MOT Disaster New hole dealt with

Post by **nigelr2000** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:18 pm

Got an MOT next week so thought I would clean out and adjust the brakes, grease the trunnions check the lights etc. Whilst I had the rear in the air I thought I would do the handbrake cable grease nipples as I was there so crawled underneath to find this !!!

Bit of a shock as I am sure it wasn't like that last time I was right underneath to do the prop shaft (last october). So ground and cut out the rotten bit and made a plate to fit then got my new mig out and enlisted the services of Mr Blobby to do my first bit of upside down welding. Here are the results

Afterwards gave it a good coat of black stuff and hopefully will get away with it.

Do you expert welders on here think it is good enough to pass ?

Post by **Dean** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:21 pm

I hope it's good enough, because it's easily the same quality as my welding.

Put some seam sealer over the top of the weld to, this will stop water impregnating the joint.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:22 pm

Looks good enough to be 'MOT' standard! Good job for first attempt - especially upside down. Would have been better though to grind down the weld blobs a bit - and slap on lots more underseal!!

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:39 pm

best idea is also to thing WHY it rusted. In many casaes this area fails because the rear window/s are leaking and the water ends up under the back seat - the water between the floor and the under-seat box section will cause a nice line of rot just like your photo.

Therefore 2 things more to do
1) add drain holes to the area
2) make sure the under-seat box section is welded through to your new patch to add the strength back (rarely needed to pass an MOT, but is needed to make a decent repair)
3) sort out the water leaks!

Post by **pegasus** » Sat May 23, 2009 8:39 pm

I had the same problem when i came to do my spring hanger, after cleaning away the underseal it had gone in the same place as yours and some bright spark had used body filler around the seat belt anchor point. So its now off the road for a full rebuild.
Good luck with the mot.

Post by **nslocomotive2** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:35 am

Nigel I have the same problem with nobby, she has a leaky frond window and rear window seal, a couple of drain holes drilled in the rear floor pans stopped the dampness collecting where it could do some damage, hence no carpets, once I get her leaks all buttoned up she will get a new carpet set, my welds are the same too, mind looks better than some of the professional jobs Ive sen on some of the areas on my cars.

Post by **Dryad** » Mon May 25, 2009 11:54 am

Looks like my welding too. Except I now grind down the worst of the blobiness and use a smearing of filler to seal any little holes, then paint with red oxide, then paint with underseal. I'll let you know in a few years' time if it lasted.

Post by **Alec** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:02 pm

Hello all,

although it makes for a neater job, grinding down a weld removes some of it's strength and generally should not be done except for cosmetic reasons, e.g. an exterior body joint.

Alec

Post by **nigelr2000** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:57 pm

Thanks for all the comments, today I sealed the windscreen as it has a leak on each corner which must be why the undelay is still damp when it hasn't rained in days also stripped the boot out to do a small hole which I think lets in water that turned into a rather large one !

Dunno if its getting better or worse, was nice to have access both sides

All looks OK after a coat of the black stuff

I am going to be keeping a close eye on her when it rains after I have seen what a little bit of standing water can do.

Post by **Dryad** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:20 pm

Nice bit of work there.

Post by **Dean** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:31 pm

Can I just ask a question.... is it ok to weld there by the petrol tank... with the tank still in.

I agree with Dryad though you seem to have picked the welding skill up ok. Well done!

Post by **alzax3** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:57 pm

Depends how dodgy your aim is and how thin the tank is getting - you wouldn't want to accidently weld the tank, or overheat it by running too much weld too quickly (it looks like the main welding area is not too close!) but apart from that it would have to be in a pretty poor state to be emitting fumes for stray sparks to catch.

Post by **nigelr2000** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:08 pm

I must admit I did do a risk assesment

but came to the conclusion that as the tank was in good order with no smell of fumes then it was far enough away not to cause a problem. I also left plenty of time between welds for the area to cool down & looks like it was OK cos I am still here.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 26, 2009 10:15 am

Welding skills looking good! The scarey welding I have done was with oxy-acet - on a rear spring hanger mount right beside the tank. I did wrap wet clothes around everything (to catch sparks) - and stuffed a wet rag down the filler pipe.

Post by **nslocomotive2** » Sun May 31, 2009 8:14 pm

Welding looks good, I would be well chuffed with that, hows the other car coming?

agreed with the tank, I took mine out when I did brendas boot floor, but then I did need to weld right across, if you wana see a welding disaster her boot floor is something to be desired.
<img src="http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s192 ... A70357.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
this is to be re-done once I have completed her sills and inner wings, as at the time I lost my patience with it, and learned about the right tool for the job. Bonus comes in soon so a new welder will be on the shopping list to replace the one that was stolen