project 1980 Austin Princess

[Geep]

Oh and clean, clean, clean. Metal needs to be flap disc clean. Just lightly run an 80 grit over it. Wire brush can end up burnishing rusted old metal, probably ok though on new steel. Remove grey coating in immediate area of welding on new metal and same the other side. Make sure earth point is gone over with a flap disc as well. Remember, it's all *electricity based, ie conductivity. Bright shiny clean = good, dubious or dirty = not good.

 

*probably why lucas didn't make welders.

[Noel Tidybeard]

experiment with the gas as well- friend on mine couldnt get a decent weld once, so i have a play after years of watching my bro-in-law welding and find he had way too much gas coming out of the gun

to say he was gobsmacked when he got a nice weld going after i cranked it right down to almost nowt was a slight understatement lol

plus it saved him a shit load of dollars on gas

[vulgalour]

From the information and advice given I can say now with certainty that most of the time I'm moving the torch too fast.  I also probably have the power and wire feed up a little too high so I'll give those a tweak.  Have to admit to doing no welding at all today, I'm burned out from working all day at the unit and then all night at my desk on artwork, neither of which I'm getting as far with as I'd like.  So, because I was so utterly exhausted today I called it quits at about 2pm and decided to let myself recover rather than risk injuring myself with power tools.

 

I did get some progress done.  Drilled out the spotwelds holding the strengthening bar on and the couple of tack welds on one edge of it, I'm wondering if the floor has been done before, but if it has I can't easily find the patches, bit of an odd one that.

 

Lifted it out to get better access to the hole floor pan underneath it and chopped that out.  Also found a little bit more on the other side of the jacking point that needed chopping out.  Got a bit brutal with the flapwheel and grinder disc to get rid of as much rust as possible before giving it all a blitz with the weld-through primer.  I'm happy that this is all back to the best metal it can be and is ready to take some new metal, I'm even going to try and copy the original floor pressing shapes.

 

I got as far as cutting out a panel for the inner sill repair from the old bonnet I've got and putting it in place with magnets.  Then I realised it'd be easier to weld from outside the car so I need to go over this side of the original inner sill to make sure it's properly weld friendly before starting on that.

 

 

The other thing I achieved was making the hole for the new telltale in the purple dash insert so that's now ready for filling, sanding and painting. The black plastics for the dash have received a little bit of chrome too, but there's more to complete there so I'll share pictures of that when I get the dash back in one piece and ready to go in the car.

[Bren]

The n/ s sill on my Sd1 had been bodged - 18" of new sill had been tacked onto the existing one, overlapping by 1" and held on with a tack. It was then covered with filler, but you could see the step.

[vulgalour]

After looking at the passenger side I can see the same has been done on that side.  That means this car has had two new sills, probably when it was restored* in the mid-nineties.  It also means that when I cut out the relatively small bit on the passenger side it's going to end up with me removing big chunks of sill to try and sort it properly.  That I'm not really looking forward to at this point in time.

 

I don't mind ugly repairs, but I do mind shitty repairs, just a shame the two seem to go hand in hand, I can see this car becoming a proper weldathon on the arse now.

[Geep]

One other thought on the welding; I'm not entirely convinced weld through primer helps with maintaining a good weld. Bright shiny metal is good, painted metal, not so good. In it's use between overlapping panels where plug welds are made, it's better to offer the piece up then use a small rotary wire brush in a drill to clean 'through the hole'. That means a circle of bright metal for welding. Using it along seam welded area, my results have always improved by cleaning the edges back to bright metal giving a clean area to weld.

 

You can get copper based weld through primer which may well be better than zinc based. Different brands also may work better or worse than each other. It might be worth while just spraying a spot on scrap metal then trying to weld first on decent clean metal next to it, then try striking up on the weld through. See for yourself if there's any difference.

[vulgalour]

There's definitely a difference between the two.  I'm being over-cautious, but the primer does at least help me see what I'm working with better and does seem to really keep any sort of flash rusting at bay, especially important as I'm not chopping, cleaning and welding all in one go at the moment.

 

What I have done is spray the primer on to keep everything tidy and then blitz the edges to bare metal before welding, this seems to give me the best result and the primer seems to help a bit with heat dissipation (though I could be imagining that).

 

I'm doing a half-day at the unit tomorrow so I'm hoping to get the patches tacked in place.  The Princess has to go back outside no later than Sunday night so I've really got to get this sorted before then.

