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Has anybody welded their engine compartment seams?

I have been advised that the job should be done with the chassis "under load." I assume that this means that the weight of the engine should be applied during the welding. I have also been advised that normal arc welding is not sufficient for this application. The reason being that it would heat the sheet metal surrounding the welds. Consequently the metal surrounding the welds would be weakened negating the rigidity gained through the welding. What type of welding is advised for this? TIG? MIG?

I have also thought about alternative methods of re-enforcing the engine compartment such as using rivits when it is possible and using carbon fiber or fiberglass directly on top of the sheet metal. I dont know if the epoxy would hold sufficiently to the sheet metal though.

What about welding in tubes to strengthen the area. I guess it would be hard to find space for that
What, if any, of these ideas seem to be good ideas?

"Oh I´ve got lots of great ideas...problem is most of them SUCK!"-George Carlin

First of all, why do you want to strengthen that particular area?

Agree Mats...If you are going to weld up the seams,do it scientifically.
I spent 2 week of evenings gas welding a gtv shell.It was a vast improvement to a regular non welded shell on the road,but be aware that by welding up a shell you are playing dangerously with the crumple zones of the car.
I had a bad front end crash 5 years ago in my white Giulietta and believe me when I say I appreciated the designers efforts into designing the crumple zones.I hit a stationary bus on a freeway at 140km/h and the car behaved as it should have.The roof buckled at the posts,the front end absorbed the impact by folding down and even the engine did what it was supposed to do.It went back and under the car.The propshaft tunnel folded at the rear by the clutch unit and all along the car you could see how the impact had been absorbed-This will not happen on a fully seam welded chassis.I would suggest a full 6 point race harness and a fia spec seat in a seam welded car.I was wearing the std issue Alfa seatbelt and it still stretched far enough for me to hit the steering wheel-I have new respect for the safety aspect of the cars......

MMmmm,maybe got a bit too enthusiastic here.Read Zambone`s other thread and I think he wants advice on strenghtening the chassis for coil overs........

Finally worked out why you got such a bent sense of humour Baz !!

Yeah, I did the same thing.
Good story though, and very true!

Geez Mats, you hit a bus with Barry's car too Damn, that's amazing! I'll bet it was the same bus, too!!
Jim K.

Sense of humour??Self preservation!!!!Its how I stay sane in a very insane world.....

Sanity Baz is a relative thing. That is not to say some of your relatives have more that you. Frankly, I wouldn't know but what I strongly suspect is that your Guru cousin over there in sunbaked Greece has a couple of cuttlery items missing from the picnic set!

...I promise it's the last off topic entry from me.

Coilovers and seam-welding is only an option for a pure race build as far as I'm concerned and that means full rollcage...

Remember that welding the car means more weight, it also moves the forces in the body = cracks right next to the strong area if done incorrectly.

Hey Mats, being Sunday today, I took the family out for a cheap (heheh!) lunch near the beach (where else?). Its a really hot day, everybody with windows shut and A/C full blast, except the dumb asssholes with jeeps, spiders and other topless toys driving with the sun boiling whats left of their empty skulls! And, on the beach...string bikini big-time show...so hey, you know what you can do with your seam-welds?? (borrow some Vaseline from Barry!)
Eat your heart out MD, I know this is winter coming down under, no more stringy beavers, heheh!
Jim K.

Yup,This poor guy is definately not the brightest light in the box.....Only a few pieces short, MD??Hey Jimgreek,your ok man,your ok.......I think..........

Mats,I would do stuff like that just to have a good road car.....but ,yes,you are right there....

I get the distinct feeling that the Forum is mellowing, sort of evolving, into a very palatable mixture of luney tunes and fact files and what a great development that is. Good comradeship and Alfa's. Does it get better than that?

Sure it is rewarding to read entry after entry about Alfa this and that but it is a buzz to read a bit of lunacy every now and then just to put a human touch to all this talk about machines.

Thanks for putting up with my half baked contributions but to be truely warped, you need live in an olive grove and sniff bikini strings all day long.

AWRRIGHT!!!!! MD, with that last comment you made the top of the weirdo list!!! We humbly bow to the Force!
Us poor peons can only hope to sniff what's left over...strings, jockstraps, whatever turns you on...sweeties!!
Jim K.

Yeeeh!!MD for president!!Of what though??

Do you guys realize that its mostly a demented Aussie,wierdo Greek, the cool Swede and a very forthright Sarf Efrikan contributing here??The other fellows must be mortified and shocked at our antics..

I must say you chaps are true gentlemen and scholars and there are very few of us left.................................................