project Morris Minor Ratrod - First drive since 1989!

[GingerNuttz]

100% the right way to go and you'll know it's been done right. 

[BlankFrank]

The trick with cutting disks is to buy them 50 at a time, then you get them for about 30p

Great stuff, always nice to see some deep-dive welding going on.

[SiC]

Arch ready for shaping up and fitting the panel now


Metal that came out


Found this label along one of the chassis legs. Might not clearly come out in the pictures but the phone number is pre the 01 prefix


Sprayed red oxide in the chassis leg and let it dry. Then used Aldis finest metal paint. They only had green left when I bought the last lot. Oh well, it's not going to be seen and just for protection. Probably burn off when welded anyway. Isn't green a Morris colour too?


As usual I painted everything else just as much as the bit I wanted. Including the floor.

[SiC]

Started welding the panel in tonight. Took a fair bit to get into place.


Unfortunately looks like it's not quite positioned correctly. The gap along the chassis leg is small enough that it can be closed up with a hammer. Top though is a bit much.

I think what has happened here is the lip isn't in the right place or angle. Possibly too low. In hindsight I should have probably done the lip afterwards. Practice gives experience and all that.

Looking at the other side, you can see the bottom front is too low by about quarter of an inch. Basically would need rotating around by a few degrees as the back is a bit low too. It was a pain in the arse to get the panel in, in the first place. Also it isn't the best of fit either So no surprise it's out.

I could cut the panel in half vertically. This would allow me to rotate the front section up a bit more. Also would need to cut out the arch lip and realign that in.

Before doing all that, I need to put the outer wing roughly into place and see how that lines up. The flange on the outer wing is thin enough that it should be able to bend to fit the inner contour of the new inner lip. Wheel wise, there is enough clearance that even if it hit the bump stop, it shouldn't have the wheel rub against the arch.

I might be able to get away with it! If not, then cutting and refitting will be next...

[SiC]

I trialed fitted the outer wing to see how bad the fit was.

Even during the worst of BMC, I don't thing this panel gap would have been acceptable!


Decided when looking at it, the lip was at the wrong angle. It needed to be flatter.

Cut along the top of the lip I welded on to remove it. Thankfully most of it I didn't weld and only tacked into a few places, so it didn't take too much.


A session with the adjustable spanner bending down the lip got the angle better. Then used a wood block on the arch panel with me pushing my hips into it and tacking into place as best as I could.

From that I then welded the rest of the arch lip on in this new position


Trial fitting the wing into place gave a much better fit


Inside also better filled the inner pieces. I'll need to weld all this back in too. Chassis leg I'll seam weld. The brace that follows the arch contours I'll probably put a few good tack along it.


Still not perfect as it's about quarter inch too low at the front but it's a darn sight better. I think will be more than good enough once the piping strip is in and everything is all bolted together again.

Need to finish shaping and welding both the front of the arch and also the bottom of the panel around the chassis leg.


Had a quick poke the other arch to reassure me it's ok. Magnet stuck quite happily to the inside of the arch. I think this is mostly factory, apart from the patch along the bottom.


I guess this tiedown hook is factory too and used for production?


Behind the fuel tank has this pop riveted piece in. I am pondering about welding this in. Even though it's probably not structural here, it wouldn't take too much to run a few beads along it.


The fuel tank is right next to this though, so that'll need removing before. That could do with some paint and stop it rusting through where the paint has chipped off


Front arches look good thankfully and possibly mostly original.



Just seems to be this rear offside arch that has all the trouble. Bit funny it had a lot of welding but that top bit wasn't done. Maybe the budget ran out to fix it properly?

[Minimad5]

Fantastic work.

Well done for going back and addressing the arch / gap issue too 😎👍

[juular]

Good work and well done on deciding to bite the bullet and do it the right / hard way! ( At least you won't have to go back and redo it)

[Minimad5]

Once you've smashed this out of the park, fancy doing some welding on my P4 ? 😅

[SiC]

8 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

Once you've smashed this out of the park, fancy doing some welding on my P4 ? 😅

I've got the Dolomite for a welding gift that keeps on giving! 😂

[SiC]

This evening didn't go off to a great start. Where I left it uncovered, it flash rusted from rain the other day. Ended up spending a good half hour on the wire wheel grinder to clean this all up. Then a good half hour with the flap disc to dress the welds



Then got to work welding the arch to the lip, also joining the lip at the very bottom and front of the arch at the bottom too.
Nearly there now! Just the left hand lip to weld on now.


Except I ran out of welding gas. Will need to find some time to run down to BOC and get a new cylinder. Bloody heavy things though.

[Snake Charmer]

Are you on the BOC Hobbyist deal for Argoshield Light?

[SiC]

2 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

Are you on the BOC Hobbyist deal for Argoshield Light?

Yeah. Once I've done the Dolomite, I'll probably change to a rent free cylinder from elsewhere though. 

[SiC]

I've just done a cost analysis of BOC Volksworld deal, SGS gas and Hobbyweld. All prices are current. Prices based on equivalent sized 20l bottles with roughly 5m³ of gas fill.

This year I've used one cylinder and will probably pretty much use this second once started back on the Dolomite. So looks like Hobbyweld is break even (which is what I calculated before) with BOC and SGS by far the cheapest. I'd be surprised if I get through more than 2 bottles a year. Especially as I'm fed up with welding already!

Handily SGS is the most local and easiest for me to get too. Local auto parts store stock it and they're open 7 days a week (close early on a Sunday).

[Snake Charmer]

I looked at going to SGS and probably will next year. Have you looked at the fill pressures of each provider and added that into the equation?

