successfully with a row of many washers many times. That is the key.
Steve working on a red 1950’s MG warms my heart. Love your work 👍
Mine too!
Hi Steve, perfect work 👍 It's always a lot of fun watching your videos👍I also need the hydraulic cylinders🙋
Thanks for the comments
Great job Steve. For a while I wasn't sure you would be able to sort this out but as usual your dedication has triumphed 😊
Thanks 👍, if one tries long enough it can be done
I used a cheapo stud gun on my MGB and it worked pretty good. It has a variable trigger so that you can hold it on for as long as you want for a stronger weld. Some studs I could bend off while others I had to grind off. Yours looked like a nice kit. Too bad it didn't work correctly.
Thanks. didn't work at all... is yours a Vevor 800 watt ?
@@D3Sshooter It is called Chicago Electric Stud Welder and is sold by a U.S. chain store called Harbor Freight. It is yellow and sold by other names and stores as well. I could not find out how many watts is uses but it did say up to 40 amps. It works best for smaller dents and have seen it used for metal shrinking as well as eliminating oil canning. Hope this helps...
Excellent body dent repair skills looks good
Thanks 👍
Hi Steve. So difficult to emulate the guys to do this sort of thing every day, but you got there in the end. If you haven't already seen it, Carter Auto Restyling is a great channel for dent repair with simple tools - but a lot of skill.
Nice work. Looking forward to more videos of this car.
More to come!
Hi 👋🏻 Steve. What a really fantastic video with some great body work and demonstrating cheap Chinese 🇨🇳 tools 😮 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it
That was a success Steve! You may find that annealing the dent area will make the dent raising a lot easier, the metal must be very work hardened after so many years, the dent sometimes comes out by just heating locally, good luck! It is looking much better already. Chris B.
Thanks for the tip
Hi Steve I was always told when pulling out dents first in last out you need to work the edges up first and the centre usually pops up , as with the stud welder there is sparks and a bang when you pull the trigger
Não existe um método correto para voltar a lata no lugar... Cada caso é um caso e requer inteligência e inventividade. Parabéns, vc conseguiu.
Thank you
Looking forward to your valance...im in the throes of fitting one with air intake... maybe air scoops for brake ducts... similar to mgb sebring.
That is also what I plan, funnels for the brakes and oil-cooler. It will be in Aluminium.. I willgive it a go... will see if it works...
Steve - I can't speak to the thicker metal you have been dealing with, but I've had luck using a deflated ball (soccer, volleyball, basketball) behind an inaccessible dent. I just inflate the ball and it will generally do a good job of popping out a dent. Great work as always and my guess is the thicker steel acted as a heat sink on the puller and prevented a good weld.
Thanks for the comments, indeed that often is a good approach TXS
Steve you need to solder many of those studs on, to just one, then put the bar on the top and pull 6 or 8 at a time. Nice job anyway
That's a cool idea. I've seen it done using a mig welder also but using solder sounds even easier. Thanks.
He Onley Used The Welder for 1 Second, I Have Used The Same Welder and a 3 to 4 Second Charge Holds The Stud and It Won't Come Off Unless It's Cut Off or Twisted Off. As I'm Sure You Know This .
I know, and what I tested was just one... but that did not hold enough... I have tried it later on thinner material and that seems to work. I assume the MGA steel is just to thick
I did try longer trigger holds, unless this one is defective...
I remember those German made hand helt spotwelders where actualy pretty good, but they has probably not been in production since the 70s and they where like 3x the size and weight of those, holding time skulle be within a second or so for a good quality spotwelder, but i guess those made in china has a aluminium core and probably not as much humps as those old german ladies i assume. (I only used stationary ones on my old work because we did not had any of the hand held ones, but i remember holding time under power did not change as much on the industrial spotwelders, so perheps the DIY wersions does not go as high up in powerload, on the industrial ones the copper electrodes almost started to melt if one increrased the holdingtime under power for too long, at least they became extremely hot after less than a minute if one forgot to turn on the watercooler... but those where the old scool analog transformer ones made in Sweden for welding radiators, chassieworks and things like that)
Awesome work Steve!
