106 replies to this topic

[tino]

Ended up not going to Standford Hall today as planned as the Weather looked miserable. 
 
I'm quite happy with the bead along the top and down the right side , the left side is not so nice as I didn't start in the right place. 
 

 
It's not so nice on the inside as I really struggled to find a comfortable position to weld in. 
 

 
Next up is to remove the rear valance closing plate and to spot weld the replacement in. 
 
I tried a higher wire speed and that seemed to help , running out of gas didn't though!

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:22 PM.

[tino]

Done a bit more cutting and just waiting for some tools to turn up in the post so I can tidy it a bit before welding the new panel in. 
 
Before I cut the metal out

 
After cutting it out and primed waiting for the new panel . 

 
 
Luckily the subframe support is solid as is the metal around it. Just have a small hole on the rear arch which I intend to replace with some decent metal . Other than that the boot floor is actually in decent condition. 
 
So then its on to removing the subframe. An seeing what its like behind the subframe mounts

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:23 PM.

[tino]

The rust was worse than I last thought in the above post and is going to take a fair bit more work and I would appreciate anyone's input on how to proceed forward with this. 
 
 
Here is the damage so far , 
 

 

 
Now It seems that the lovely previous owner has decided to replace the floor to wheel arch bracket directly over some very questionable metal and then just fill the other side. 
 
So far I have worked out I need to replace this bracket , and the corner of the boot floor , although it is solid all the way around the other side.
 
Is it going to be best to remove the subframe then cut out the rusted metal leaving the floor to wheel arch bracket in place as a alignment aid for the replacement boot floor, then once this is welded in to replace the floor to wheel arch bracket and also the rear closing panel bracket? I plan to fabricate a small repair panel for the wheel arch as the rest of it is solid luckily. 
 
Does the above sound reasonable?
 
Also is it possible to do without removing the rear valance? 
 
Thanks for any aid and assistance.

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:23 PM.

[domdee]

nice progress

[tino]

Hi All, 
 
Not done any welding or work on the car since last year! So decided to go out and practice my welding again, below is how it looks. It goes pretty much from left to right in order of attempts, the first one I forgot to turn the gas on enough. The slightly shorter curved one I am most happy with. 
 
If any one has any guidance, i.e. I'm going to slow, not enough heat , wire speed to low. Then I appreciate the comments. 
 
The short blob on its own was me attempting hi power at speed 4 which really didn't work. The rest were all low heat at speed wires peed 8-10. 
 
 
 

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:24 PM.

[tino]

Latest attempt, wire speed set to 8 , heat on max. Seems to have a bit to much penetration, but overall I'm happy.
 
 

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:24 PM.

[tino]

Thought that I would sort out this small hole. 

 
 
Cut out the rust and ground down around the hole

 
Welded and ground down

 
Finally primed , sprayed a bit to much on it mind...
 

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:24 PM.

[tino]

Next up is this mess...
 

 
It goes under the cross member , so I'm not sure if I need to add some tubing / support when I remove it and the cross member. 
 

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:24 PM.

[tino]

I've dug a bit more into the mess above and I'm not quite sure what order to cut the panels out and replace them in. 
 
The lower flitch is shot. 
 

 
As is most of the floor pan after it was welded over by the previous owner, I'm not sure how it passed its M.O.T's as its only spot welded and I'm sure your meant to seam weld. 
 
 
 
 
 
The green permanent marker line, is pretty much where I intend to cut along. Does any one see any issues with this? Should I tackle the floor first then the lower flitch, or the lower flitch then the floor? The a-panel has seen better days as well so that will be replaced, so I don't mind taking that off to get better access to the flitch from the outside. 
 
Any help, guidance, advice, etc is much appreciated. 
 
Thanks 
 
tino

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:25 PM.

[tino]

Well no one said don't cut it....
 
So I started to cut out the rot, and came across this lovely mess. 
 
( The white panel, is just there to stop me going through the battery cable or brake pipe like I did the petrol pipe on the other side. 
 
 
 
Which resulted in me making a small repair panel like so..
 

 
An then I ran out of welding wire so had to stop, probably as good thing, as I had started to blow holes through the metal.
 
Its not pretty, but it seems solid, I intend to chop out the corner rot and make a replacement panel for there once this is welded in.

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:25 PM.

[tino]

Just a few pics showing where I got to when I got replacement wire...
 

 

 
Relatively happy with the welds, didn't require a lot of grinding down an I only blew through in one place.
 
Slowly improving I think!

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:26 PM.

[tino]

Small replacement in the boot. 
 

 

 

 
Not the prettiest repair panel, but the penetration is good. I had to stop soon after as I fecked my back up. 
 
Still its one less repair/hole to do.

Edited by tino, 16 October 2015 - 07:26 PM.

[sonikk4]

Tino what make and model of welder have you got???

[tino]

Hi Sonikk4

It's a Clarke 135te turbo.

[sonikk4]

Ok the settings you need are the first switch set to 2 and the second switch to min. Wire speed set to 7/8. Gas flow should be a gentle hiss.

This will be fine for all the thin metal repairs. If you want to plug weld then 1/4 inch holes are better. Power to max and wire speed increased to 8 1/2.