[Geep]

Primer over the bare metal and area in general is good, it's just the small area where the weld takes place that is best if bright and shiny. Seems like you're on to that though Vulg so it's probably just a case of fine tuning the welder and a bit of confidence.

 

The welding is really the easy/quick bit. It's the hours it takes to get to the welding stage that matter. Cleaning back, cutting out, making patterns, cutting and shaping new metal, trimming it bit by bit to get a good tight fit, drilling holes for plug welding and numerous pauses to just look and think. Once it's all clamped in place, then the welding is fairly straight forward. Not easy as such but the home straight so to speak.

[vulgalour]

Today has been a day of obstacles.

 

Yes, I did get some welding done and yes, I got a couple of patches cut out and mostly put in place.  But I also found out that the Princess is evicted from the unit tomorrow rather than Sunday for reasons I don't really understand so my time to work on her was shortened rather a lot.

 

For the inner sill I needed the power at 4 and the wire speed at 3 but for the floor pan I had to turn it down to 2 for power and nearly 2 for wire speed.  Seemed a bit counter intuitive as the floor pan metal both for the patch and the original material is a good bit more solid and not-rusty than the inner sill I was sorting out.

 

After a very shaky start where nothing I achieved on the scrap could be achieved on the car, I worked my way through the pigeon poo and started to get some reasonable welds.  I kept going with a bit of zigzagging and did some pretty ugly welding, but it wouldn't come off with hammer, hands or pliers so I deemed it solid enough and it was making that lovely sizzle as I got the settings right and did some work from the inside.

 

I tried to grind it back a bit but then realised it was pretty pointless as this bit just isn't visible at all.  The cabin side is much tidier anyway.  So because she's going to have to head outside I blatted some primer and then some top coat (not shown) on to keep the weather out.

 

Didn't take very long to do the welding bit so I had enough time to make a patch for the floor, shaped to match the pressing of the floor pan as much as possible.  I wanted to use the tin snips to cut this patch out, it would've been easier, but they had been borrowed so I had to use the air-nibbler which I'm not getting on with particularly well and had to have someone else help cut out that last bit of the panel.  Reasonable fit, but not perfect, happily a good enough match for me to at least fill most of the hole in the floor.

 

Started welding this in and it went LOVELY and then, for no obvious reason, the welding all went to shit.  Took me a while to realise the gas bottle was empty.  That put paid to any further progress and now I'm in the uncomfortable position of having to put an unfinished car outside until we can get the gas bottle recharged.  All I could do was slap some primer on and hope it'll be okay for a bit, there's nothing else I can do.  There may be a cover I can borrow, but that's about it.

 

Still, it felt like progress and I was enjoying it, particularly when I was managing to lay some neat and tidy welds.  The floor is far easier to work on than that inner sill, I can actually see what I'm doing.  To the left of this image is some of the first welds I was laying down, to the right the ones that were all bacon-sizzle and quick.  The nicer welds also didn't have any of that nasty looking burn.

 

And this is the floor repair just about when the gas ran out.

 

[Forty-two]

Good effort there sir. Quite like reading your updates.

[brickwall]

Try stitching. It takes a long time, but gives good results. Giving in a good scuff with a flap discs always turns it to good welds

[Geep]

This may help Vulg.

 

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm

 

Has a video on there of the technique for thin metal.

 

 

Shows a series of overlapping spots which is actually quite quick when you get going. Trying to seam weld thin metal means the further you go, the more heat builds up until it blows holes. As brickwall says, stitching is just short runs of continuous weld, stopping before too much heat build up and blowing through. Watch the weld pool and strike up on the good side just playing it over to the car metal to fuse together. You can momentarily release trigger to cool weld pool before squeezing it again to carry on.

 

It's a bit of a juggling act which really only hands on practice can help. I always push the torch as well, was taught that way even when i learnt on oxy acetylene. You've done stick welding so understand the weld pool and welding in general. It's just transferring that knowledge to mig. One suggestion to get some confidence and feel for it, when you've got some more gas, is to get a thick piece of metal, say 3mm angle iron, then crank up the power and wire feed and fire off a few runs without fear of blowing through. You can fine tune power and wire feed to see what type of runs you can produce, then look and see if they are too cold or ok. Too cold is when the weld just sits on the top of the metal rather than fusing to it at the sides. Too hot will produce flat looking runs and large protrusions showing on the back side. Google for each to see pics if necessary.

