New welder from south Texas!

[RobertDoubrava]

My name's Robert and I started taking welding in high school last year and I'm getting pretty good at it, and I plan on making a living out of it. Just some info, my truck is old but it's in good shape. It's a 1970 Chevrolet C/20 with the heavy duty 10 bolt GM/Eaton rear axle and has 4.10 gears with a detroit locker. I'm swapping transmissions from an auto to a stick shift for pulling my heavy trailer mounted 1947 Lincoln SAE300 welder. Right now the welder ain't running due to some cracks in the manifold but now they're fixed, just need to put the manifold back on and fire it up. I don't plan on using this machine daily since almost all the parts for it are obsolete. I'm going to start building things like cattle pens, fences, headache racks, etc with it and save up some money to buy a newer SA200 or SA250 and then the 300 will just be a backup rig.

See y'all later,

Robert

[TxRedneck]

welcome Robert and good luck. Its a good trade/craft to get into. Work is hard, but rewarding. Get your certs and youll be on your way.
CHRIS

[IH 392]

might wanna upgrade that 10 bolt?

[orphan68]

Actually, Those older 10 bolts for trucks are much stronger than 12 bolts for trucks. Ask any of the rear end specialists, they'll tell ya the same.

[RobertDoubrava]

I might upgrade it to a 14 bolt Dana axle later with 3.73's for better gas mileage, but it's not gonna be easy. All those newer axles came with leaf springs, my truck has the old outdated coil springs that GM used from about 1960 thru 1972. I'd have to relocate the U bolt, shock, and traction bar mounts on the new rear, or completely swap the suspension to leaf springs which would be better, but will take a lot of work. Anyway when I got the truck from my Grandpaw the old SAE300 was sitting in the bed and the truck was squatting like hell (coil springs are now shot :realmad: ), and my Grandpaw said that machine weighs almost 5000lbs with no oil or gas! the GVW of the truck is 7500lbs so it was close to overloading it. The only thing I don't like about it is the bearings and seals for that 10 bolt are really expensive, and I was only able to find them at NAPA, about 30 miles from where I live.

[TxRedneck]

hey if you dont like the machine you can send it up this way Im sure I can give it a good home. :D

[RobertDoubrava]

I was talking about how I don't like the rear axle in my truck. The parts for it are expensive and I'd have to drive over to Kennedy to get 'em. I don't have a problem with the welder. :lol:

[TxRedneck]

lol well still, if you ever do Im sure I can find it a happy home :p :laugh:

[RobertDoubrava]

LOL. Well tomorrow we're gonna try to fire the old machine back up after sitting for about 14 years, hopefully with a good tune up it'll be able to burn some rods and I'll finish the trailer for it.

[RobertDoubrava]

Well we got everything re-installed and dropped in a battery and thought it would fire right up with some ether.......nope. It would start chugging like an old Farmall tractor and it even tried to idle, but it's still not getting enough fuel. The carb probably needs to be rebuilt, but we're gonna try adjusting it before tearing into it. All I need now is an air breather for the carb, it was gone when my Grandpaw bought the machine back in the early 70's. I'll take some pictures of it in a couple days and post 'em.

[TxRedneck]

good youre getting it running. youll get it. I never had a problem wih ole farmalls not starting. Ours was converted to a 12V system. No, not a original peice, but we used it not restored it. It always started like a champ, till the 6V start spring broke. easy enough fix though. No big deal.

[RobertDoubrava]

I figured out it wasn't a fuel related problem today. Turns out the throttle lever was turned wide open and that's why it wouldn't stay running, I never thought to check it while we were trying to start it. Now that I figured it out I should have it running by tomorrow. I can't wait to hear this thing roar. I'll have some pics of it soon, it don't look pretty!

Oh yeah, this thing used to have a 6V system, but Grandpaw took the generator to be re-wound for 12 volts. The starter is still 6 volts though, as long as I don't keep it turning too long it'll be OK. The starter still works good, not sure about the generator. It might need new brushes and bearings, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

[TEK]

R.B. How are you spinning it over? With the starter? Do you know about hooking leads to another welder to spin yours?