[SiC]

I looked at going to SGS and probably will next year. Have you looked at the fill pressures of each provider and added that into the equation?

BOC 4.84m³ and Hobbyweld 4.86m³. Both are 230 bar, 20l cylinders.

SGS is 20bar, 20l cylinder but they don't mention capacity. If I have got my Boyles law calculations correct, I think that's about 4.21m³. I might recalculate the above based on cubic metres to get it closer.

But then for me, the difference would be offset easily by petrol and time between retail outlets and home!

[SiC]

Recalculated based on cubic meters as SGS are lower pressure filled (200bar Vs 230bar on others). Factoring this in makes Hobbyweld 20l Plus a similar price. But then the Hobbyweld retailer is a lot further than SGS for me, so factoring in fuel costs will make SGS by far cheapest for me.

[GingerNuttz]

All my sgs cylinders have been around 205 -210 bar. 

[SiC]

Bottle the same physical size as the BOC. Feels lighter though, even when the BOC is empty.

 

1 hour ago, GingerNuttz said:

All my sgs cylinders have been around 205 -210 bar. 

 
Not this one 🤔

Was still sealed though.
 

[GingerNuttz]

Never had one that low since I've been using SGS.

[SiC]

Well you are further north ... ambient pressure drops as you travel higher 🤣

[Tickman]

At the time when I did the maths the SGS 20l bottle worked out quite a lot cheaper.

The 30l even more but the 20l was heavy enough to shift.

[SiC]

At the time when I did the maths the SGS 20l bottle worked out quite a lot cheaper.
The 30l even more but the 20l was heavy enough to shift.

I would have preferred a 30l but the place I got it from only had 10l and 20l. But yeah the 20l was heavy enough to break my welding cart, I imagine a 30l is enough to break my back!

[cort16]

How's your welder holding up? I always think the real test of a welder is the % of time in an hour you need to fuck around with it compared to actually doing any welding.

[GingerNuttz]

I asked my local for a 30l or a 50l and they couldn't get me one either.

[SiC]

47 minutes ago, cort16 said:

How's your welder holding up? I always think the real test of a welder is the % of time in an hour you need to fuck around with it compared to actually doing any welding.

Honestly I don't even think about it. The biggest hassle is wheel it and the gas out onto the drive.

I regularly clean out the nozzle as it gets a bit bunged up with molten balls when welding upwards and I often tend to have the torch too close. Occasionally I clean up the roller as it can get grubby. Possibly should blow the liner out as I've never done it since I bought this torch.

In use, I tend to set the metal thickness from around 0.7mm to 1.0mm after having a quick look at the thickness on what I'm welding and the penetration. Likewise the welding type I change for what I'm doing - butt/fillet and upside down. Then tweak the trim depending how many holes I start blowing into the metal.

[cort16]

17 minutes ago, SiC said:

Honestly I don't even think about it. The biggest hassle is wheel it and the gas out onto the drive.

I regularly clean out the nozzle as it gets a bit bunged up with molten balls when welding upwards and I often tend to have the torch too close. Occasionally I clean up the roller as it can get grubby. Possibly should blow the liner out as I've never done it since I bought this torch.

In use, I tend to set the metal thickness from around 0.7mm to 1.0mm after having a quick look at the thickness on what I'm welding and the penetration. Likewise the welding type I change for what I'm doing - butt/fillet and upside down. Then tweak the trim depending how many holes I start blowing into the metal.

A think a good welder really helps on the thin stuff. My welder just has 4 setting, which means on 1mm even at it's lowest setting it's blowing holes all over the place.

My welder also sits around for long period in a not 100% moisture free environment, which messes with everything. 

[GingerNuttz]

I've got the pearl 210 and I hate it 😂

The delay from pulling the trigger till it arcs is doing my head in and the synergic thing is utter junk, I'm contemplating going back to a transformer mig. 

 

[SiC]

13 minutes ago, GingerNuttz said:

I've got the pearl 210 and I hate it 😂

The delay from pulling the trigger till it arcs is doing my head in and the synergic thing is utter junk, I'm contemplating going back to a transformer mig. 

 

Was going to ask on how you are finding it. I've got nothing to really compare it to and so not finding a problem. I do wonder they've changed the programming of the synergic with yours, as it's a later model. Not noticed any large delay from pulling the trigger - might do a video to compare. But then again I'll be used to it. Is the delay to allow the shielding gas to disperse around the work area before striking?

Did you try any other inverter models? Esab Rebel is pricer but could be more refined. There is a Kempi unit but I don't like the idea of a captive torch. Fronius kit has good reviews but bloody expensive. 

One thing is interesting is that the guy who sold my unit also had a very large transformer unit and ended up using that. Hence sold mine. 

I have thought about moving to Esab but I get on well enough with mine that there isn't really anything that would give me more. If I bought something else, then it might be a TIG unit but I can practice on mine.

[GingerNuttz]

When I pull the trigger on my 162 it's instant and you get that spot rhythm going on thinner stuff but with the Pearl the delay seems to be a second or more and it's putting me off my game 😂

I can run the same welds on both machines but I much prefer the transformer machines. The synergic settings on the machine are totally useless even with the wire feed turned up to 9 or whatever it goes to on the synergic side. I've got it set on 17.5V and a faster wire feed setting for 0.8mm steel but I'm contemplating getting an Oxford or something else that's transformer based. 

I only paid £440 brand new for this machine so I'm not bothered about getting rid and getting something else. 

 

[SiC]

1 minute ago, GingerNuttz said:

I only paid £440 brand new for this machine so I'm not bothered about getting rid and getting something else. 

For the multipearl? That's a cracking price! It wasn't cheap because it's broken was it? 🤣