How to MIG Weld (THIN) Sheet Metal (Plus BONUS Content) 

Almost 40 minutes long and I couldn't tear myself away from it. Great content. You showed enough detail to make it interesting and informative and covered all the bases without making it seem long and boring. 👍

I learned a trick that helps keep the patch in place. use magnets on the back side spanning both pieces of metal. this will keep the patch from moving around .

Learned more in 40 minutes than 5 other how to videos, combined! Great job! Thanks a million! God Bless you too!

TIP: Round patches have the least distortion. The sharper the corner, the more distortion in that area. Replacing 90 deg corners with a pair of 45's makes a difference.

Great job!!!.......been "home" welding in garage for nearly 25 years and just learned how to weld even better thanks to you....God Bless and keep em coming....

Nice work. I like the use of the tape to hold the metal until you tack. The sharpie was a good suggestion too. I also countersink holes a bit before I plug. Thanks for the post.

Nice job! When I cut a hole for a patch, I make the patch then lay it on the area to be patched then use the thin cutoff tool to cut into the main panel at 45 degrees which also cuts the patch at 45 degrees. This method eliminate the gap between panel and patch and the patch will actually lay into the cut hole then all you have to do is clamp it with a deep throat clamp or magnets and weld it up. I like to use my Henrob torch to weld. The weld isn't as hard as a MIG weld, it's easier to clean up and there is less warpage. I also use "Bastos" as a heat sink, (waaay back in the day, I used to use wetted down asbestos fiber for that. I'm sure that I still have around 15 gallons of that sitting around somewhere). I do love those paint stripper wheels. For a guide coat I use the 3M rattle can spray. For filling small holes, I modified myself several pairs of vice grips, giving them unequal length jaws. I put a copper penny on the lower jaw and close the grips. This give me a very stable surface to weld against, and the best thing is, it only costs pennies.

26:55 I always find it amazing how the camera can capture stuff you don't usually see while welding. Check the upper right corner just as he cools the panel down, you can see the metal shrink and start sinking back down.

Thanks for the great video. I've been procrastinating on all of the rust repair I need to do on my '74 VW Beetle. After watching your video I'm much more confident that I can do it well. I like the fact that you speak about what you're doing and how to do it in between the actual work. The details you provided really help people like me who have very little experience.

Glad this old man found this video. Goes with what I am doin g now on trailer fenders. Great instruction. Thanks.

Thank you for this video. I have been dragging my feet for 4 years on a project simply because I am afraid to weld. Never done it and starting on 20 gauge is a bit daunting. Bought some 2x4 plugs to practice on and I was getting a funky sound and the wire was going back up into the nosel. Going over the weler settings helped and I went back out and brought my wire speed up a bit until I got a better sound and better weld. Still practicing but making progress!

Thank you from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇸

This is literally the first welding video I haven’t seen a thousand keyboard warriors criticizing the creator in the comments like they are pro welders. 👍

I warped it. Tried to fill gaps. That's a bad idea. Now I'm here.

Thank you for making this video really helped me understand patching work better without using bondo. I'm planning on using your tips and tricks on my cab corners and rockers on my truck

One of the clearest explanation guides on RU-vid 👍🏼

Welding thin sheet metal is such fun, lol. I've welded everything from thin sheeting off the back of fridges up to structural steel. Structural is so much easier as heat doesn't buckle it but mostly I use from 0.8mm up to 2mm usually. I worked on my cars and also build custom one-off bicycles.

Great video! You’re an excellent teacher. Everything is explained in detail. Being a novice I can’t ask for more than that.

Thank you, Thank you! I have a flat panel to replace on my old Pullman Camper shell that's on my '64 Chevy C10. Brilliant to use tape! Now to dial in my welding skills as I haven't welded since high school and just bought a cheap HF Titanium flux core welder. Great video, I learned from this video more than the litteraly hundreds on welding elsewhere.

Nice work. I have a done few hundred hrs of thin sheet metal welding on my 69 Mustang convertible with a Millermatic 135. Cant agree more with 0.023 wire advice. Makes all the difference. You're working that 185 like a pro. Nicely done.

If this video was at the top of my search.... I would have gotten it right the first time. And now I understand why they make you weed through so much B.S. before you find someone who knows what they are doing AND how to explain it. The more time you screw it up, the more times you have to come back. Brilliant actually.

The old English knee works great. I've been doing a lot of rust repair inner and outer rockers/cab corners. On my kids square bodie chevy. Nothing teaches like doing. I definitely need to get me the .023 wire I can see that helping me. Thanks for sharing brother!!

