Welding

[TerryG]

Over the last few years i hate to think how much money i have parted with to garages for welding. I think its time to learn. Question for those of you that know how to weld, is this a suitable piece of equipment to learn with?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 7516557113
I need to repair my saloons boot floor (hole has appeared by the box that the boot catch is attatched to) and a hinge panel repauir + inside of the arch by the sill on my traveller. The cost of the welder (above) and the repair pannels look like its going to be cheaper than paying a garage to do it. Is a boot floor / hinge pannel repair a sencible thing for a beginner to start on?

[SR]

ello terry, if u can ,i think u would be better off with a 120amp -150amp,it will weld thicker metal and u can turn the power down if nessecery, after practicing on scrap metal if u start the hinge pillar area,lots of useful advice can be had from expieriance of others who have done it,its a bit involved to get it right,,theres some pics on my weblink of hinge pillar repair,not the pretyyest ,but i dont see the point of grinding flat the welds that r not seen,steve

[TerryG]

something like this then?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 14237&rd=1
Bearing in mind that allthough my traveller isnt the prittiest one in the world it isnt bad and my saloon is very tidy it is not something i want to totally screw up. If these are particulaly hard areas to weld on would it be best to leave it to somebody that knows what they are doing?

[bigginger]

I wouldn't recommend a gasless mig either. If you sign uo with BOC, the gas isn't *that* hard to get hold of, and the resulting welds are lots neater and they're easier to do.

[TerryG]

i was of the opinion that i am less likely to blow myself up with gasless rather than a wacking great bottle of argon. Is there much difference in the welding method with gas / gasless?

[bigginger]

I (in my fairly limited experience of gasless) found it to be 'spitty' and harder to keep a continuous arc going, resulting in a lumpier less tidy weld. You won't blow yourself up with a bottle of Argoshield either - it's inflammable, just keeps contamination away from the weld. There's nothing to stop you getting one that does both - you just need to reverse the polarity between gas and gasless, very simle case of a couple of terminals in the machine - oh, and change the wire, of course.
I personally found the SIP welders tricky to get hold of spares for, certainly in any sort of hurry, but maybe that's just me... Remember that it takes a fair bit of practice to weld well, so give it some time before you start on the car - but do get one and put in the time!

PS get a good, thick boiler suit and chunky gloves too - and if you can afford an automatic mask they do make things very much easier.

[TerryG]

some parts seem to be avalible easily enough: http://www.toolsnstuff.co.uk/sc/welder-spares.php As i have seen mig welders on the www for £1200 i dont think i'll cry too much if £150-200 worth of kit dies. I'm not in a great rush (4 months MOT left on 1 and 11 on the other) so thats plenty of time to practice. I have some old renault body pannels to practice on (g/f likes testing how tough her clio is so i have alot of slightly dented wings about)
Thanks for the advice.

[chickenjohn]

I have a Clark Turbo Mig 150TE and it has plenty of power for car bodywork, and on the lower settings, I think that translates to more stable arc, plus parts (at least thos likely to wear out) are available from every Machine Mart shop in the land. Its around £200 ish. It was reccomended to me by a professional welder in the local club and its been a good unit.

The Clio wings are likely to be much thinner gauge than Moggie bodywork so if you can weld that, then good old thick Moggie metal will be easy. Make sure you degrease and remove all paint and underseal before welding, with a wire brush on a grinder.

I started on the inner wing, and then hinge area of my traveller (not the actual hinge, but closing panel and inner wing around there) and so yes its a good area to start, will give you the confidence to then go on to sill repairs.

I think that if I could learn to weld, then anyone can! Its one of those things that seems impossibly hard at first, but then you "get it" and everything clicks and suddenly welding id easy!!

Now, I push myself to try and get the results as neat as possible.

Start by practising small lap welds (slight overlap between the two pieces being welded- easier to do without blowing holes), then go on to practice butt welding (where the edges of the metal butt together with no overlap).

Feel free to ask any more questions here!!

[bigginger]

some parts seem to be avalible easily enough: http://www.toolsnstuff.co.uk/sc/welder-spares.php .

Thank you for that link - it was the replacement torches I was after and couldn't find.

[brixtonmorris]

replacment parts for welders. shiremoor compressors

[jonathon]

The main ingredients for a good weld are cleanliness , don't be tempted to weld through the primer on panels, as chickenjohn says clean it thoroughly, always wear proper gloves, helmet and mask.Do not weld in a T shirt and cover any bare skin. as the UV light will cause skin cancer. I have a couple of good mates as welders and they have both just recently had operations to remove malignancies. Try not to weld in a bright reflective room ie white walls as you will recieve a higher degree of flash , always have the correct fire extinguisher available. To help when learning to weld, use a tip size slightly larger than the wire size, i.e normal car mig wire is 0.6 so try a 0.8 tip, this cuts down the chances of the wire burning back or burning into the tip. Use proper wound mig reels, cheap ones are random wound and do not feed off the reel at a constant rate. Use enough gas so when you pull the trigger you only hear a slight hiss. Always turn your gas off when you have finished. If you can opt for a highish rating welder i.e a 165 or 185 amp then you will not need to run it at flat out as you would a 120 or 130 amp unit, hence it will last longer. Experiment with wire speed and amps to achieve a good weld. A good weld is one with good penetration, you should have a good prominant bead of weld on the opposite side to the one you are welding, if you haven't then you will be just laying weld on the surface and producing a weak weld. Take your time and enjoy the experience. I have taught my son who is 11 to weld and he is excellent now, we started by getting him to write his name with weld, this promotes good hand to eye skills and the challenge of the correct speed to move the weld, especially when trying to do this lying on your back.

[Kevin]

Terry they do Automotive courses at the North London Tech College in Willesden / Neasden were you can learn the skills if you wish, its not to far from you.

[TerryG]

LOL, i installed the CCTV system at CNWL on Dudden Hill Lane. Jonathon, do you fancy lending me your son so he can "practice" and do my boot floor and hinge pannel for me? on a side note is it a stupid idea to think i can weld a corner onto a door without removing it from the car (so i dont have to spend ages lining it up again afterwards) I wont be trying out anything on the car until i have managed to weld a few scrap bits of metal cleanly.

[Multiphonikks]

Talking of welding, Andrew, do you still have that spare Mig in need of a few replacement bits???

Nikki

[bigginger]

Not the one Kate's got? Yeah, I've got another (bigger) one in need of a new torch too - must get those sometime soon. You want to borrow? Fine by me, as long as you promise to share!