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Rave's Fiesta Chronicle - Collection, Weldathon, MOT...then Force Hail (P4)


Rave

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also....weld-through primer and a few pairs of mole-grips. Maybe also a drill and drill bits for spot-weld action. If you really want to do good work rather than slapping patches over the top, then a joddler is a good tool to have, but depends on what and where needs wleding as to how useful it is in your case....

 

 

HOWEVER - I would suggest cutting it apart and seeing the true extent of the rot before getting spendy on too much tools and panels, as if it turns out to be too big for you and the tame welder to take on, it might be best to sack it off and find something else.

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As a shiter with ambitions in the field of saving desirable* motors, I wish you good luck and Godspeed.

 

Perhaps some welding magnets and those clever clamps for holding butt welds together. And some door braces for maintaining structural integrity while you cut the shit out of the sills...

 

And DON'T forget to disconnect the battery before the weldathon beginneth. And cover up all paintwork before you break the grinder out and all glass before welding starts. Even my recycling bin has rust speckles from its close proximity to grinding.

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

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OK thanks very much lads, duly noted! I'll acquire some dust sheets and masking tape. I have some of those magnet holder things. How about this as a joddler tool?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Setter-Stepper-Joggler-Joddler-Flanging/dp/B00TE1OT94

 

I want to do good work, but I'll settle for a bodge to get it through the MOT if that's not possible! I'm hoping it won't go floppy when we cut the outer sills off one at a time; my uncle's mate seems to think that propping the car up on some old tractor tyres is the way forward...

 

Edit: if I can't fix it I have my uncle's permission to leave it there for up to a month, so I could end up offering the car here as a freeby, or bits of it.

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Where in Yorkshire? Have MIG welder available for potential borrow.

 

He's a couple of miles from Tadcaster. Thanks, but I have a gas MIG I bought from Aldi a few years ago on a whim. It seems a half decent machine; it'll certainly have enough juice for car bodywork sheet steel. Just need to get it out next week and check that the wire feed still works etc., I hear they can rust up.

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Good point - if there is a reel of wire in it and it's got damp, check that first for rust and if it is, don't feed it up the liner - I would suggest you bin a reel of rusty wire - feeding it will be problematic and probably shag the liner. Also, if manually feeding good wire up the liner feels rough, a new liner is probably the way to go - the one fitted in an aldi welder will be cheap shite.

 

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In 1970, I was living in Denmark and had to go into hospital for an ear operation.(Stapedotomy) In the bed next to me was a German guy by the name of Gerhard Girt. He was working as a welder in a shipyard in Flenburg, when a welding spark entered his ear and burned a hole right through his eardrum. I wince at the thought of it. The surgeon took a piece of skin from the back of his hand and performed a skin graft for him. His operation was a complete success.

 

Hopefully, you will not let stories like this put you off welding. Once you get the hang of it, its a breeze. The hard bit is fabricating a replacement panel.

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In 1970, I was living in Denmark and had to go into hospital for an ear operation.(Stapedotomy) In the bed next to me was a German guy by the name of Gerhard Girt. He was working as a welder in a shipyard in Flenburg, when a welding spark entered his ear and burned a hole right through his eardrum. I wince at the thought of it. The surgeon took a piece of skin from the back of his hand and performed a skin graft for him. His operation was a complete success.

 

Hopefully, you will not let stories like this put you off welding. Once you get the hang of it, its a breeze. The hard bit is fabricating a replacement panel.

 

Hmm, well I'm 50% good there, as I'm pretty sure I don't have a left eardrum after my two mastoidectomies. Or does that mean the weld will just go straight through to my brain? :o

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  • 2 weeks later...

There's nothing like planning ahead, and this is nothing like planning ahead :rolleyes: . I've finally managed to dig the mig welder out of the garage, and found that the wire feeds out lovely and smooth, so that's one thing at least!

 

I'm off to try and acquire most of the rest of the stuff I need this afternoon. Toolstation do an autodimming welding helmet for £36 and there's one at the end of my road, so that's getting bought.

