Welding Birmabright

So I have been trying just about everything suggested by other Land Rover owners to weld my aluminum body panels.  I think I have landed on a solution that seems to work fairly well with novice welding skills.

I have been using that front panel as a test section, and in order to prepare it I have drilled out the end of any cracks with a 1/32 bit.  This is to stop the crack from getting any worse.

Once the cracks were all treated and the panel had all paint removed I tried out Alumiweld as a first go.  The process to get the solder to melt into the crack is a bit tricky.  After a few attempts I had some luck, but it doesn't hold up to any sort of flex in the panel.

Flexing the panel a bit and the weld just pops open again.  So that's not going to work, on to plan B, which is TIG welding with a friends TIG.

Props to all the welders out there who can get TIG to work properly.  I spent 3 days in my friends garage working with his ESAB and I just couldnt get it to work properly.  I ran down to the local welding shop, got all kinds of advice, tried different tips and rod, changed out the gas.  However, I just couldn't get it right.  Couple that with the fact my friend lives completely across town, and this welder requires 220 (which I dont have) I had to try something else.

The results of some TIG practice.  I think now, my problem may have been not enough shielding gas, but maybe someone with some more experience could tell me just by looking at the welds in the pic.

I have a 135amp MIG at home that you can buy an aluminum spool gun for, so that is the next plan, buy the spool gun and give it a go.  After purchasing some pure Argon for my welder and messing about with the gas settings I managed to get my first decent weld on the Birmabright.  I realize the picture below doesnt look like much but the weld is solid, and it has penetrated both panels.  Although small, I consider this a victory.

The problem with my shop is that 20amps is the largest circuit I have, and I cant put anything more in there, 220 is unavailable in my unit.  So I have had to work around that, and I think I have settled on a good solution.

One of the issues with welding aluminum is the gases and byproducts that it releases when welding.  So I built myself a small fume hood with a bathroom fan and some flexible ducting.  It actually works pretty good for the welding, and just about everything else, so I have been using it pretty consistently.