[TxRedneck]

TEk, Ive heard of this but really dont have the technique...please explain and can this be done with any engine drive, or only the older DC generator type?

[TEK]

Tx- I've only done this with sa 200,250 so I can't say how it works on others(read a do not try warning here) but it worked good on the Lincs.Both welders off, hook leads positive to neg. your welder should be turned down all the way. The booster welder should be up, dont have to be all just more than yours(the hard to start one) Then just start the booster. The higher amps from the boost gen. will spin the lower set gen(which is now a motor) Make sure your switches are on if your trying to start it 'cuz it will spin as long as its hooked up. speaking of hooking up, I usually have a piece of crap for my stinger connection and I start the booster with one lead off so there is no x-tra load at start, then hook up and go. Hope this helps.

[TEK]

Hey Robert, got smoke?

[RobertDoubrava]

I've been using the hand-crank to turn it over. LOL, just kidding. I don't wanna break my arm. :laugh: I've been using a 12V battery, that's what my Grandpaw and Dad used when they ran the machine and it'll really spin that 6V starter over! Today I only had about an hour to work on it; I'm getting fuel to the carb, but for some reason it still won't fire up. It's not flooding though, the needle and seat are holding good. If I spray starting fluid in the carb it will pop and try to keep going, but quits. My Grandpaw said to take the small plug out of the intake manifold right above the carb. and spray the starting fluid straight in there and it'll run for sure, I'll try that tomorrow.

[TEK]

Robert, I'm not too hot on the starting fluid idea. Little snorts are ok but don't wanna over do it. If you have another welder available, well read my previous post. Good luck to ya

[TxRedneck]

Couple thigns Robert, first off yeah Tek's right about the starting fluid. Another one is you prlly have but I gotta ask, have ya pulled the plugs and checked them? Also want to check the cables. IT run off magneto? there pretty reliable so prolly nothing to say tehre. Also, get someone to help you crank her off and check for spark. Another thing, yeah youre smart about being careful with the crank. An old trick I learned though with them cranks...well ttwo I guess, one is there very safe as long as you dont brace yourself on the crank to turn it. Give your body a lil distance, bring the crank up and to about 1 oclock and kinda lay down onto it, while keeping out clear of its spin. This will help you to bare down on it and turn the motor, but if the ratchet doesnt allow the engine to turn with the crank free, the crank wont pop up and break your wrist. Use both hands togther. Ok, the other thing I was gonna say though, add some oil to the tip of the crank. I don tkno why this makes a differnce, but my granddad said this was something that will make a differnce. he said they still can be seized...but add that oil and it might make a differnce. Be careful though. No matter how you get this thing going. The starting fluid is dangerous stuff. It can be done safely, but its something youre better if you get the ole man to go out ther and show ya the way its done. that way if you do it and something goes wrong, youve got someone there to russh you to the ER

[RobertDoubrava]

Well I tried spraying the starting fluid in the intake and it worked better, but I just quit there for today. The engine ran really slow for about 5 seconds so it's getting better. The plugs look good and clean, but I'm going to put a new set in tomorrow. It has Champion J8C plugs, those look about right for this big engine. Anyway the engine has a distributor, and the points and coil are good. It's getting hot spark to the plugs and the wires are good too. I'm hoping it's just the plugs, that's probably the only thing wrong. Now about starting this thing, I'm not even going to use the hand crank. It doesn't make any sense 'cause it has an electric starter. Thanks for the tip about oiling the end of it, I never would've thought about that. And thanks TEK for the info about using another welder to start this one, but I only have this rig.