 

*I'm not pretending to be some welding god myself nor have all the answers, just that I was taught it many years ago and have used mig quite a bit. I've also read a lot and researched a lot having been made to use a sip once for a while! I try to help if i can because some welding I see on car sites is shocking. Cold welds where it's little more than molten metal stuck to the patch and no structural integrity. Mini forums and 'darker coloured' forums may be guilty of this.

[vulgalour]

Pushing is a bit easier than pulling, but I'm finding the stitch technique difficult to master.  On the inner sill I tacked it to get it in place, then tacked it again between those tacks and did short runs of about an inch in a do-a-gap, miss-a-gap method to try and keep the heat down.  Didn't get any noticeable warp to the repair section or the original metal and towards the end of the welding I was getting a weld that looked like decent cake icing which is the way I sort of gauge it.

 

The info and advice is going in, but applying the theory to practice isn't always straightforward and my photographs are showing a mosh of good and bad weld together.  I'm sure someone with more experience could say whether or not my welds are strong, they're certainly not pro-level, but they do seem strong enough to need removing with power tools and the weld is hard enough that it takes forever to grind it back with a flapwheel unlike some of the first stuff I was doing which you could wire brush off the steel.

 

There's plenty to practice on at least too and when CS is up here again he can show me how he welds so I can get some pointers.  I learn much better when I'm shown in person, I can only learn so much from videos and text.

[Geep]

It is a case of doing being the only real way of learning. You're on the right tracks though, integrity is better than neatness and yours is far from the worst out there. Some I've seen could be pulled off with bare hands, being no more than metal glue in effect. Practice, practice, practice is what everyone says and it's true. Even people used to welding can take a bit to get back in the swing of things on thin metal. You're doing fine mate and flap discs make us all great.  

[plasticvandan]

I've done little welding,but when teaching myself just thought of it as hardcore soldering,that helped

[brickwall]

I understand Vulg. I'm self taught and still learning. Some days I was almost in tears as it seemed my skills had just disappeared and everything went wrong.

 

I just keep at it and then sometimes I'm beaming 'cos I did some amazing stuff.

[vulgalour]

If I get good enough it means I get to save JMP FAAAASANDS because I can do the fab work in house.  Finding training courses up here is apparently very difficult though, I've not looked yet as I haven't had the time.

[Danblez]

Keep at it. I am pretty much at the same stage although every now and then pull off a a decent run. I reckon its to do with the alignment of the sun, wind direction and the way you hold your tongue.

 

Seriously though if this welder is anything like my Clarke I don't understand how you can weld anything on such a low wire speed setting?!

[Rusty_Rocket]

It's a shame to say it, but budget welders really make welding difficult! If you can master a Clarke or SIP you'll be proud of your efforts with a £1k+ machine! Wire feed and low amps need to be spot on for car bodywork, something the cheapies just can't muster 

My next machine will be a Portamig at around £650. These buggers are stable down to 20amps, which is just what you need for hopeless 70s steel! 

[michael1703]

Pushing is a bit easier than pulling, but I'm finding the stitch technique difficult to master.  On the inner sill I tacked it to get it in place, then tacked it again between those tacks and did short runs of about an inch in a do-a-gap, miss-a-gap method to try and keep the heat down.

I keep an airline with a blow gun close by to keep welds cool

 

Handy tip: don't blast a very hot weld straight after as it becomes a plasma cutter !

[derskine]

The stitch technique isn't so bad once you get the hang of it.

Pull trigger for a second until you've got a reasonable tack, release trigger, watch weld pool, and when it stops glowing bright red and dulls down a tiny bit, tack again.

You can use a higher power than you think to do it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Must admit I always do stitching. Don't think I ever keep the button squeezed for more than a second or so, off then straight back on again, I find if I don't do that I burn through loads.

[cort16]

It's hard enough not blowing through when using this stitch technique never mind other wise. I do enjoy welding thick bits of metal together as you can get a nice solid weld seam done. Yummy.

[vulgalour]

I can't make further progress on the welding and I'm loathe to sit idle when it comes to the Princess.  I haven't actually been able to even look at my car for a few days due to an issue at the unit, I can't really go into details about it, but suffice to say the best way to keep me and my car safe was to stay away for a few days... bit of a mess really, but now resolved.