Steve - I believe you either had a defective stud gun or you did not set the amperage high enough. You should see discoloration around the pin where it welds to the base metal as that indicates full fusion of the pin the metal. Your pins only looked like they had a surface weld and not a full penetration weld. Don't give up on this tool, it does work if the tool is good and the weld settings are correct.
Thanks for the comments, I tried all the settings on the amperage. In fact that stud was using the max I could set it to... Maybe , that gun is just faulty, I will return it...
@@D3Sshooter Right move there since you went to max amperage. Would still like to see you try again with a better gun as you are fair and impartial about your comments on the tools you use. Glad to see the other methods did work for you.
Arthur on TH-cam does bodywork...and he welds on tabs and stuff to pull at times..plus has a stud welder setup too.... you can mig a metal piece to pull without holes.... you also need to work from the outside of a dent into the deepest part last.. reverse of how the dent happened... it pulls the deeper stuff out too as you work it...
Thanks for the comments
Very skilful Steve
That el-cheapo kit for pulling panels out, you need to weld about 10-12 rings in a line, leaving about 10mm space between each ring. Then pass a rod through the eye of the rings and pull on the rod outwards. You can adjust the rod in or out and pull where you want more panel out. 🐞The one ring is not strong enough. They have included stud pulling, that would for sure not work! I think sometimes they just include shinny bits in the box to look full and attractive to the buyer.
Thank you for the comments and explanation
Hi Steve.Good to see you making templates. I did suggest that on your last vid, but didn't see a reply.
Great job so far ! Neil.
Thanks Neil, sorry I should have responded ... you know what, on my next episode I will mention it...
I did tell you about a Company that makes adjustable camber front dampers too, hope you saw them. Cheers. Neil@@D3Sshooter
@@victormildew1717 Indeed and yes -thank you
Might want to try an actual spot welder? It would have the power to weld pretty thick sheet metal. TIG would also be very viable. Weld a link of small chain for a pulling eye.
Indeed TXS
👍👍👍👍👍
Im not sure about that stud gun but generally they are good on any automotive sheet metal, however thin or thick. You might want to try a better brand before giving up on them. If that car has a galvanized coating, it will help to grind that off wherever you're putting a stud.
Thanks Jerry, I will try my MIG with an adaptor
That stud welder doesn't have enough power , or try holding the trigger longer ,the sheetmetal around the stud should be blue ,i have an H&S auto shot and it works great but it cost me about 600$ CDN 10yrs ago
Yep , that is the difference and this one is only 800 watts... 200 euro/dollar... The trigger is electronically timed, so it was set to the max
Really you needed to pull out the edge off the grill aperture, as that corner is pushed in. Relieving it would have eased the corner at the same time. This is a curve , so moving the peak of the arc would be more effective than pulling the corner. Also don't use point pulling, like you did with a hook, as you stretch the panel and break it!. Obviously the stud gun does not produce enough heat to secure the pins to the metal. I have seen similar devices work well.
An Expensive Spot welding tool would perform better..of course...same as a expensive welder works better than a cheap basic Mig/Tig/Arc welder... but depending on ones use and need...it can perform fine if used properly....
There are also tips fir mig welders to put those pins on too... never tried those yet....Eastwood sells them...
Seen many using these style of cheap asian welders and they can get them to hold ??
maybe you got a defective unit..not abnormal ...why i buy new and where i can return them if disatisfied with the quality or performance....
🇨🇦🤓🤟
Thanks for the comments, I think next time I will use my mig as it has a spot weld mode. Using a special tip
Your approach is not fundamentally wrong, but there is room for improvement. Next time, try welding steel plate tabs to the very edge of the panel you need to pull. Use the gauge of the original steel. You will find if you use enough tacks, it will be a very firm attaching point and you can easily cut them off and grind the remains off. While the edge is pulled, you use a hammer and dolly to straighten the dents. It doesn't really matter which side you hammer on until you have a dolly firmly backing the area.