Thank you so much i now understand a little more im starting a project a 78 cj5 and now have a little better understanding

Great job, great video. You walked through the project well and to the point. Well spoken too. I get it that some people always have special ways or you could have, should have ways but your video was to the point. Not many if at all, you could do it this way or that way. You did it your way and did it great, I'm sure you helped many people get started.

when doing a big panel like rear qtr on 67 chenille,i used clay for heat sink .i move from one end to the other, relax and take your time

Glad to see someone that actually shows descriptive content ! Great informative video. I’ll definitely be subscribing. 👍

Thanks from a beginner trying to learn MIG. Been DIY farm stick welding for 20+ years. 👍

Thanks for the video! I’m Just starting to learn MIG welding in a restoration shop, learning on a Buick Grand National. Thin metal is the toughest especially with rust and tight corners. Patience is key though. I do enjoy welding though it’s very cool stuff.

On older cars butt welding isn't so tuff with the thicker metal. These newer steel aloys are a pita, i use a small lap putting patch in the inside to puddle from the patch and catch the factory "high strength steel" then get primer, paint and some sort of rust proofing on back of it after, making an access hole if need be, (cab corners...) a light skim coat filler on the outside never really hurts, then use a gromit or gorilla white rubber tape for the access. Have added wire to the weld puddle, like a tig on holes at times, some guys use coat hangers, Great video!

Thanks for making this video. The real time, step by step approach format is incredibly helpful. I saw on another comment about how you usually do it with TIG and I’d be really interested if you ever make a video of that. The majority of videos on here are with MIG, which is understandably the most common process out there, but I’m intrigued by the idea of doing this with TIG instead if I already have the equipment. Great work and thanks again for a helpful video!

The cooling off is a good tip. The copper behind the holes is a good technique too. Thank you.

Not trying to knock your patch just making a comment that may help someone with fitzees fab shop techniques. Your patch is great and people have been doing it this way for years with great results. Keep up the good work. Just subscribed.

One thing I learned in the machine shop, was to cut the patch/inlay bigger than the hole, hold it in place and use a scribe to mark and cut/grind “to” the line.

omg, this is like doing Stained-Glass … but without the pretty colors.

Thank you, new mig welder here and cleaning up the engine bay of my 70 Mustang Coupe before I drop my rebuilt 351C in there!

A tip , On your 2" grinder when the grinder disc wears down you can take a pair of Snipes or scissors and cut around the edge making it like a stop sign shape For prolonged use and will make it more aggressive and not heat up the metal as much. Also makes it easier to get into low spots.

Thanks telling your viewers , that grinding welds can distortion of panel ( problem people over look. ) good man. Thanks Martin - UK.

Just discovered this video - very straight forward and informative. I've never welded before, but I think you've given me the confidence to tackle some rocker panel rust issues on my old jeep cj. Would be great to see you do floor pans in a future vid. Thanks!

I wish I have welder like you for repair of my car😊

Great video with lots of information. I don’t do body work and just learning to weld, mig and Tig, it was definitely worth watching.

Something I really learnt. Keep cooling the metal down to avoid warping . Takes a long time to do a good job .I'm always in too much of a rush .good video.

Well explained video and it shows the patience factor of the work. Great job! Great tips!

Time and extream amount of patience. Working the weld keeping metal at room temp to the best of your ability works wonders for flat non warped panels after the weld. I really have to sit on my hands not to rush the process and cause overheat. Im just not a patient person. So i will try to have a couple different panels to work on at same time to help with the not overheating due to impatient tendencies. Wire feed and tig sure beats the way i learned 50+ years ago with brazing in panels.

Great presentation bro, I’m just learning sheet metal welding on my car build. Very entertaining and informative. I’ll get my materials thru your Amazon account and I sure appreciate your instruction!

You explained everything really well, and video/editing was very professional too! 👍 It is people like you that take the time to show how to do craftsman skills, that will keep those skills alive in future generations. Maybe I could suggest that you could make more use of speedup in places in the video where you are doing the same task over and over? A shorter video might get viewed more because people don't always want to commit that much time. I almost didnt watch because I only had about 25 minutes. Anyway, glad I did! 🙂

Great video man! Keen to learn MIG for fixing car bodies. One of the key learnings for me is patience. Don't rush. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