[TxRedneck]

Well you know Robert im against the idea of hand crankingit too. But dont go throwin that ole crank away though. When you upgraded to 12V did that include the starter? I know when we did the farmall there was no way to upgrde ours. The starter runs better than twice the original speed on 12V. Because of this we had a problem with the spring snapping. Once that happens, on the tractor you had two choices...push start, hand crank. Normally our choice was the first. But on a few occaisons...like being hitched up in th emiddle of the woods, you really couoldnt do the push scenerio. So we would handcrank it. In your situaitoin, lets say your out ona job and the spring snaps. Ouch thats gonna really piss ya off if ya cant get the machine started. No pushin that baby back to life. Its not a preferred scenario, but would you rather tell the guy sorry but youll have to return you broke a spring or would you just assume finish teh job, collect your money go home and fix that spring in the shop? Its just something to consider. I admit the cranks have broken many a farmers wrist. But they are fesible done safely. Good luck and stay smart youll be alright

[RobertDoubrava]

Yeah you got a good point there. I didn't have anything to do with this machine till about a month ago when I decided I was going into the welding industry. When my Grandpaw bought it from an old rancher back in the 70's? it was still on the original 6 volt system, and he said it was a bear to get it started, so he got the generator re-wound and just left the starter on 6 volts. I don't keep that starter going more than it has to, the housing gets warm quick. Anyway tomorrow I'll go get a set of new plugs for it and when I get out of school I'm going straight over there and see if it'll run. If it runs and welds you guys(and my Grandparents and their neighbors) will be the first ones to know it. :laugh:

[RobertDoubrava]

BAD NEWS! :mad: I went and got some new plugs and my Dad figured since I was taking the old ones out a compression test wouldn't hurt. Turns out only two cylinders had good compresson. Number one had 90psi and number 2 had 100psi. We found out that a valve on each cylinder was stuck, so me and Dad pulled the inspection covers off and we got two more valves freed up with some penetrating oil and tapping on the valve stems with a small ball pein hammer and now those two have good compression too. The last two of 'em are soaking and hopefully we can get 'em freed up.

[RobertDoubrava]

Well I got the other valves freed up today. Made sure everything was oiled and did a compression test on all the cylinders. Every one of 'em had 100 psi and the number one cylinder still has 90. The engine is fine, we got it fired up tonight at about 6:30. It was already dark and I had the work lights lit up on the headache rack on my truck so we could see. We let it run for about 5 minutes and it sounded good, no smoke or knocks and runs really smooth for an engine that's almost 60 years old. It had 40lbs of oil pressure at an idle after it warmed up so that's good. Tomorrow we're gonna clean up the generator part and hopefully I can finish my BBQ pit and build a headache rack for my Grandpaw's '83 Chevy silverado.

[TEK]

Good news Robert! Glad to hear the old gals still got some spark in her!

[RobertDoubrava]

Thanks for the reply TEK. I tried out the welder a couple days ago and it welds just like a new machine. I ran a couple beads on a piece of I beam with some 1/8" 6011 rod and they looked awesome. The engine is having problems with oil pressure now though. Either some oil passages are blocked or the pickup screen for the pump is clogged. This weekend we're gonna pull the inspection covers again and maybe the oil pan to see what's going on.

[scott brunsdon]

I want to see the thing. I'm trying to imagine what it must look like. Where are the photos?

[RobertDoubrava]

Don't worry man, I'll have some pics of it soon. :laugh: It's bigger than an SA200, weighs about twice as more too.

This is one I found on eBay. It's similar to the machine I have, but mine's an older model. The only big difference are the controls and engine. Mine has a big door that you can close and lock to hide the amp/polarity controls. This one has a 6cyl Ford engine, mine has the original 6cyl Hercules engine.

[RobertDoubrava]

Here's some shots I took of it awhile back. They're not good, but at least you can see it. :laugh:

[backyard redneck]

I had an old hand crank Lincoln that I started with two 12 volt batteries tied together for a 24 volt system going thru the welding generator.

[RobertDoubrava]

That's a good thing to know in case the starter gives out, TEK and TXredneck posted that too. I was gonna try using the crank that was with it, but it won't fit. I think it's for a Farmall tractor, the end is way different and it's painted red. I did find one on eBay that looks like an original one, the measurements from it match up to the openings on the machine and the pin size is the exact same that fits on the crankshaft pulley.