[Steve91T]

Hello, my name is Steve, and I just bought a welder. I've never welded before, but have always wanted to. I've watched Stacy David enough to have a clue, but that's about it. I just purchased a cheap, less than $200 MIG welder with .035 flux core wire from Northern Tool. Should have just enough power to get me into trouble (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Anyway, I have Corbau racing seats in my 97 Camaro. The brackets suck. I did give one guy $200 to "fix" them. He promised me he'd cut and weld them to allow for a lower, and more reclined seating position. All he did was add washers to lean the seat back. I'm kicking myself for even giving this guy money.

I'm going to get some metal stock at Lowe's to practice and then once I'm not as scared, I'll start on the passenger seat. I figure I'll get better and will do a better job on the driver's seat.

I think Friday is going to be the day I give this a try. I would love it if you guys could give me constructive criticism. I'll post pictures and update as I go. You won't hurt my feelings. I'm fully expecting some of you to say things like "my grandma could do a better job!" That's fine with me.

So, will you guys help me? I know this forum doesn't have the most traffic, but I know that you guys know safety and are very experienced with this kind of thing. My goal is to rework the brackets to give me a lower, and more reclined seating position, along with making the brackets safer.

I'll take the passenger seat out tomorrow and start taking pictures.

Thank you,
Steve

[EchoMirage]

all you need is a grinder with a wire wheel and a grinding wheel. 2 grinders are perfect so you don't have to swap wheels, but one is fine. you don't need any chemicals or anything weird to clean metal. a wire wheel will take off the rust/coating on any metal youll find, including galvanize. the grinder will shape metal, cut down high welds, smooth welds, and generally reshape or smooth out anything you need.

get whatever scrap metal you can find and practice. for a mig, you want a steady sizzle sound, slightly like bacon frying. you don't want any pops or skips. every weld is different, every piece of metal is different. youll only learn the heat/wire speed by trial and error. read the manual, use a suggested setting as a baseline, and go from there. get a good helmet that fits you comfortably, proper gloves and at least sleeves, if not a shop coat or leathers.

flux core is alright for doing junkyard type welding. if you ever do any body panels, or something that you want to look good and be strong (frames, cages, etc) youll want a gas machine. most migs are gas capable, only the very cheap, low end are gasless only.

use proper ventilation when welding anything. a simple fan blowing the smoke away from you is enough. i wear a respirator with replaceable cartridges when stick welding for any length of time. a simple dust mask rated for welding fumes is also good. FYI, im a UA certified welder in stick and tig, i have to weld for a living at times, and ive done it enough to know that i don't want to weld for a living.