Damm AC, I been doing this stuff for several decades, but I just learned a couple new tricks. Thanks large. Couple tricks of my own might be grinding and polishing a flat dolly into a slightly concave shape. Reason? When knocking a panel flat against a dolly, there will always be a certain amount of spring-back. This concave surface will push the panel slightly beyond flat, then the panel will spring back to flat. Works good, takes practice. I'll take care not to hammer hard against the dolly. More on that later. Next, if I can, I'll try to do all final stitch welds on the back side of the panel. Reason? The tops of the welds do not need to be taken fully down to totally flat. They only need to be taken down to allow hammer work without creating high spots on the outside of the panel. Leaving a bit of weld on back side gives a potentially stronger joint. Also, the smoother inside surface will not hold corrosives as readily as the rough back side of a weld joint. Front side will have a proper finish to prevent rust. In patching a panel like the video example, I'll place a 1 inch magnet on each corner. Yes, you mentioned this. Reason? Problem with tape is once taped, I can't move the panel patch to perfect center. Personal preference. I'll find a perfectly matched section away from a magnet, and make a quick tack. This can be a little sloppy due to the pulling effects of the magnets, but that can be spot ground off. Then I go to at least 3 locations around the patch, tacking, then remove the magnets. Also, with the magnets on the outside corners, any discrepancy in material thickness will be on the inside. After tacking a few spots around the perimeter, I'll cool the panel, check for flatness and contour, and make as many corrections as possible at that time, being careful not to crack the welds. Then set a few more tacks around the perimeter. Again checking and correcting distortion. I repeat this process until the entire panel is complete. Reason? With me, distortion and defects will stack up. First pass of tacks will pull the panel out .xxx inch. Second pass pulls panel another .xxx". And then again and again. When the welding is finished, the panel is out .xxx" multiplied by a factor of 3, 4, or 5. Another personal preference issue. I'll never hammer-and-dolly a panel with the dolly directly behind the hammer strikes, unless I need to stretch a certain section. Reason? Knocking a panel directly between the hammer and dolly has a strong tendency to literally smash the panel thinner, even very slightly. When this happens, that immediate section grows in width and length, ever so slightly. Think cookie dough and rolling pins. But this stretching effect will create a high or low spot that can be difficult to remove. Used to call that an 'oil can' spot. You'd have to be pretty old to know why. Lastly, cause this is getting long, I'll use different hammer heads for different needs. Steel heads for shrinking and stretching, hard plastic, wood, and rawhide heads for contouring and bending. Reason? The softer heads do not leave marks in the panels as readily as metallic heads do. So that's just some stuff I've learned along the way, but I'm still learning. Thanks for the video, take care.

Very cool, learned a thing or two. I personally love my flux welder and it does everything I need it to without worry for gas. Eventually I'd like to try TIG, but as a hobbyist, that's a ways down the road.

I bought a Eastwood v edge tool , bends a 45 degree angle in the edge making a weld valley, best tool I've found since I started butt welding.

this guy needs to watch Fitzee

nice video, a little tip. when filling holes right after you stop welding. Hammer and do;ly the welds down.

Great piece. Straightforward with really good tips and insights. Nice job 😎 Keep up the good work.

I'm no expert but his the best I've seen so far on tute vids. Couldn't tell it wasn't all the original panel. Thankyou for sharing your experience.

I've only done gasless MIG so far but I upgraded to another welder which does TIG so I can weld thinner metal. I need a fair bit of practice but I'm told TIG is the better way to weld once you get a little more experience.

I am just starting to learn to Mig weld, and will work on my 1956 F100 and your video showed so much detail and you worked slow and steady, meticulous which I appreciate as I only want to do my repair once :) Thank you.

The easiest way I have found to fill holes is by inserting a nail from the back side. You weld around the perimeter then weld the nails shaft and it separates.

So glad I found this. Have a 1941 Ford and the fenders are super thin...so this technique will help me out massively. Thanks heaps.

Awesome my friend great video, thank you for your knowledge and help, most appreciated.......

Good one thanks! I no longer weld and have not done for three decades, but I do love a good restoration video.

Patience goes along ways and you have it 100% thanks for sharing this video great job I enjoyed your work 👍💯

He knows his stuff and did a great job of explaining each step. I have a project coming up that I can use it.

That was a nice tutorial, one thing you didn't mention (I think) but I'm sure you did it, was to knock down the weld bead on the back side of the panel before you hammer and dollied.

Awesome work . I cant wait to do some patch work on my cars. I noticed most of the folks use the mig with argon and the smaller wire. 👍 Ill have to go at it with a flux core wish me luck .

Nice job, it always amazes me how many different ways / preferences there are to get the same result. I've always preferred .030 over .023 wire and a little hotter weld. My stitches are even faster than yours, with the same penetration and still a flat weld. End result is all that matters. Take care.

I watched this video twice through and when I tried to weld a similar patch on an old tractor, I blew a hole through the steel around the patch even though I had the mug welder on the lowest voltage string! Arghh! He makes it look easy

@25:56 you had the perfect angle to catch the metal warping upward as soon as you hit those two tacks. If that little bit is all it takes to start a warp, I don't feel so bad! Thanks for taking the time to put this video together!

I’ve been watching body work videos for a few months now and this is the best one I’ve seen. Thanks a bunch

Great video man, I appreciate the time you spent putting this together. I found it incredibly informative & I feel much better attacking my own projects now. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to more!

Nicely done, im not a welder, but by watching your video I think I might start a new career.

