Peugeot 309 rescue thread. Moving on.

[DoctorRetro]

Yep @juular@Tommyboy12

You're right, metal not clean enough. I've managed some better ones joining two clean bits together, not pretty but good penetration and join.

It's getting there, I will be able to do it, I'm sure. 

[MJK 24]

On 10/16/2021 at 7:43 AM, Cord Fourteener said:

How many base Mk2 Golfs do you see? Far fewer than GTis and Driver models, its a shame the base and mid 'normal' cars are getting rarer.

 

[MJK 24]

On 10/16/2021 at 2:43 PM, sierraman said:

First thing anyone ever did with a Mk2 Golf was bin the awful standard 13 inch steels and get some GTI steels on. The 1.3 C was particularly grim, I can completely see why you’d look for late Driver. 

You don’t see many synchro Golfs left that aren’t Country imports. 

 

[Dobloseven]

My tenpennorth. Did you say there was a small hole in the boot floor? Why not have a go at patching that first when you've got a bit more confident. You'll be welding downwards with good access and visibility. Another tip, realistically much of your welding will be a series of tacks joined together to reduce heat build up, distortion and the risk of burning through. Keep wire brushing the welds as you go, to keep the metal clean from oxidisation and better to weld. A hand held brush is more than adequate. While you're doing that you're also not welding and giving things a chance to cool down a bit as well. You sound a lot more confident now, I'm sure it'll all work out ok. What gas are you using? 

[DoctorRetro]

Just messing with a bit of bodywork, it needs cutting back further really, so much filler in there. A bit wonky, and kept blowing holes, but it's practice.

 

[DoctorRetro]

12 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

What gas are you using

CO2

[DoctorRetro]

Here's the bit I joined

 

[Dobloseven]

That looks pretty good to me! 

[DoctorRetro]

Running out of light, will finish this inner bit tomorrow.

[dean36014]

Seen far worse than that! Pretty good for a newbie. Doesn't have to be pretty, just strong.

[Dobloseven]

Bloody great! Looks similar to the repair I did on the Renault a few weeks back at the front of the sill. Keep the photos coming. 

[Mrs6C]

That is looking really good. Well done!

If you find you have a few holes at the end, you can always go back over these and fill them in. Alternatively, a few small holes won't matter by the time they have sealer/filler/paint/carpet over the top.

if you can allow a day between the inner and outer sill work, do paint the inside of the sill repair panel and welds with something like Finnegan's No. 1 and let it dry off before you do the outer sill welding. Fresh weld will rust very quickly if it's not covered over quickly.

[junkyarddog]

For a first go that's bloody impressive. 

Well done.

[juular]

Much better. 

As said, if you find holes, just fill them in with more weld. 

Tiny holes, a skim of filler will do.

You'll get better with practice, to me it looks like the only thing missing is accuracy hence the missing bits. Try to get each tack connected to the previous one. Brace the torch with both hands, one against the workpiece. Lay a tack, move a tiny amount and lay the next one. Etc.

[DoctorRetro]

Going back to the subject of neighbours, an older lady who lives in the flats opposite was walking into the car park while I was erecting the tarpaulin, so she stopped for a chat.

I explained what I was doing and then I told her about some of the concerns earlier in this tread. She laughed and said, 'You're fine, nobody is bothered, you don't make a mess and it's away from the flats. It's good to have a hobby' Then she wished me luck and said 'Try not to set yourself on fire or anything'

🤣

 

[SiC]

You have disconnected the battery and ideally the alternator? Not the end of the world if haven't but good idea to as they can be sensitive to the inductive spikes.

Side note, make sure you've got a good ground. Not quite sure what you've got it clamped onto but doesn't look like a lot of bare metal.

Outside work light is handy for winter car work with the early nights. I have one similar to this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-led-mains-powered-work-light-10w-1000lm-220-240v/440kf

Don't bother with the rechargable ones, they don't last very long and far more expensive for something inferior. Also  might need to turn the helmet sensitivity down as it can be triggered easily by some of those lights.

[SiC]

8 hours ago, juular said:

A quick scrub with some brake cleaner, degreaser or just strong detergent might help.

Some brake cleaner is highly toxic if heated. Not all have the ingredient that can cause phosgene gas but it's not worth the risk.

https://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html

That mentions argon as the culprit. It's not, it's the heat. I believe most brake cleaner in the UK is ok for not putting out phosgene but you never know what's been imported incorrectly from China and the like. Also even the ok stuff, the stuff in there is still quite nasty.

[vaughant]

Some great replies to this topic and full marks for having a go, looks solid enough to me. 

