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#1 Harryjt96

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Posted 24 February 2015 - 11:24 PM

Hi guys, Im nearly finished on my first mini project, and i've left the worst until last. An a panel and a door panel needs replacing on the car, I have a MIG 135TE welder that I was bought for christmas but have no previous welding experience, apart from a few sheets of steel I had lying around ive practiced a little on. If anyone has any tips or advice on how to weld it, how to remove the panels or any advice in general it'd be much appreciated, thanks guys. :)



#2 Ben_O

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Posted 25 February 2015 - 12:36 AM

Hi guys, Im nearly finished on my first mini project, and i've left the worst until last. An a panel and a door panel needs replacing on the car, I have a MIG 135TE welder that I was bought for christmas but have no previous welding experience, apart from a few sheets of steel I had lying around ive practiced a little on. If anyone has any tips or advice on how to weld it, how to remove the panels or any advice in general it'd be much appreciated, thanks guys. :)

The first thing i would do is get over to the projects section and have a read through some of the popular rebuild threads. http://www.theminifo...0-mini-saloons/ Go for the ones that are/almost completed as the panel work you want to see will have been covered.

Members put a lot of time into creating these rebuild threads and most are very detailed.

 

As for welding, i would try looking on youtube to get some ideas on technique but one thing i will say when practicing and i say this to all people who ask, don't waste time running lines of weld on a flat sheet of metal, you will learn nothing.

Instead, practice butt welds, lap welds and Mig plug's as these are the things you need to know.

 

It is important when butt welding to have a nice even gap between each piece of between 1mm and 2mm. Any less and you will not get consistent penetration, and any more, you will struggle to get a neat weld without blowing holes.

 

A good way of learning to butt weld is to try pulse welding. This is where you do one tack weld on your join, followed by another and then another making sure they slightly overlap each other but do not try and do great lengths in one go or the heat will distort the panel.

 

here is an example of pulse welding from my project.

 

AtRmGxS.jpg

 

It was done in 1" lengths at a time allowing to cool before continuing

 

This is an example of plug welding.

Drill your holes in the front of the seam you want to join and clamp it to the one behind like this

 

kHpCz5H.jpg

 

You can see that i have cleaned inside the hole to bare metal.

 

Then the plug weld is completed by holding the nozzle of the welding torch about 1/4 of an inch from the centre of the hole, pulling the trigger and gently swirling the nozzle round in a circle to get this

 

kGnS75U.jpg

 

here is an example of one of my seam welds.

 

UyFzktF.jpg

 

This is done by holding the nozzle at the start of the run, pulling the trigger and steadily moving across whilst gently going back on yourself slightly every 8-10mm.

 

As with most welding, having the correct setting is paramount. Too low and you won't get penetration and too high, you will blow holes. It also depends alot on the thickness of the metal you are welding. Thicker metal = higher setting etc.

 

Wire speed is important too, too slow and you will get blobby welding and too high, you will get stubby skittish welding. You know when you get the settings right because the welder will make a nice even steady crackling noise whilst you are welding.

 

The other important thing is cleanliness. Rust, grease and paint will always lead to a poor weld.

 

If you need any other tips then just fire away and ill do my best to help.

 

Cheers

 

Ben



#3 castafiore

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Posted 25 February 2015 - 08:03 AM

Lots of advice on the mig welding forum, especially on the 'thin metal technique' outlined above. A piece of copper as a heat sink, held behind the weld, helps dissipate heat a bit or you can use a damp cloth. Not blowing through on thin metal can be tricky, as can not warping the metal, so patience is key.

There is a calculator on the mig forum which helps calculate the correct settings for various migs, though it is usually best to use trial and error on scrap material until you are happy with your welds.

#4 finch661

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Posted 25 February 2015 - 09:15 AM

as mentioned above, there are a few techniques you need to master - best is to get some scrap metal and try different setting and wire speed until you get a nice looking weld. I had never done any welding before, and have managed to do a fair bit now, and my welds are getting better every day!

Get a scrap bit of copper (i flattened a bit of copper pipe) and place that behind when welding.

 

have a look here http://www.mig-weldi...uk/tutorial.htm

 

And you'll find so much advice on here about how to weld and repair



#5 Harryjt96

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Posted 06 March 2015 - 09:57 PM

 

Hi guys, Im nearly finished on my first mini project, and i've left the worst until last. An a panel and a door panel needs replacing on the car, I have a MIG 135TE welder that I was bought for christmas but have no previous welding experience, apart from a few sheets of steel I had lying around ive practiced a little on. If anyone has any tips or advice on how to weld it, how to remove the panels or any advice in general it'd be much appreciated, thanks guys. :)

The first thing i would do is get over to the projects section and have a read through some of the popular rebuild threads. http://www.theminifo...0-mini-saloons/ Go for the ones that are/almost completed as the panel work you want to see will have been covered.
Members put a lot of time into creating these rebuild threads and most are very detailed.
 
As for welding, i would try looking on youtube to get some ideas on technique but one thing i will say when practicing and i say this to all people who ask, don't waste time running lines of weld on a flat sheet of metal, you will learn nothing.
Instead, practice butt welds, lap welds and Mig plug's as these are the things you need to know.
 
It is important when butt welding to have a nice even gap between each piece of between 1mm and 2mm. Any less and you will not get consistent penetration, and any more, you will struggle to get a neat weld without blowing holes.
 
A good way of learning to butt weld is to try pulse welding. This is where you do one tack weld on your join, followed by another and then another making sure they slightly overlap each other but do not try and do great lengths in one go or the heat will distort the panel.
 
here is an example of pulse welding from my project.
 
