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Hi Tom, I got to agree with both old and Mike. All weld processes have there uses. Stick on body work would be my last choice as it put down too much weld and too easy to entrap slag. Can it be used? Sure. If all you have is a AC machine then consider useing Oxy/Acet. This works very well for body work as it stress relieves as you weld. Road and wind viberation alone sets in alot stress in the metal. Mig is ok but there again it"s very easy to apply too much weld at one time. Using .023 wire will help alot. Here is a reprint of my thoughts on welding tubing round or square on controling warpage. The sam techniques can be applied to welding sheetmetal. On thinn wall tubing with a intersecting leg your joint fit up has to be very close. The more joint gap you have the more weld draw you will have. The thinner the tube is, requires more tacks than thicker wall tubing. Tack About every 1/2" in some cases. Choice of weld process can also help control warping with Tig having the least amount of warp as it can have the least amount of heat input. Carbon arc with silicon bronze filler wire also works well. This would be be a good weld process choice where Tig was not available but a DC power source was available. Structualy alittle weaker as silicon bronze is only 30k to 34k psi tensil strength but see below. Weld technique can also effect weld draw. In essence your only trying to seal weld the joint. Your not looking at getting 100% penetration. With that in mind, with a good fit up, 99% of the welds can be completed without adding any filler rod with using Tig. Skip welding is also a excellant warpage control technique. Along with joint prep make sure you clean to "white" metal at least 1/2" on either side of the joint. The cleaner the base metal is preped the faster you can weld thus less heat input to the joint. Since your work of art is going to be exposed for all to see, I doubt you"ll ever strighten the legs to look like you would put your name and address on them. Time too cut your loss and make new legs and chalk this one up to a learning experience! T_Bone
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