Great job man!

I just got a millermatic 211 MIG welder and watching these videos because I can't sleep thanks for sharing, I subscribed 💪🏼

Very nice presentation of skills and knowledge. I'll definitely keep an eye on your content going forward.

Love working with metal, Thank you for your for sharing your time and knowledge

Great video! very helpful for us inexperienced welders

Great Video! im restoring a 70 dodge Coronet Super bee and am doing lots of metal patches and forming wheel lips and back window channel patches. Its like you say... its a slow process and dont get in a hurry when welding. keep the metal cool and lots of hammer n dolly work. Even a novice can do it. just be patient. dont be afraid to try. practice make perfect.

I've been using them paint stripping discs for a while, they're great for cleaning up the metal. Nice work, I tend to cut and but as it saves time trying to get the panel to fit as you just tac over the top then cut a section at an angle as you showed. Push it level and weld.. And do it all around. Gets the same results.

U tube brings extraordinary people like u. The best out come of trvh is nothing but a scholar n a gentleman such u !!!!

Nice work! I really like the clean and strip discs. Cheers!

In my mid 60's now and only just starting to weld (sort of). Really liked this video, thanks from Downunder.

Wow, just came across your channel...great stuff. I watched the dirty old man with a girlfriend younger than his oldest son and got tired of listening to him for many reasons. I'm sure there are those how have a hard time understanding you BUT not me, it's the language I grew up with. NEW SUBSRIBER!

So lucky to find this vid right off the bat for my sheet metal project. Great job!

Next time it's being done on a small panel like this that is loose from the vehicle. You can also prevent distortion by tacking the opposite side in between each tack you did on the outside. You'd have to grind both sides but it works.

I'm hoping to weld my foxbody aftermarket sunroof shut this video gave me faith its possible

Greetings from the UK you do great work i have to say you get much better choice of pads etc than we do here in the UK .Keep it up.

Seriously Impressed!! What comes so naturally to you, I couldn't do with all the high dollar equipment in the world!!

Thanks for the video, its pretty awesome. I have yet to seen metal work done to that detail in a video . Usually it just gets body filler from what I have seen. I am going to attempt to weld some rockers panels on my truck with a MIG welder. I want to use as little filler as possible. figured it would take me a whole lot longer and be much more difficult for me to try and tig weld them.

GREAT demo.. I have a blacksmith shop but have never gotten the feel for thin metal...Thanks a lot!!!

🙋🏼‍♂️Boa noite irmăo muito Bom irmão parabéns Amigo pelo trabalho 🙌🏻👍🏻🇧🇷

Thanks for taking the time to show me your way of using a Mig welder to replace steel I’ve learned a lot

I’ll tell you hh-what. A little more time with the ladies and a lit less time fixin’’ panels like that can make you a happy man. Can I get a hey ya’ll and hayyle yea and whhaaaaat?

Very old school I learned to do this with acetylene welding. To prevent rust and rotting butt welding the patch is very good

I always heard you get less warpage with round corners and to use a wet rag to cool down the metal right after you make a few spot welds. I have very little welding experience but am about to get started on a major restoration that will require some body work and welding.

Amazing video! Very informative and great patience. You are the Bob Ross of sheet metal….

On your wire size : I think you had the decimal in the wrong location. It should be 0.023. The number 0.23 would be nearly 1/4". Otherwise, good video. Thanks

Great video by a natural born teacher. Thank you

Really nice job here, I'll even say outstanding! Well spoken, well explained, well demonstrated, and we yankees even get a kick out of that southern drawl! Only thing I question is, you go through the trouble to get such an exact fit, but then still end up trying to skim the patch down a bit after you've welded 3 sides and it expanded. Why not just make it a c-hair smaller to begin with, like a loose fit? Also surprised you just used masking tape rather than welding magnets to hold the seam flush. After this upcoming winter gets done trying to wreck my truck (will be NY winter #15 and I'm still winning!) I have some patch panels to put in the rear wheel lips, so I'm trying to figure what issues I'm going to face by only having access to the outside as I weld. Most will be under wheel lip moldings anyway, but I'm anally fussy! Nice job here man!!

Great channel I love all old stuff work plus tool and how to do it my dad started refinishing car from 1938 till 1993 in Iraq but was meet alot american dealers and auto companies in 1950 and over till 1968

What happens when you can’t get to back side of a project

Excellent tutorial on patch panels. Your way is the best way. From doing it several different ways I KNOW how to do it wrong LOL. It would work but I'd be eft with a more difficult weld process and much more finish time. I know firsthand that the time you take in prep and fitting pays off dearly in a better finished product in less overall time. Very worthwhile vid AC.

I think you’re making it much harder than it needs to be. Tack a bigger piece and cut it in at an angle .