11 replies to this topic

[Noah]

So I've decided to go down the route of spot welding the new panels onto mia. Mainly because this is how it came out of the factory.

I know patching will have to be mig welded, tac welded then seam welded? Maybe someone knows. New to all this.

Reccomend me a cheap but good spotwelder and a Mig and explain disadvantages and advantages of each thanks


Noah

[sonikk4]

How good are you at welding?? You can use a Mig welder to seam weld and plug weld but the plug welds will need to be ground down. A spot welder from the Clarke range will let you spot welds most of the flanges on the car although some of the harder to access flanges will need different arms.

Welder wise a 135TE Turbo from Clarke will meet all of your welding needs. For the spot welder it really depends on how much money you have got and are you really going to use it a lot???

I would really like one but at the moment i'm doing all of my resto work with my 135TE.

[Noah]

How good are you at welding?? You can use a Mig welder to seam weld and plug weld but the plug welds will need to be ground down. A spot welder from the Clarke range will let you spot welds most of the flanges on the car although some of the harder to access flanges will need different arms.

Welder wise a 135TE Turbo from Clarke will meet all of your welding needs. For the spot welder it really depends on how much money you have got and are you really going to use it a lot???

I would really like one but at the moment i'm doing all of my resto work with my 135TE.

Well I have zero experience welding, which is why a spot welder seems more logical. But I will pretty much use it for the resto and thats it . Maybe a better option to rent one.

My only thing with Mig welding is I have no clue how to set it up and for some reason in my mind a spot welder seems simpler, probably not.

[Shifty]

I've got a spotwelder and rarely use it. Its good for wings and such, i've used it on sill lips as well. If the metals not good and perfectly clean then its a pain.

They also use a lot of juice as well and really need to be on a 16amp circuit.

Price wise they are expensive as well.

[sonikk4]

Although it sounds easy you can mess up using a spot welder as well. The arms need to be in good shape especially the tips. The metal needs to be rust free and clean and so on. You cannot use it for any repairs needing seam welding so it may pay you to learn to weld with a MIG first then use a spot welder as well.

Yes a mini is joined with spot welds but and its a BIG BUT your mini will need some repairs that a spot welder cannot do. Its the nature of minis i'm afraid.

[Noah]

Hmm, thats led me back onto mig welders. But ideally I'd like to learn to weld, even if its a basic course or someone coming to show me how to set it up etc. How to prepare metal for welding etc and how to grind of excess weld.

Edited by Noah, 10 September 2012 - 09:36 PM.

[sonikk4]

You need to get a welder first. DO NOT buy gasless you will need a proper gas MIG.

Have a look at this link for some tips http://www.theminifo...se-for-welding/ and also go to the http://www.mig-weldi...forum/index.php as well.

As i mentioned the Clarke 135TE Turbo is a good starter for a welder.

[Cooperman]

Because the metal is relatively thin a spot-welder with a timer is best.
However, a Mini, and most other classic cars will also need a MIG welder as well. The MIG needs to be a minimum of 130 amp so that it will not keep stopping every few minutes and will get sufficient depth of weld into the panels.
It's essential to remove all paint and grease before welding and, always remember, you can't weld rust to good metal.
You can teach yourself to MIG weld. It's easy really and just requires a bit of practice and the development of the necessary skill.

[Noah]

See this is all desperately confusing for me . I'd need a night course or a sole trader to show me, there's certain things I just can't learn from pictures and reading.

[ANON]

spot welders are handy to say the least but you wont use it much and it can be time consuming, i've got a small one and you can only get about 4-5 welds on the run before you need to give it a mo to cool down.

if you do want one best advise is buy a second hand one, try to get long arms as well and then sell it once you've finished with it.

a big spot welder is fantastic though especially with a single sided welder, i've got a tecna camel, takes me about ten minutes to fully spot a sill on, still takes ages doing the prep though

[sonikk4]

I think you will find a lot of members on here did not have any formal training, they either bought new or second hand welders and then practiced and then some more practice and a bit more for good measure.

I did just that and have now been welding cars for over 25 years all self taught and still learning new techniques.

[Shifty]

spot welders are handy to say the least but you wont use it much and it can be time consuming, i've got a small one and you can only get about 4-5 welds on the run before you need to give it a mo to cool down.

if you do want one best advise is buy a second hand one, try to get long arms as well and then sell it once you've finished with it.

a big spot welder is fantastic though especially with a single sided welder, i've got a tecna camel, takes me about ten minutes to fully spot a sill on, still takes ages doing the prep though

Its the prep time that kills it for me. I can seam weld a sill on in less time than it takes to clean and prepare for spotwelding.