 

I rang a local steel stockholder who said that they could do me a 2.5mx1.25m sheet of galvanised 1.2mm steel for about 55 quid- does that sound like the stuff to use? Only problem is that they can't cut it, so I've got to try and find a way of cutting it myself to get it in the car...they also do non galvanised mild steel in 2mx1m for a bit less, but I reckon the 'galv' will be favourite?

 

Irritatingly the panel supplier took 4 days from the date of my order to reply saying that they're out of stock of one of them and they're not sure when they'll be back in. If they can't get them to my uncle's by Thursday I guess I'll just have to sack them off and try and patch up what we have.

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Sadly I don't have any old filing cabinets lying around ;) . So I should buy the 2x1 sheet of mild steel and spray the repair sections up with weld through primer before I weld them on?

 

Is 1.2mm right, or too thick? Apparently the yard aren't going to like me using power tools on the sheet to fit it into my car, so I'm going to have to attempt the job with snips. I daresay 1mm will be easier. Equally though, I want a bit of strength in the repair, I don't actually want a dangerously weak car...

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A cordless angry grinder or jigsaw and a means of holding the steel off the ground while you're cutting it, such as a Workmate(other makes of wobbly folding benches are available) or a couple of lengths of wood. Aviation snips will do it but your hands will not thank you. If you've got a roof rack buy a sheet of 12mm plywood or similar and strap the steel to that and then the roof rack, no need to cut anything. My preference would be for galv as the extra protection will make the repair more durable(unless it's a WBoD/not a keeper/shed and to be disposed of before the next MoT, in which case find a filing cabinet or old bonnet to hack up). Just be sure to remove the zinc from near the edges to be welded to avoid fumes.

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Right well I went and bought the sheet today. 1.2mm looked a bit too thick to cut, and 1mm still looked thicker than the metal on the car, so I went with that. My snips got me about 2 inches through the sheet before I physically couldn't get them in any further. I offered the lads in the steel yard a fiver if they'd use the petrol powered saw they'd just used to cut some angle iron for me (for another job) but they rebuffed me saying that it was strictly banned, and there were CCTV cameras to enforce the rules. It hadn't stopped them cutting the angle in a big shower of sparks without wearing goggles...

 

Anyone know why they can't cut sheet? I'd like to find out so that I can avoid injuring myself if I decide that an angle grinder or similar would be the best way to cut out repair segments...

 

Anyway, fortunately one of the lads had more common sense than me, and suggested folding the sheet in half, which worked fine, and had the benefit of not leaving jagged edges to damage the car's interior, or decapitate me in an accident. I got pretty much everything else I think I'll need too, apart from the hammerite underseal I was planning on finishing the job with, Screwfix were out of stock. Got weld thru primer and cavity wax though. I'm going to pack the car, do my household chores here and set off up to Yorkshire late afternoon, with a view to starting the job tomorrow morning. I will try and update with pictures as we go. Give me a wave if you see me northbound on the A1  :whacky055:

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yep 1mm 18gauge is about right.

Probably find that because the sill is a closed box section that Frod would have used 20 gauge which is about .8mm

 

Tinsnips are fuck all use on this sort of stuff unless they have 2foot handles, scribe a line and use a 1mm cutting disc. Don't cut right on the line you can always use a flappy disc to trim it back a little.

 

My local body shop has a plasma cutter which they let me have a play with, "gotta get me some of this" I thought. cheapo 240v units don't cut the mustard though. Now I use 1mm cutting discs and a long handle shear like this https://www.frost.co.uk/auto-bodywork-welding-metalworking-machine/cutting-tools/throatless-shear.html

 

shield everything within 5metres when cutting. those pretty sparks burn through paint and make nice rusty pin spots all over the paint. They also seriously fuck up glass, and upholstery etc etc, I used to have an old rug that was quite good at laying over the top of bits that needed protecting and not so thin that the spark would go straight through it.

 

When welding try start the weld on the newer thicker steel and draw the pool onto the old stuff. less chance of blowing holes through all over the place

 

good luck, 

 

p.s. you forgot celebratory beer for when you hit milestones, dont drink and weld etc etc wont someone please think of the children

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