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Well! I finally got that water distribution tube out of the
engine in the M37 today. More robust tool needed indeed--I
learned how to arc weld in order to make it too!
I started with 1/2 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick flat steel. I
welded a couple pieces of angle steel on one end to act as a
stop for the sliding weight. The weight was a 6 inch long by
2 inch diameter pipe nipple with a cap on one end. I drilled
holes side by side in the center of the cap then ground away
until I had a slot that was a little over 1 inch wide by 3/8
inch high. I welded a short piece of the 1/2 inch steel on
the end with a butt weld so that the piece was 1/4 inch
above the top of the bar. The strap steel was slim enough to
fit in the dist tube and the end piece would fit up in the
slots in the tube. I slipped the pipe fitting weight onto
the steel and fit the end into one of the slots in the tube.
Bang! Bang! Bang! I kept slamming the pipe fitting back
against the stop when I felt something give way. The weld
had broken on the end so the end piece was almost off.
Thinking that since it was my first ever weld there must be
something wrong with my weld. I replaced the tip and
re-welded it. I tried it again. Bang! Bang! Bang! I felt it
give way again. I pulled out the tool to find the tip broken
off again. OK, time for something bigger. I went to the
hardware store and bought 1 inch by 1/8 inch steel, and
welded a piece of the 1/2 inch by 1/8 steel on the end. The
weld was longer (twice as long) so I figured it should be
stronger. Once again, Bang! Bang! Bang! I kept it up for
about 10 minutes and I noticed the dist. tube coming out
very, very slowly. Steadily, I kept banging away, though I
pulled out the tool every now and then to check the tip. The
weld was holding, so I kept hammering at it. After about 15
min of this the tube was out! What a mess, the last two
slots were plugged with rusty mud. The tool is still in
great shape. I cut enough ends and angle iron to make two
more tools. They should make good trading fodder.
I was lucky my brother in law had an arc welder. After
reading an electrode catalog he had, I figured I would use
6013 rod 1/8 inch in diameter set at 90 amps. I set it at 75
amps for the first tool, so I upped the amps to 90 thinking
there wasn't enough penetration. I practiced on some scrap
first. Arc welding is a busy thing at first, I was watching
the puddle, the arc, the electrode distance....it is a fast
weld with lots to take in at one time! Finally, I got used
to all the goings on, and the welds got better. They looked
even better when I remembered to remove the slag! I chose
the wrong rod to practice on at first. 6010 is for DC
welding, and let me tell you, it doesn't work for AC no
matter how low you try to set the amps. Makes lots of smoke,
too. Those of you who are welders are laughing right now!
I'll get better at learning the flux colors....
Well, now I am going to hunt for a dist. tube locally. This
should be fun, going into a NAPA with this thing and asking
them for a new one. I hear these types of things were used
in Packards and Buick/Pontiacs?
Until next weekend......
Lisa the Welder.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Apr 04 2000 - 21:57:28 PDT