Thanks for the great tips
Bonjour
Steve..with your obvious infatuation with racing was wondering if you follow F1? as a yank NASCAR use to be my interest, but of late i am disappointed with quality of the new gen..but after watching Netfliz series on F1 i have become a very big fan of F1..
Hi , I do ... but funny enough i am attracted to NASCAR.. in Fact I am about to engage in EURNASCAR... looking at a car for the moment... strange how we like what we are away from
@@D3Sshooter and you will post content of your winning ways? lol..go get em Steve..
Your not holding it long enough to weld to panel....normally it should hold fine... some may be weaker and pull off easily...but like a poor weld in any method ..it had no penetration... not saying it is a good spot welder..just i watched how you did it and it needs to get hotter to fuse properly... i would tack it with a Tig or Mig and at least use the pins/washers and so on before giving up...use it as best to secure the fasteners and if you gotta weld it extra with what you got..then it might finish your work.... lots of times i seen guys give up blaming the tool when they are not doing it correctly..don't take this the wrong way...i never used that brand..tried some other chrap asian ones and once i got used to it they worked fine....the first few were coming off like that..but i umderstood how to weld so figured it out....i burned them on real good and fixed the weak welds ....
🇨🇦🤓🤟
Gary, this one has a build in timer.. so it does not matter how long I hold it. It just stops after x time. I tried the max setting in the video. I have tried it later on modern sheet metal and that worked a lot better. It was also half of the thickness of the MGA panel. Or I have defective unit... maybe I plat with it a bit
. ok fair enough....
i would let it reset and zap it a few times....😂
I believe you...
yes the thicker metal of older vehicles requires special Autobody tools....
like Sledgehammers and different tools...
no paintless repairs on real steel...
🇨🇦🤓🤟
I would look at the schematic and put in a no timer switch mode... so it can hold and burn deep...😂
it isn't the same as a Pro Version...
those stud guns only work on modern tinfoil crap. That mga has 16-18g metal and British steel is very high carbon and does not bend well.
I suspected something like this, thanks for the info
get a bit of heat into the panel.
TXS
That stud welder must be a dud machine. Watching yours compared to this one: th-cam.com/video/ZhC5frX8QvU/w-d-xo.html Yours doesn't even get hot around the stud (as long as you held the button until it timed out). It was a really big ask of any stud welder though for that big of a dent. I reckon they are just for the finishing off part after pulling/pushing with a port-a-power.
That doesn't even sound like yours Steve! This tool looks more like a toy! That shouldn't even be 1kW... To spot weld 1mm plate you need something around 2-5V/2-3kA, do the math and calculate the power of a minimally usable machine for this situation!
You are correct
When it comes to the "Chinese stud tool" I wish that you/we don't go all in with the US Maga movement attitudes... America asked China for cheap stuff, and that's what they got, and what we got... production costs may be lower in China, but we still get what we pay for, that's the logics of free trade, isn't it?
I wish we can be a bit more fair than we tend to be...
Thanks for the comments, let's leave politics out . I used to make video's for a business that sold cheap tools (toolmania, I am sure you can find some of those video's). At some point I stopped, as the tools were so bad and I was not willing to sugar coat them in the video's. The owner of the business did not like it , and we stopped the agreement . He explained to me (and proved it ) that the tools he buys are the cheapest one can get... In China factories they line-up the tool in grades, very cheap, cheap, and ok. The same tool comes in one of the flavours, and is of course build accordingly. `they all look the same, but the part are of different quality' . Thus, he buys the very cheap versions, so he can compete with other shops that might sell the better version.. Those tools are all brand less and when bought in bulk, they put your business name on it... Thus, don't expect a lot...and that is why I am always sceptical about those tools.. My Mac and IPhone are also made in China and that is top quality and top price. At the end you get what you pay for.
your are not doing it for not long enough you're it wrong
not so rob, it is timed and I used the max lenght and power