Jp7

iTrader: (11)

now I had to prepare the pipe for tig welding

I chose to backpurge this pipe with argon inside. To do this, I had to seal off one end so a hose could be fit with my argon tank. The other end was taped off, but I poked little holes in it to let the oxygen (from the air we breath) escape once the pipe fills up with argon. Argon will contaminate the molten metal while it's being welded, which causes "carbide precipitation".

I also had to clean out all of the soot from having 20k miles.

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

pictures of the tack welds, testing fit and moving the hanger.

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

clamping and holding the hanger for welding was tricky

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

I even cut a little bit of the plastic off of the fascia to give the exhaust more clearance

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

put everything back on the car, and admire the good fit =)

(here you can see the back purging tape still on)

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

this is the weld- I know it is no pretty "stack of dimes" but I looked at it from the inside with a boroscope. It is solid and I got good penetration. I will practice and continue to get better. I had only welded stainless steel for the first time a month ago.

kpt6

iTrader: (126)

Looks good. I wish you were local to me so you could do mine!

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

thanks - I could sure use the practice!

Here is what was left.






I had to make sure all of the rivits would line up just fine before painting

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

everything put together - i still need to polish the clear coat

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

Nice job man, it looks great! Does your JDM rear poke out slightly on the sides next to the quarter panels? Mine does that equally on both sides even after perfectly centering the rivets. Mine also isn't a perfect matching color with the rest of the car because I used my wing to color match it. Turns out the dealership that repainted my wing some years ago didn't color match it when they warrantied the fading clear coat. It's always the people you least expect to screw up that actually do with your stuff haha.

Jp7

iTrader: (11)

The fascia sides are perfectly flush with the body. Even know I used chromabase paint it still does not match perfect. It matches my oem rockers, but the body (metal paint looks a little more yellow and lighter). This is common with cars from the factory (all oems). My Mazda 3 front bumper does not match the fenders perfect either (, everything is factory original there). Maybe I am just hyper sensitive because I am a painter.

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

I see. Well that figures. I was rear ended the first year I had the car, maybe that's why it's not flush for me. It was with the oem bumper, but they could have sanded that down to match lol.