Body Repair/ Flux or Mig Weld

Hey guys, I am fairly new to FordMuscle however I have read many helpful articles. You see I have always wanted to restore my own Mustang however never truly had the oportunity. Now I have a 1966 Mustang Coupe which I must say I am going to have my hands full working on.
Anyway my question is when replacing body panels what is the preference for welding the new panels in; flux or gas (Co2,Argon). I have had very little experience with flux core however I have a lot of experience with argon gas. Would one be any better than the other? Thanks for any and all feedback.

I find the gas to be much cleaner.

If all you have is a flux core it will work you will just have a lot of splatter to clean up. The mig is far better though you can control the heat better which gives you less warping and it is much cleaner.

Eiher one will work. The flux core is great if you have to weld outdoors. Keep in mind that you will have to clean up some slag after a flux core weld, just like a stick weld. I use Co2 gas on 90% of what I do rather than the argon/Co2 mix as it is far cheaper and tends to weld a little hotter. Most of the horror stories form using flux core wire, Co2 gas, and 110 volt machines are from in-experience and operator error. I have a 110 volt HD 3200 Lincoln mig that I bought at Home Depot that is setup on flux core wire with Co2 gas and it welds just fine, yet I read about people having problems with it all the time. There are far too many variables that have to be just right for a weld to come out correctly.

Unless you are an highly experienced, expert fabricator like F15, you'll have by far better luck by leaving the flux core wire in the toolbox, and investing in gas. Most people believe the argon/CO2 mix is the easiest to use.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by F15Falcon

Eiher one will work. The flux core is great if you have to weld outdoors. Keep in mind that you will have to clean up some slag after a flux core weld, just like a stick weld. I use Co2 gas on 90% of what I do rather than the argon/Co2 mix as it is far cheaper and tends to weld a little hotter. Most of the horror stories form using flux core wire, Co2 gas, and 110 volt machines are from in-experience and operator error. I have a 110 volt HD 3200 Lincoln mig that I bought at Home Depot that is setup on flux core wire with Co2 gas and it welds just fine, yet I read about people having problems with it all the time. There are far too many variables that have to be just right for a weld to come out correctly.

I have that same welder and I am also a beginner at body work. Am I misreading here or do you really use CO2 with the flux core wire? I started learning how the MIG works with the flux core wire that came with it by building a cart to mount the machine and bottle on. Once that roll was used up I switched to the solid wire and Argon/CO2 gas. That gas is expensive but they told me it was far better for body work. In your opinion, which would be the better choice: CO2 with flux core wire or Argon/CO2 with solid wire?

Solid wire .023 with a 90/10 mix gas is about the best you can get for body work. Leave the flux core alone for body panels. 90/10 is commonly refered to as C10. It is 90 percent argon 10 percent CO2. Little heat soak and hardly any Spatter with this combo. BTW I am a AWS D:1.1 certified welder.

My mistake, I use flux core wire with no gas, and .023 solid wire with Co2. Either one works great.

Co2 is the way to go. 75/25 mix is over rated and over priced. we have 6 guys welding all day long at the shop who use 100% Co2 without any problems. don't know who recommends the argon mix other than the gas suppliers.

.023 with with gas is the way to go as far as i have seen the flux wire only comes in .030 and larger and it takes more heat to melt the thicker wire which puts more heat into the panel which then makes it more prone to warping and more problems

jeff