Reed,

The floor pans in the Hpak duster were put in using .035 flux core wire and everything is still intact 19 years later...

Clean both materials with a wire wheel really well. Trim the patch pans so there is about 3/4"or so of overlap.
Trim the rusty sections out to good material and square.
Drill 1/4" holes every 4 inches along the edge of the patch pan if they are being installed from the top onto the existing pan.
Set your heat and wire speed, then weld a puddle to fuse the drilled hole and patch to the existing floor pan...
alternate back and forth with a little hammer work to keep the edge down... once it's all down... tack the
lip every other inch or so, then fill in between them alternating between sides so the weld has time to cool before
starting the next section to reduce warping... when done, wire and flapper wheel the welds clean, then get a
coat of primer on both sides and paint/undercoat when done...as long as its covered it should remain intact,
put the floormat back and no one will be the wiser.

Good Luck

Good luck... if this was on a rocker panel, then I would do gas and smaller wire...

It is actually the bottom of the rear quarters in front of the tires, but I am adventurous enough to give it a go.

I will study that manual more and see if my 125 is one of the newer ones that is MIG-ready. It appears to have a MIG tip on it, so that is promising. I might get lucky and only need to track down a regulator, hoses, and a bottle of gas.

I just bought a bottle of 75/25 today and was PO'd at the "sticker shock".... my bottle is about chest high (receipt says 193 SCF (72.725 LB) cost me $96and change PLUS a $23-and change HAZ MAT Fee... PLUS TAX. I was NOT a happy camper. I ran out while building an exhaust for my 85 D150's slant.... thanks to my son. he loves to come home and work on his projects on Dad's materials..... not the 1st time I've gone to use my MIG or my oxy acetylene just to find it "almost" empty when I go to start.... I KNOW I have never had to pay THAT much to fill this bottle in the past... same AIRGAS location I have used for years.... Airgas stock number UN1956
me by myself using this machine, that bottle should last me a couple years at least. but it still stings, this "inflation".

I did some more checking. Hobart has made the "Handler 125" model for decades. There is an old version and a new version. The old version could be ordere with the optional hardware to be "mig ready" or not.

I have one of the old models and it is not "mig ready." I do not have the internal solenoid and hardware to just hook up a bottle and regulator and go.

Rather than try and piece together parts to make it work, I am probably just going to invest in a different mig-ready machine, hopefully with gas and regulator etc... already hooked up and ready to go.

sounds like the old, "we have the right to make upgrades to this model, and not tell buyers of past versions" (or something like that) Ive seen that notice with lots of products that I have owned over the years.
once you get a different machine maybe you could then sell this .... get some of your money back towards the new one.....

Get the very best most capable machine you can afford. You will never regret that decision.

_________________
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Yup. If Id have bought my current machine 1st, I would have never owned (wasted money on) the 1st 2 machines that I owned before this one.

I agree. I don't weld often, but I would like to get a machine that can MIG, maybe TIG, with spool gun capability, complete with a full cylinder, cart, and consumables. And I want it all for under $500 delivered to my door. Somehow, i don't think that is going to happen. But i will get the "most" I can reasonably afford.

My .02 coming from years of being ill-equipped to handle the job at hand...

Trying to run a flux core on anything that isn't horizontal will be a PITA; especially if you have even the slightest breeze in the area when welding. Flat stuff (such as Rob's floor pans) it works reasonably well.

I finally bought (about a year ago) a 220v Lincoln with bottle and haven't looked back since. Was it cheap? No. Does it do everything better than I am capable of doing? Absolutely...

You might look into the Vulcan brand stuff at Harbor Freight. I almost bought one of those instead of my Lincoln, but it came up last minute for a decent price. They are gas capable and come with a spool gun too.

~THOR~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Thanks. I will definitely shop around.