One thing I'll add is when you've finished or add much cold galvanic spray primer on as you can, amazing stuff. 

[Tickman]

12 hours ago, SiC said:

Don't bother with the rechargable ones, they don't last very long and far more expensive for something inferior. 

I've the rechargeable version of the one you showed and it has been brilliant. Will easily do a day switched on but I may have just gotten lucky.

[SiC]

14 minutes ago, Tickman said:

I've the rechargeable version of the one you showed and it has been brilliant. Will easily do a day switched on but I may have just gotten lucky.

Useful to know. I was going to go with the rechargable but a family friend who's in property maintenance said he got through two before going back to the mains. Only ran for a couple of hours at best and wasn't as bright as the direct mains. So I went straight for a mains one. Thinking back, it was probably 4 years ago now, so possibly have changed since then. 

[vaughant]

13 minutes ago, Tickman said:

I've the rechargeable version of the one you showed and it has been brilliant. Will easily do a day switched on but I may have just gotten lucky.

Also totally agree with this, they're fantastic for welding. Make a great "torch" to get into gaps too see what you've done as well. Plus for what they really cost these days and as there's often an offer on buy 2 and always have one on charge. 

[vaughant]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

Useful to know. I was going to go with the rechargable but a family friend who's in property maintenance said he got through two before going back to the mains. Only ran for a couple of hours at best and wasn't as bright as the direct mains. So I went straight for a mains one. Thinking back, it was probably 4 years ago now, so possibly have changed since then. 

I think he more likely just had a few duds, they're pretty much the only thing you see now in an industrial setting, no trailing leads really help as well. 

Mine are that age and will last for hours on end. 

Very liberating compared to the cord version. 

I made up a brilliant* plug in extension lead lamp with an LED lamp which was fine but sadly as I was so used to the portable ones from work I kept knocking it over all the time so just went out and bought my own ones. 

[juular]

Don't the rechargeable ones run whilst being charged, thus they're corded when you need them to be?

[vaughant]

2 minutes ago, juular said:

Don't the rechargeable ones run whilst being charged, thus they're corded when you need them to be?

Yes they do thinking about it!!! 

[SiC]

14 minutes ago, vaughant said:

I think he more likely just had a few duds, they're pretty much the only thing you see now in an industrial setting, no trailing leads really help as well. 

Useful to know, I might invest in one. My mains one has its glass pepper dashed with grinding dust and isn't as effective as it used to be. Makes a massive difference welding an area that it well lit. Even if the light gets a battering because of it. 

[DoctorRetro]

It can get expensive this lark can't it? 😳

[Fumbler]

Incredibly useful, though.

[grogee]

I am so glad someone is scratching this itch. Recently on the usual channels there were not one but two 309s locally. One was a racing gold GL which was ultra desirable*. There is an elderly gent who drives a doom blue 309 locally to our Tesco, I'm poised over the co-op noticeboard in case he gets too blind to drive it. Saying that, my eyesight is also deteriorating fast so it's a race against time.

For the record I did have a 309 GTI back in the day, I got fed up with it though because it used to randomly cut out at high speed and I couldn't trace the fault.

Vive la France x

[captain_70s]

25% of doing decent welding is clean steel, another 25% is being able to see what the fuck you're doing. I've done some lovely runs of welding, sadly about 3cm to the side of what I was trying to weld.

[grogee]

On 10/4/2021 at 4:41 PM, BorniteIdentity said:

Harrumph.  That looks a bit more Donald Ducked than I first feared.  That said, as someone who has zero interest in learning to weld (I have a list of ambitions and mastering the harpsichord rates higher) I'd just throw it at my tamed welder man and pay once he's finished.  It doesn't LOOK like an easy thing to learn on, so just make sure you don't try - get fucked off - get down about it all and beat yourself up.  As my dear mother says - "He who doesn't aim, doesn't miss".

My favoured method, which doesn't find much favour here sometimes, is to just stick it in for an MOT.  Yes - you get a fucking long list and have to pay them £50 for the privilege - but then you know exactly where you are.  The tester can't disagree with what he himself said earlier, so sometimes it's easier to do that and take the guessing out.  There's an awful lot to do to make it lovely, but nowhere near as much to make it a going concern.  

Don't let your head drop.😉

Annoyingly, my MoT man (whom I thought I'd tamed) skinned me for £20 this week when he decided 2 indicator bulbs weren't orange enough, even though they were when he tested it 4 weeks ago. I could have kicked up a stink but there aren't any other tame testers locally so I want to keep him onside.