I hate welding ... unless it is working

[tparker]

Ugh. I'm wrapping up the last few things until I get the car on the road for the first time 30+ years. I got Dougs headers and TTI exhaust and they require a little fabrication to hook up. Hooker headers (I think) lined up just fine. I made an 'S' curve from  a 90 degree tube. Man do  I sick at welding. BUT it is worse when the equipment is jacked up. Here's the run down.

The welds have bunch of pin holes. Every time I grind the weld down I have  little  holes that go through the joint. I keep welding and more holes. Then wire starts to bird nest inside the machine. Ugh. I fix it then after some troubleshooting I find the gauges aren't really working. Do I have gas running through the leads? Over a couple welding sessions I  forget to turn the gas back on, so I didn't have gas.  Then things get bird nested again. Then the wire welds  to the tip. A  trip to Home Depot  for tips. More bird nesting. More  pin holes.  Ugh. A bunch of videos later on Youtube then I start figuring out some problems. The wire pressure is off. The wire isn't in the groove of the feeding wheel. Some other things.  ugh.  It  all happens again. More welding, more pin holes. Some Better test welds, then it fails  when  welding. Oh  wait, again  I forget to turn on  the gas. I'm an idiot.  I'm  Done.

One last video. I think I understand everything. THis thing is actually simple. It can only  be a couple  things. Again bird nesting and, wait, what is that? The part of the lead  that connects to the inside of the feed of the welder appears to be pulled  out a bit and I can see an O ring. Just like a previous video mentioned.  I look at the  o ring and there is  a  cut/crack  in it. I pull it all apart and replace the o ring and what  do you know.  I  get some  great test  welds.    Then  I  start  welding again and it is dark and full of pin holes. Oh wait, I forgot to turn on the  gas again,  was using the last of gas in line for test welds.  Then, holy music playing from heaven, I get a decent weld. Insert that pic of the baby doing the "yeah" thing with with the fist! I still suck  at  welding, but at least it is just my problem and not the gear any more. LOL. I welded the next  piece in 20 minutes instead  of 3  days. LOL. 

[dodj]

Ah that post brings back memories..