Question about welding

[Streets_of_Fire]

hello! how strong/safe is an "aftermarket" weld ? in other word, one that isnt done from the factory? are they all teh same strength? i am asking because i have an 88 crx and the metal beam on the floor that houses the bolt threads for my chairs is in VERY BAD SHAPE! all the metal around the threads are rusting and breaking off!! im not sure what to do!! i am asking if i go to a body shop and they weld a new peice in will it be safe and strong enough to withstand worst possible case scenarios? (like if the car rear ended someone i wouldnt want to the chair to fly out of the windshield!!)

thanks!

[curtis73]

Absolutely. Depending on the type of welding, the talent of the weldor, and the materials used, it can be hundreds of times stronger. Factory welds are great, but "aftermarket" welding is responsible for building 15,000-lb hitches, 100-story steel buildings, and 900-ft ship's hulls It'll be fine.

[Streets_of_Fire]

Thanks!! Well, if its not too much to ask, what types of welds are there? or better yet, what would be the optimal weld for my situation?

thanks

[curtis73]

Any welder will tackle a small job like this. The inertia of the seat in a 70 MPH impact shouldn't be more than about 6000 lbs, so we're not talking about much.

Any one with a flux core welder, a MIG welder, or even a talented operator of a stick welder should be way more than adequate. What I would do is replace the affected area with a piece of strap steel with nuts welded on it. Then what you're doing is using the area of the strap steel to hold the weight, not the welds. The welds will just be preventing it from falling off. For that matter, you could bolt the strap steel in place with the same effect. Basically sandwich the floor panel between strap steel outside and the seat inside. Probably stronger than the factory.

[UncleBob]

as mentioned, the thin unibody material is the bigger issue than the weld. If you reinforce the sheet metal by putting two sections of flat bar on it, this will distribute the force a lot more and make it much stronger.

Welding sheet metal is difficult. Not only does it like to punch holes through the stuff, but its also only as strong as the sheet metal it self, at best. But if you have holes developing in the sheet metal, I assume they are due to either fatigue of the metal, or cancer or both. So it would definitely be a good idea to reinforce the area.

I definitely wouldn't consider this a high stress point. Even in an accident, remember that its not the seat that is securing you, its the safetybelt bolts (frontal inpact). Rearending is something else though