AtRmGxS.jpg
 
It was done in 1" lengths at a time allowing to cool before continuing
 
This is an example of plug welding.
Drill your holes in the front of the seam you want to join and clamp it to the one behind like this
 
kHpCz5H.jpg
 
You can see that i have cleaned inside the hole to bare metal.
 
Then the plug weld is completed by holding the nozzle of the welding torch about 1/4 of an inch from the centre of the hole, pulling the trigger and gently swirling the nozzle round in a circle to get this
 
kGnS75U.jpg
 
here is an example of one of my seam welds.
 
UyFzktF.jpg
 
This is done by holding the nozzle at the start of the run, pulling the trigger and steadily moving across whilst gently going back on yourself slightly every 8-10mm.
 
As with most welding, having the correct setting is paramount. Too low and you won't get penetration and too high, you will blow holes. It also depends alot on the thickness of the metal you are welding. Thicker metal = higher setting etc.
 
Wire speed is important too, too slow and you will get blobby welding and too high, you will get stubby skittish welding. You know when you get the settings right because the welder will make a nice even steady crackling noise whilst you are welding.
 
The other important thing is cleanliness. Rust, grease and paint will always lead to a poor weld.
 
If you need any other tips then just fire away and ill do my best to help.
 
Cheers
 
Ben

 

Hi ben sorry to bother but your advice from before was extremely helpful, and unfortunately I have discovered a medium sized hole while cleaning the wheel arches of the car, and really am a bit stuck on how to approach repairing the metal as im still not very experienced at all, if you could give me a few pointers on how to approach this i would be very grateful, thanks.

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Edited by Harryjt96, 06 March 2015 - 09:58 PM.


#6 Ben_O

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Posted 06 March 2015 - 10:52 PM

 

 

Hi guys, Im nearly finished on my first mini project, and i've left the worst until last. An a panel and a door panel needs replacing on the car, I have a MIG 135TE welder that I was bought for christmas but have no previous welding experience, apart from a few sheets of steel I had lying around ive practiced a little on. If anyone has any tips or advice on how to weld it, how to remove the panels or any advice in general it'd be much appreciated, thanks guys. :)

The first thing i would do is get over to the projects section and have a read through some of the popular rebuild threads. http://www.theminifo...0-mini-saloons/ Go for the ones that are/almost completed as the panel work you want to see will have been covered.
Members put a lot of time into creating these rebuild threads and most are very detailed.
 
As for welding, i would try looking on youtube to get some ideas on technique but one thing i will say when practicing and i say this to all people who ask, don't waste time running lines of weld on a flat sheet of metal, you will learn nothing.
Instead, practice butt welds, lap welds and Mig plug's as these are the things you need to know.
 
It is important when butt welding to have a nice even gap between each piece of between 1mm and 2mm. Any less and you will not get consistent penetration, and any more, you will struggle to get a neat weld without blowing holes.
 
A good way of learning to butt weld is to try pulse welding. This is where you do one tack weld on your join, followed by another and then another making sure they slightly overlap each other but do not try and do great lengths in one go or the heat will distort the panel.
 
here is an example of pulse welding from my project.
 
AtRmGxS.jpg
 
It was done in 1" lengths at a time allowing to cool before continuing
 
This is an example of plug welding.
Drill your holes in the front of the seam you want to join and clamp it to the one behind like this
 
kHpCz5H.jpg
 
You can see that i have cleaned inside the hole to bare metal.
 
Then the plug weld is completed by holding the nozzle of the welding torch about 1/4 of an inch from the centre of the hole, pulling the trigger and gently swirling the nozzle round in a circle to get this
 
kGnS75U.jpg
 
here is an example of one of my seam welds.
 
UyFzktF.jpg
 
This is done by holding the nozzle at the start of the run, pulling the trigger and steadily moving across whilst gently going back on yourself slightly every 8-10mm.
 
As with most welding, having the correct setting is paramount. Too low and you won't get penetration and too high, you will blow holes. It also depends alot on the thickness of the metal you are welding. Thicker metal = higher setting etc.
 
Wire speed is important too, too slow and you will get blobby welding and too high, you will get stubby skittish welding. You know when you get the settings right because the welder will make a nice even steady crackling noise whilst you are welding.
 
The other important thing is cleanliness. Rust, grease and paint will always lead to a poor weld.
 
If you need any other tips then just fire away and ill do my best to help.
 
Cheers
 
Ben

 

Hi ben sorry to bother but your advice from before was extremely helpful, and unfortunately I have discovered a medium sized hole while cleaning the wheel arches of the car, and really am a bit stuck on how to approach repairing the metal as im still not very experienced at all, if you could give me a few pointers on how to approach this i would be very grateful, thanks.

 

Hi!

 

Looks like the very least you will need is a rear valance and a repair to the bottom of that quarter panel

 

First things first, remove the bumper and the seam strip to get a better idea. If the rust on the rear valance is localised to just that corner, you may want to make up a repair piece to mend that end. If not, you will need to remove the entire valance by drilling the spot welds on the bumper lip and through the face of the valance to the closing panels either end.

 

As for the quarter panel, you can either make a repair piece to go in there or you can buy repair panels already formed like this one  http://www.ebay.co.u...=item5d3123929c

 

Either way, do not plate over the top of the rust and make sure you remove enough of the damaged metal to get back to solid bright steel.

 

Ben



#7 humph

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Posted 07 March 2015 - 10:06 AM

I signed up to a car restoration night course at my local college as I found the idea of setting about all this on my own a bit daunting.  It's a skill, but with the right kit easy enough for the DIY enthusiast as the guys say.  if you think you've got a bit to do invest in some bits and pieces, air file, roloc dics and holders etc.

 

I found these two pretty handy

 

http://www.amazon.co...lassic car body

 

http://www.amazon.co...&pf_rd_i=468294

 

Good luck with it.







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