Giulia TI floors, redux and redo
Last Saturday I spent the whole day trying my hand at welding, and have already discovered some hidden truths about the process, truths that at least pertain to absolute beginners like myself:
- if you spend one hour on the job, maybe five minutes of it is spent actually welding
- for each ten welds you make, maybe two are any good
- of the other eight, at least half compromise the existing metal in some way, necessitating further welding
- cutting metal without a bench or specialized tools is really hard
- finally some good news: sheet metal is very malleable, so whatever lousy job you do creating your patch piece can usually be mitigated with a hammer, grinder, snips, and pliers. And more welds.
Here’s the result of my work on Saturday
The TI floor, nearly done. A mistake and requisite patch at upper right added two hours to the job.
Here’s just a fraction of the crud and rust I scraped off before I could even start welding:
Rust, horsehair, tar, "sound deadening material," and probably some of my own skin/clothes/hair.
And here’s what 6 hours of this will do to you:
This kind of work is burny, grindy, sweaty and loud. And tiring.
I’ll be back at it tomorrow to finish the front (there are still a few spots and pin holes that need filling) and start on the rear. Hopefully it’ll go a little more smoothly, or predictably, each time. The Giulietta will need a lot of skill and patience, and at the moment I’m deficient in both.
