Can I weld on my engine bay??? Please help asap

[toofazt]

Hey, I'm about the weld the hood stop back on my 98' Camaro and I unhooked the battery but I just want to make sure I won't damage any electronics while welding. Thanks, Steve.

[teknition]

You'll be fine. Unhooking the battery is the right thing to do. Also keep the ground clamp as close as possible to where you are welding.

Oh, I should also mention...I would remove the battery completely from the car and store it away from sparks until you are done welding and grinding. Batteries produce hydrogen gas and they can blow up scattering sulpheric acid all over

[toofazt]

OK, thank you very much for the info!!

[TEK]

Originally Posted by teknition

Batteries produce hydrogen gas and they can blow up scattering sulpheric acid all over

And they blow hard when they do. I've seen a few. Scary!!

[bigdogrider99]

One other thing, try to ground directly to what you are welding. I made that mistake working on a scout for a friend. I was welding on the spring perches in place and put the ground clamp to the frame instead of the axle. That lead to the new braided stainless teflon lined brake hoses being the best ground path connection. Expensive mistake when we noticed the teflon melting out of the braid. ooops

[toofazt]

Good tip. Yes, I did clamp as close as possible. It worked fine. Thanks everyone.

[pmbassist]

How about welding in the back above the gas tank? Is this totally unsafe? I would like to mig weld my battery brackets in the trunk area. It seems like as long as I keep my ground very close I should be alright, i'm just wondering if special care needs to be taken when working close to the tank.

[bigdogrider99]

I don't know about the camero. It may have a polypropelyne tank. If you are actually welding the brackets in the trunk then you may be alright. If you are talking about cutting a hole in the trunk and welding in brackets to keep the weight low in the car. I would look at it and see how difficult it would be to drop the tank and pull back the lines. Either way be d$&# careful all it takes is once and you don't get a second chance

[teknition]

Originally Posted by pmbassist

How about welding in the back above the gas tank? Is this totally unsafe? I would like to mig weld my battery brackets in the trunk area. It seems like as long as I keep my ground very close I should be alright, i'm just wondering if special care needs to be taken when working close to the tank.

I would 2nd the motion to remove the tank if theres any chance at all that you will burn through the trunk pan or if you are welding under the car near the tank. It only takes a little bit of gas vapor to make a BIG BOOM.
After you remove the tank just seal the ends of the lines off with some duct tape.

[zapster]

gas tanks are "itchy" to me..

i'm not going near them with a gun or rod or torch in my hands...

...zap!