Plug welding joins two metal pieces by drilling a hole in the top piece and laying it on the bottom one. A bead is then run inside the hole to hold the pieces together. It is commonly used for body repair, joining different thicknesses of metal, welding a rod inside a pipe, and installing new flooring. It was also used in the 1960s to create inverted steel wheels.
A plug weld is used to fasten two pieces of metal together using a soldering iron. When the pieces are joined together, a hole is drilled in the top piece and laid on the bottom one. A weld is then made by running a bead inside the hole drilled, thus holding the two pieces together. When doing body repair, this type of welding is often used when replacing body panels. The end result resembles a spot weld in that it is circular.
When joining two different thicknesses of metal, plug welding is often the weld of choice. By welding the thin top piece to a thicker bottom piece, a strong weld can be produced. While this type of weld is occasionally used to connect two thick sheets of steel together, it is primarily a thin metal weld. When making one, welders must be careful not to burn the bottom piece of metal.
Welding is also used when welding a rod inside a pipe. When the fit is such that the rod or bolt stud fits snugly inside a hollow tube, a hole is drilled in the tube and a dowel weld is used to secure the rod within it. Occasionally, this method is also used when welding thin exhaust pipes on a vehicle. Once the exhaust sections are installed, the pipe is welded using this method to secure the system under the vehicle.
In the 1960s, hot rodders used this weld to create inverted steel wheels. After drilling the weld spots that held the steel wheel centers inside the wheels, the centers were flipped or reversed. This resulted in deep wheels. Once in place, the centers were rewelded through the drilled spot weld locations and inverted wheels were created. The finished wheels were either painted or chromed.
This method is also used when installing new flooring in an older vehicle. The rusted floor plate is scored, leaving a small amount of metal around the perimeter to butt the new floor plate. Once the old floor has been trimmed, the new floor is cut to fit snugly around the remaining perimeter edge. Small holes are drilled through the new floorboard at the edge, and then the floorboard is placed inside the vehicle. The new floor is welded into place, creating a new floor.
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