Your spot weld cutter looks the same as mine. If you take it out of the chuck and look at the end there should be a screw visible in the centre. That bears on the spring for the spring-loaded centre and can be adjusted to act as a stop. You set the depth of the cut to match the thickness of the sheet you're cutting and prevent you cutting into the panel behind. Adjust it on a piece of scrap the same gauge or set it too shallow on the first spot weld and then slowly adjust it to increase the depth until it just cuts the first sheet. Saves a lot of damage and time. Run the drill slowly.

The angle grinder's faster. Another option, especially if you have access from the other side, and if you're replacing the removed panel, is to simply drill them right out. You can then use the holes to weld through from the other side once your new panel's on.

YOU DON'T NEED TO CUT THROUGH THE FIRST LAYER!!! You just need to cut deep enough that the first layer remains very thin, almost foil like. It will separate simply due to having little strength. :)

I am so glad You made this video because I’m about to tackle spot welds to remove the rusted rear valance from the hatch of my Z and all of your information covered all the questions I had before I needed to tackle this so thank you 🙏

Very nicely explained. I really like that you showed all the pitfalls you encountered. I'm the kind of person that can find more problems than most people knew were possible, so this really helps. Thank you.

Great work and lots of useful tips. And I totally agree: master of craft is somebody that has already made all the possible mistakes once and is able to fix all those mistakes and maybe avoid those in the future. It doesn't matter if you're working with wood or metal; pretty much any mistakes in working can be fixed, it's just the question how much extra work that's going to require.

Excellent; being a "beginner" helps because there are so many things one forgets as they get better/more accomplished. Your using the center punch(I have EXACTLY the same one!) aaand a small drill bit(less than 1.8") to keep the center point from wandering is my favorite trick as well. thanks for taking the time to make this video with very good explanations, bruce

You got too start somewhere removing that rust! Thank you for your time to show how you love your Z!

Awesome vid. Thanks for taking the time to make it and being so thoughtful in explaining the technique. Very helpful!

I'm just about to start removing spot welds on my TR6 project so this presentation was very helpful. Great music!

Great video definitely well made !! I work in a body shop and honestly this is great video for those starting to replace structural parts

Thanks for the insane detail in each part of the video gives a lot of insight for helping weld my radiator support on

Foreshadowing!!! Really helpful video - doing a 71 Triumph. Keep up the great work and sharing!

Thanks from across the Pond for the video as I'm starting to deal with Spot Welds too - AND the Horrors revealed under whatever it is you're removing. RUST!! PS: I love your 'Jenga' (an old Swahili word) wooden axle stands - 'hadn't thought of doing that either to gain some extra height off the ground. Cheers, Piers in Avebury, Wiltshire

Thanks mate.....I was looking to find a video on removing spot welds. Low and behold i come across your video AND you are working on a 280z as well. Thanks for the tips.....I have everything but the finger sander so i might do some research on that too

hey man just want to let you know I've been watching the build series, its helped with my own part of my build

Awesome video dude. I didn't even know those kinds of tools existed.

Very well put together video. Well done.

Sir , it seems simple but ,this video give amazing way to deal with spots welds ! Awsome ~!! gonna try out on my radiator support spots welds.

I took out so many spot welds on my 240z restoration as well. After a while I just used an angle grinder w/cutting disc as well as a belt sander to speed things up more.

Thanks for sharing. Excellent communication & problem-solving. I would hire you.

Another way to remove spot welds is to use a 3" die grinder. The discs are cheaper and typically easier to find than belts for the small belt sanders. You can also get into really tight areas that way. Any way, good luck! I'm going to go watch some mroe of your videos!

Hey guys, I know y'all are waiting for an update on the Z, I'm just working through a bunch of tedious work right now. Will update very soon!

Excellent video,editing and explanation...good job

Great video! Thanks for posting this!

Thanx for your efforts and advice. I am about to work on a Panel with the same issue..! Great Advice. Cheers kim in Oz. 😎

Good on u bro it’s so helpful video. Thanks mate

Thanks for the detailed video.

Excellent video thanks!

Great video. I would recommend you try a cutoff disk verses a belt sander. Sander still has its place but cutoff disk are much quicker. Just another tool in your arsenal. Also, I’d use jack stands verses wood. Much more safer. Again, great video and enjoyed your presentation.

Thank you. Very informative!

Great video. I hate these little buggas and had no idea how to get rid of them. One day I'll get that mirage back in the road.

Very good video and very and meticulous job

Great video man

Great info. Thanks!

Great tutorial dude

Thank you so much for this video

Thanks for sharing

Great video thanks… dímela I’m working on now … s14 240sx Nissan battery tray removal … so much rust to deal with

Great video..do I need to grind the weld on my fence to loosen the bolt attachment to the concrete columns ..thank you have a blessed day and be blessed

You failed to mention the speed at which one will have to replace the cutters on those tools but there is a way to keep that forn from happening as often and that's to use a dedicated "Cutting" oil and use a lot of it. It not only prevents the rapid dulling from heat, it keeps you from breaking off the teeth due to catching on the work piece.

Dang, after watching this my z might not be as solid as I thought it was 😅 good thing I am pulling the motor soon, and going to make the engine bay spiffy. I will definitely keep this in mind. Thanks!

