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Welding chassis of a car is a practice strongly recommended against, since it makes it significantly weaker at the welding point(s). It is very unsafe, although
by csunbird 6y ago
Welding chassis of a car is a practice strongly recommended against, since it makes it significantly weaker at the welding point(s). It is very unsafe, although since it is an oldtimer restoration project, I salute your friend with respect!
- userbinator 6y agoWelding done correctly is as strong if not stronger than the base metal.
- meowster 6y agoThe weld will be stronger, but the heat-affected metal will become weaker than the rest of the metal, which is why if it breaks, it will be next to the weld.
- jacquesm 6y agoOnly when done improperly. Yes, this is a common failure mode, no, it does not have to be that way. Typically the reason is not that the heat affected metal will be come weaker, typically the reason is that the weld is thicker than the material right next to it creating a stress point in the structure. The hardening can be taken care of by annealing. The best way to fix cars is to increase the length of the weld if you can, the original weld points are there for a balance between economy and strength. If you start welding in 'original new and interesting places' you need to plan how you want to achieve the required strength since economy is likely the least of your worries. Every stretch limo is essentially a demonstration piece to show that this does not need to be a problem, and that you actually can re-inforce a body quite nicely. Keep in mind that the wheelbase of a stretch limo pretty much guarantees much higher forces on all of the welding in the body including the existing seams.