quick question

what do you have to do to weld to an automobile? just disconnect the battery, or is there more?

Have had no problems with battery connected.
Make sure there is a CLEAN area to be welded and a good, clean ground.
If welding on diffs, only weld about a one inch bead at a time, allowing time
to cool down.
hth

Disconnecting the battery is recommended so there won't be feedback from the welding current that fries delicate electronics. However, if you attach the welding ground close to the area being welded and be sure the ground has a good connection, you should be okay.

Personally, I prefer to be safe and disconnect the battery ground cable.

Years ago our mechanic who took care of the heavy equiptment hooked the ground to the crank bolt on a terex scraper and did some welding in the engine compartment, motor mounts or?? he ended up welding the crank bearings to the crank and wasted the engine. duhhhhhhhhhh. Just thought Id mention that.

wow. thats horrible. He must have felt like an ass after that one. Thanks you guys for the help. and i did disconnect the battery. better safe then sorry i think. beside it took all of half a minute including walking to the tool box to get the wrench. No problems with the electronics so far. I had to do some exhaust work. Man is that a challenge for an inexperenced welder like me. Ill hopefully be taking a welding class after school gets out. It should be a lot of fun. happy jeepin'

-Tim