I’ve always been a fan of dremel they are my go to for just about everything

Nothing works better than a 1/2 inch drill bit, one step and finished and you can easily punch holes in new panel and make it look like it's never been replaced,

Place a wrap of teflon pipe tape around the awl before threading on the bit. Also, use some kind of cutting oil, any oil will work, I've even used plain old olive oil! Oil is oil :)

Brilliant video thank u ❤️👀👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

I liked...."master has failed more times than a beginner has ever attempted...." ....good day....sammy

If yo u are removing a lot of welds on the same thickness of sheet metal welding a washer on to the cutter (at for example 1mm from the tooth edge) stops you from being able to go too deep. It won't help in restricted access but on most panels it makes repetitive removals easy. Place the washer on a socket, insert the cutter squarely and then place 3 or 4 Tack welds around the cutter. Also using WD40 or similar and slowing the cut speed/Rpm will extend the life of the cutter.

Thanks for lesson. On my way to the junk yard to retrieve a truck fender. Please upgrade the body front support to a 4"x6" at least. The sideways 2"x4" is making me nervous to watch. When you mom bumps the fender human injury or bent fenders could occur wit a fall. Is the wood screwed together?

Using a 5 1/2 inch grinding wheel will get to that spot weld a lot faster than a belt sander. What may prove to be the fastest method to get through it would be to use an 1/8” drill bit and then use a step bit (Unibit) to go through it afterwards.

Great Video, very informational! What grit sandpaper did you use, or recommend for the belt sander?

What grit are you using on the belt sander?

Perhaps a little helpful information there is a product called coroseal it changes rust into a no rust product . It can be slushed around into hard to reach areas and the rust is convert in 24 hours Body shops sell there own version and nun the less it saves you from taking a car apart. I gave your video a thumbs up. Good luck with the car

Very useful video, and great attitude -- thank you so much! Would you like to add some affiliate links to the products you've shown? I am looking to buy the drill cutter set and the sander you used; would have been a win-win with those links. Thanks

36 grit 3M Cubitron on that belt sander is a game changer for spot welds and they last !

This reminds me of sheet metal repair work we do at Gulfstream

NICE DEMO !

My cars exhaust has a small rectangular plaque attached to the underside of it that says 'for race use' that I need to remove, It's welded on with a spot in each of the 4 corners. What is the easiest way for me to remove this myself? I don't own lots of tools

How do u find the factory spot welds if they were ground flush Bv

I learnt its makes it easier if you apply a couple washers before you screw on the cutter for a much deeper cut .you'll get a few mm of cutting teeth past the centre punch with very little pressure applied when cutting

Great video mate! Curious to know if you tried the spot weld drill bits? So they’re a drill bit with a flat head basically, advantage it has over the cutter bits are you don’t have to grind down the circle left over. I haven’t used them but planning on trialling them when I start my repairs

6:45, if you flip over your pliers you will be able to get a better grip.

what do you thing the patch was for? I assume the rust was a result of the patch, did not see any structural damage it was fixing.

Nice job. Let me know I did a terrible job on mine.

You are using way too high of an rpm speed on your drill. Those spot weld cutters tear through the welds at very low RPM's 500 RPM's is recommended. Any faster and it takes longer and just dulls the cutter. Ask me how i know. haha

I'm proud of you for throwing yourself into this. Your knowledge has been growing at a fantastic rate. This classic Z is a car worth cutting your teeth on so I have to tip my hat to your proper stewardship.

I need to remove spot welds around my windshield placement is goin to be a pain in the rear 😲🙄

use a cobalt spot weld drill bit, the hole saw style sucks, don't use a screw driver to pry apart the panels, use a putty knife to split the weld.

If you';re not saving the panel you want off then dont waste time drilling,just grind the welds off,you'll still need to grind afterwards anyway

There are proper tools for separating the two pieces of metal.

It's like a plug weld when you fill the hole. Bv

channel lock was backwards...

If you drill through both panels you don't fill it with body filler. Weld them closed if not used or use them and plug weld the new panel on👍🏼👍🏼

Just so you know your pliers didn’t get a good grip because their teeth are directional and only bite in one direction. You were using them in the wrong direction. Flip em over and they will work really well for you

Uh oh

Easier way to remove spot welds is to use a uni-bit. I'd recommend spending the $60 on a 1' Klein one, but if you're on a budget there's always the $12 Harbor Freight option. HF one just dulls out quicker and requires more effort to use over time. Uni-bits work best when ran at a relatively high speed, but not necessarily full throttle, and don't apply a lot of pressure. Not much more than the weight of the drill itself.

That is a ridiculous amount of welds for such a small panel

Hello young dudes, get off your wallets and get a Blair spot weld cutter, the Annular cutters are higher quality and it has an internal stop that keeps you from drilling through. The Ever Necromancing Blue Mule

Poor vehicle

Maybe I didn't see it properly but it looked like the drill you were using was going in reverse. That would definitely make things go slowly. Just saying. Otherwise, thanks for the info.

Cheap tools and bad practice

Talk too much

You like to talk huh? That’s why I left too much talking

Recommend belt sander then u can ease into the metal