Thread: Welding stainless

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My shifter comes back real far in the car and I can't find a shift lever that bends forward for the knob to end up in the right spot so i've decided to make a lever. If I use stainless I won't have to get it chromed. So how do I weld stainless steel? This will be MIG. I guess I'll pony up for some stainless wire...I'll rarely use it, but may as well have it I guess. I belive I am also supposed to use a helium, argon, c02 mix, but will 75% argon, 25% c02 mix work well enough? Thanks

No you need the tri-gas mix.

hmm ok maybe I'll just use steel then and send it out for chrome at some point. I was just hoping for a quick, cheap job

yup you use a 3 mix gas or bend it up and just have some one tig it thats how i weld most all SS i do know you need a 3 mix gas was what they were selling for the job hotter gas . but i have welded alot of 4 type of s steel with argon 75% 25% in a mig another way if welds are getting dress and buff would be stick rod . but tig with the right filler rod give you a better job for color match when buffed

We use pure argon in england

I don't care too much about that part lookin pretty..I'm just welding something on the bottom to attach it to the shifter. Pat - are you saying you have welded stainless with argon/c02? Can someone tell me the reasoning for the tri gas mix with stainless?

If you really want to get technical it depends on which type of transfer system your welder is. There are three types each having their own weld dependencies. I can get into it if you want, but not really needed for what you are doing. For your project, being small, and non repititious you are fine with 100%Argon, 99% argon/1% O2 (or 98/2) or a trigas of helium/argon/co2 at 90%/7.5%/2.5%.

Basically for your application and amount of weld you have to do, what ever gas you have will work fine providing it is one of the three above. But as stated above, If you have someone that can TIG for you, that is much better on stainless, especially the small area you are doing.

Brett

If you have a stick welder you can get stainless rods and make it real easy on the wallet. Ive never mig welded stainless, but with tig straight argon works.

Having some one tig weld SS is the way to go, if you know anyone.
I used to drive some food grade tankers and all the exit plumming was done in SS.
We had a SS cap that a SS and a bolt came thru with a wing nut to cover up the unloading pipe. This way no road trash could get in the pipe and contaminate the product comming out when it was off loaded. A guy at the wash rack put a wrench on the wing nut and tightend it till he snaped the bolt off. I had to drive 2 hundred mile to find a guy with a good tig that could weld it back on. And that was in California at 55mph. thats like 4 hours because of this dumb a__ , I wanted to ring that guys neck at the wash rack. HE! HE! HE! Kurt

I'd probably have to search for a friend of a friend with a tig welder and I don't have a stick welder. I would have to make sure I can get the stainless material I need easily anyway and all the hardware stores have the steel I need. Any guesses as to what it would cost to chrome a rod probably under 18". I'm pretty sure I would still come in at less total than what it would cost to buy the Lokar, etc. Thanks a lot for the input guys.

I may have started to over think this a bit. I started out figuring I could just shave the side of the round bar down flat and drill the holes to mount it to the shifter, then I got to thinking too much. I may not really need to weld anything at all. after looking at the Lokar lever it seems like that one is pretty much just a piece of round bar with two holes drilled in the bottom.

Before I bought my welders I used to walk in the the food grade tanker shops and ask if they would weld something up for me. They always gave me a good price when they found out what I was working on. Then I would give them the speel that when it was done I would bring it by for them to see. They always seem to like that. They are Guys right. One guy tigged me up a set of ladder bars for a 73 Ford Mavrick for FREE.
HE! HE! HE! Try one of those food grade tanker shops I know you have them up there and they probably would charge you next to nothing for something small like that.
Kurt

I could try something like that Vara, but what do you guys think of just cutting the side of the round bar enough to fit up against the shifter, drilling two holes through it and calling it a day? I was figuring on 1/2" round bar. This Lokar shift lever doesn't seem any more elaborate than I would have by doing it this way.

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Originally Posted by 35fordcoupe

I could try something like that Vara, but what do you guys think of just cutting the side of the round bar enough to fit up against the shifter, drilling two holes through it and calling it a day? I was figuring on 1/2" round bar. This Lokar shift lever doesn't seem any more elaborate than I would have by doing it this way.

why not.. Hurst did it that way just flatten the round out so you have a bit of surface to grab to and use good bolts at least two 3/8 fine thread is what i would use

Maybe in the old days they did. I have a Hurst lever on there now from my 97 Camaro and the way its set up to bolt to the shifter it's almost two inches to the left of the shifter and damn near hits my seat. Not to mention that 6" height is a little uncomfortable in this new driving position

So after getting a little too excited to find something to fabricate I'm back to just finding 1/2" stainless rod, bending it, threading it and calling it done.