ive nearly fully welded the chassis, and dthere are some extremely difficult to reach places, like where a diagonal crossmember forms an acute angle with the tube its joining to, and the end of the welder cant get with 20-30mm of the actual joint! what can i do here? is it possible to just fill these hard to reach areas with chemical metal (please say yes )
thanks al
(in attempting to fill some of these gaps, i now have some really bird sh*tty welds that will be on display. nice)

If you turn up the gas flow you should be able to weld these areas - you may find the wire waves about a bit but the bird sh!tty welds are probably caused by lack of gas or a poor earth.

Stick weld

simply turn the power level up one setting and if you can roll the chassis over so that the weld is at the top, that will make it easier to do. Have a beer too as this will make your hand shake less, but not too many or you may weld your hand...

How about some "U" shaped gussetts (always liked that word ) like this...

thanks for the ideas guys, ill try turning up the gas and flipping it over, and the beer sounds lovely although i think ill leave it a little later in the day! the gussets may well turn out to be the solution though if the easy stuff fails!
thanks
al

Same problem here! For stressed places I have tried to make the birdsh!t as nice as possible

For the non stressed hard-to-reach places (e.g. under brackets) I was planning on using the chemical metal as well, just to prevent dirt and water ruining my chassis in a couple of years.

I got a spare MIG shield and filed it into a point to help get closer. Then as the others say more power and more gas. For the really tight ones I just left them unwelded.

can you not make a shield from cardboard/aluminium and temporary place near the area to help keep the gas from blowing away?

I've also found that using co2 instead of argoshield gives a tighter, more 'focussed' arc that is easier to direct into these tight places.

another vote for more gas and power.

I used a crushed gas shroud to get in closer, not so crushed as to touch the tip though and it was shortened as well so the tip protruded a bit.

I vote stick weld it. They're cheap enough to buy or hire.

'Drawing' a weld on and getting poor penetration isn't a great idea.

Leaving joints with unwelded bits causes 'stress raisers' and can strart a crack propigating and putting a car on the road with substandard welding on the chassis is just not on.

For the really hard to reach places, i left them unwelded and am going to put some sealant in there to try to stop moisture getting in and rusting from the inside.

I always manipulate the chassis to get the 'tight' areas weldable with the help of gravity. Takes a bit of doing, but it's good exercise for the wife....

Hi

Another vote for modifying a shroud.

Regards Mick

get a mate with a tig welder to do it. With a small gas cap, extended tungsten and high gas flow i have found it not too difficult.

as said before hammer the shroud on the end more to a point so it will get closer to the job
cheers
colin

i added gussets on mine. Heres a shot of my trailer draw bar:
Rescued attachment hitch small.JPG

You need to add some paint now!

I'd vote for stick too:
Pick up a new or 2nd hand one on Fleabay for £20-£50, always handy to have and very easy to use.

I loves a good tight gusset.

Signed:
Cosmo Smallpiece

how about using gassless mig wire ? The shroud could be removed completely and thus you could get very close ?

I am quite new to welding so please frogive me if the above would not work ;-)