Come on , don't be fantastic!

[budascuda]

During a conversation the other night with a friend whom I thought knows very little about cars and even less about welding, the topic of spot welding came up and how I should approach my project. He claimed that there is a sequence to spot or stud welding a piece of sheet metal onto a car. Certain areas for example, require many spot welds especially in the area around the front shock towers and inner fenders. Apparently, when welding a replacement panel, the heat from these welds could "push out" and relocate the loose edges and the corners that were lineup prior to welding thereby creating permanent misalignement of the welded parts.
At first, I laughed at his comments and said "don't be fantastic, the metal doesn't get a chance to really expand that much from the heat dissipating off the spot welds" but on second thought, I had to admit that it could be true for stud or plug welds ( using stick mig or tig) since the duration and temperature of the welds are much greater than spot welds'.
Is this really something that has to be accounted for prior to welding sheet metal patches and panels.? does anyone know if there are general rules or a sequence that one should follow?
Thanks.

 

[DetMatt1]

Just take your time and don't just weld one plug after another to make your way around the panel. Start with one weld in each corner and slowly repeat that process until you've made your way around the entire panel.

 

[budascuda]

Do I have to wait until it's cool to touch between welds?

 

[DetMatt1]

That's not necessary but if you have more than 1 thing to do at a time on the project which I usually did, I would often times lay down a set of welds and walk away to another part of the project for a few.

 

[budascuda]

Got it.
Thanks very much.