 

It's a case of what to do.  I've not been short of other work to be getting on with, but I've wanted to make sure that when the welding is done I've got as much as possible of the interior modifications and retrimming sorted while I've got some time to get on with it.  Easiest thing to work on is going to be the parcel shelf, something which I'd already marked out for fitting the spare door speakers into to give myself a factory looking four speaker set up.  Interestingly, I found that when I looked at the marks for cutting out the holes there were some factory perforation lines in the board that line up with the factory holes in the metal parcel shelf of the body tub.  I suspect BL planned to offer parcel shelf speakers for a four speaker set up but to my knowledge this never actually made it to production, it should make for a very neat job when I'm done.

 

 

 

 

 

Once I'd cut the hole to the factory marks the door speakers dropped in perfectly, I'll show you what they look like when I've refitted this to the car.  While I was checking out the condition of the parcel shelf trim I've had a rethink about my original idea of hiding the previous owner holes in the vinyl with some chrome trim.  Opportunity has presented for me to retrim some door cards in vinyl that are a very similar construction to this panel so it will likely be sensible to retrim this panel to show what I can do.  I can't do the heat-press detailing as I haven't the tools for that so rather than copying the factory detail exactly, I'm thinking I'll use some stitch detailing to put a simple fake-pleat panel in the middle mimicking the existing design.  This will also help prevent that horrible kit car look of a smooth vinyl panel in an otherwise very tidy interior.

 

Another job I've been plodding away it is the rear seat cover.  I know the colourful crochet covers have divided opinion in the past, but that's not deterred me.  I like them and that's all that matters.  I am considering making a second set in purple cotton and lace, Japanese taxi style, but that requires me to spend money so it'll have to wait.  The primary purpose of these covers is a minimal cost sun and wear protector as I've got the time and the materials to put them together.  This needs to be 12 x 12 squares and is presently 9 x 9 so we're well on our way with it.

 

 

The last thing I've been working on is the dashboard.  I've now got all the new chrome* detailing done, with the Radiomobile radio it really does look really smart.  This is just with everything dropped in the respective holes so the final fit is much better.  I can't do final fit until I finish off what was formerly the wood insert which will be metallic purple.  I did consider covering the wooden panel with fabric for the ease of it, but it's going to cause issues with how tightly the plastic components fit into the panel and I don't want to be spending hours fettling for no real gain.

 

 

I can also get the rebuilt head swapped on.  I removed the head from the orange car and found it to be in quite good order, rebuild the innards and gave it a really good clean.  The rebuilt head has the benefit of a good, if not perfect, thermostat housing and valve stem seals that shouldn't let oil past them like the ones currently on the car.  The big difference between the two heads is the oil filler, on the orange car it's the earlier rocker-cover filler while my later car has a remote oil filler that fixes to the side of the engine.  I'll need to swap the rocker covers ideally as I suspect the later version is the better one in this instance and it's not too much hassle providing I can get the rocker cover bolts to actually shift on the beige car which is mainly what stopped me rebuilding the head on it previously.

 

I'm also at a point where I keep flip-flopping between getting the car on the road so I can use it and getting stuck into a full restoration.  I know a full restoration with renewed lines, cleaned up engine, repainted bodywork... is going to get very, very time-consuming.  But I also know that my own business and the unit will be much quieter over the winter so it may be the ideal time to actually make a start on this sort of thing.

 

If I decide to go the restoration route I'll need to get everything for prettifying and repainting the engine bay, and that means making my mind up properly on the colour.  It would go a long way to getting things looking how I want them and it's by no means the conventional way of restoring a car as I'd have a spiffing engine bay and interior with a scabby looking rest of the car for a while, but it might be the best solution for me.

[Noel Tidybeard]

wot about a purple wood grain for the dash?

[vulgalour]

I want to do away with the wood thing in the interior, without adding more wood it just doesn't tie in to anything and looks a bit odd.  Also, I had difficulty finding purple wood grain anything.

[Noel Tidybeard]

could always try a graining tool

you would need two colours then- the main colour and the base which would show thru as the grain so you could have a light or a dark grain as you wished

[vulgalour]

Found a K&N sticker and made use of it, because lol, there's no K&N filter in there!  I was going to give you a dashboard update, but it's not finished yet.

 

[DS20]

...just posting to say that I'm enjoying the thread and the progress being made wi' t'Princess It's tempting me to do some bits and pieces of fettling for my Saab.

[derskine]

I wouldn't say a princess is a car for me but I do appreciate the reading (and all the effort put into sorting the car).

Looking forward to more upd8s.