Factory welding
 

The lines of body welding in my '32 5 window, on the inside, are very regular. Look like automatic, not hand done. How was that done back then?

Re: Factory welding
 

I assume after welding a million they got it figured out pretty well

Re: Factory welding
 

I think those are resistance welds similar to the way band saw blades are joined but that's just a guess. I would think it would take a pile of amps to do the job since some of those welds are 12'' or more.

Re: Factory welding
 

As stated, it's called 'flash butt welding'

Re: Factory welding
 

And machine done, not by hand.

Re: Factory welding
 

What about the Briggs and Murray bodies that were made into roadsters and cabriolets of the mid to late 30s? The welds inside the body on my car look hand done. For example the reinforcement of the rockers.

Re: Factory welding
 

The question posed regarded a Ford-built '32 standard coupe body.

Re: Factory welding
 

Those were not mass produced and would have been hand welded where fabrication was not time sensitive.

Re: Factory welding
 

The machines they developed to weld the model A gas tanks was some relatively new technology for the time. The technology evolved as it was needed.

Re: Factory welding
 

The same resistance welding technique was used to weld the bottoms on the hollow steel valve lifters for the V8 engines.

Re: Factory welding
 

Thank you, all of you. Automatic resistance welding was my guess, with nothing to go on. Looking at many of the other welds revealed by stripping the interior demonstrates how much investment was made to make these panels. Each weldment had to have a pair of matching "things" that held the parts next to each other and then jam them together the right distance and the correct amperage for the right time.


Kinda worked to build B-24s some years later, ya think?

Re: Factory welding
 

The 1932 & others year fuel tanks had a rather harsh & sharp crimped edge with a full perimeter weld where the upper & lower portions were joined

Re: Factory welding
 

While we're talking about Ford's unique welding capabilities, what about the way they electrically welded the stainless steel sides to the cast iron block on the early V8-60's.:eek:

I hear that nobody knows how they did it.

Re: Factory welding
 

And welding the spokes
Lawrie