17 replies to this topic

[danieldavidgregory]

i have a guy coming to look at my mini tomoro, he will be doing the welding side of putting on new pannels (loads off) and de-seaming my mini, not expecting it to be cheap but how much should i be looking to pay


EDIT:decided not to de-seam.... what would you expect somone to be on hourly, its a guy who has done it for years and has good experience... but ya now... all he needs to do is fit and weld the pannels, most the cutting work is done.

Edited by danieldavidgregory, 26 November 2009 - 08:18 PM.

[Shifty]

What exactly is he doing?

[danieldavidgregory]

What exactly is he doing?

hey mate, thanks for your replys on both of my posts, firstly i am wanting welding

sills all round new, front floor pannels, full front end and a few other bits here and there, i have all the pannels needed exsept one im struggling to find.

if you feel you could help please let me no, what would i expect to pay on a daily basis

[Ethel]

It depends on lots of things. Is he a pro working on his own premises or a mate with a welder working for beer money. Either way that sounds like an immense amount of work, costly for anything other than d-i-y.

[Guess-Works.com]

Personally I think you're looking at well over £1000 for it to be done properly...

Edited by GuessWorks.co.uk, 25 November 2009 - 07:19 AM.

[GraemeC]

A good and safe de-seaming job will cost hundreds as it is very time consuming. Obviously it depends on whick seams you are looking at having removed as to how many hundreds!

[chappy]

Personally I think you're looking at well over £1000 for it to be done properly...

Thats just for the panels i'd expect! let along de-seaming

[Shifty]

You have PM!!

[Trail of Dead]

From what understand of the whole process it is time consuming so I suppose it would depend on what the guy charges per hour. I keep hearing people say deseaming isnt' safe as "the shells strength lies in the seams". I can understand there being an issue if you just tacked the shell together where the seams used to be and then filled the seam with bondo. That would be unsafe. BUT the way Steve Cooper from "Cooper's Garage" here in Mildenhall explained it to me is this: In order for the shell to be properly deseamed so that it will actually be stronger in the area of the seam (than it EVER was from the factory) you have to first weld a strip (about an inch an a half wide) of sheetmetal that is around the same gauge as the factory sheetmetal on the INSIDE of the shell....behind the seam! First tack it on ensuring that you don't warp anything, space your tacks out, then going back and seam welding in between each tack. You do this to both sides of the rear seams from the inside. Then, once you are done you can deseam the outside as usual.

Using his method rather than just doing the "normal" deseaming method (cut off 3 or 4 inches at a time welding as you go) I can't see how it would be unsafe to do or structurally unsound. The only thing (aside from the tacking/bondo method I have heard of people doing....with horrible results!) I can see that would make deseaming unsafe would be no getting enough penetration on the weld....but if your a good welder such as Shifty then penetration shouldn't be a problem! I wanted to deseam my Mini as I love how they look but....I think the seams are a pretty big part of the Mini's "look". But anyhow..to answer your question when I was quoted a price for the job (since it is VERY time consuming) I was quoted about 800 quid and that was for fully deseaming front & rear vertical seams, roof gutter and lower sill. Good luck! I hope you get a good deal!

[Shifty]

The rear seams aren't the problem, its the windscreen pillars, theres no way to get inside them and reinforce them!!

A weak joint here isn't what you want in a front end smash.

What I usually do it grind 2" of seam down so that its sits pround of the panel by about 2mm and then weld it up using a slightly higher power setting, this gives better penetration(oooh errr!!)

Getting the wing to A-panel joint to look right is an utter test of patience for anyone!!

I still don't like doing it because it still makes for a weaker joint, you lose 2 right angle joints in the process. Also on most minis this is probably one the last remaining factory welds on the car!!

Also it takes freaking Agggggggeeeeeessss!!!

De-seamed roof gutters never look right in my opinion, and to be honest I've never done one and I'd imagine that they're an utter pig to get right.!!

[Trail of Dead]

The rear seams aren't the problem, its the windscreen pillars, theres no way to get inside them and reinforce them!!

A weak joint here isn't what you want in a front end smash.

What I usually do it grind 2" of seam down so that its sits pround of the panel by about 2mm and then weld it up using a slightly higher power setting, this gives better penetration(oooh errr!!)

Getting the wing to A-panel joint to look right is an utter test of patience for anyone!!

I still don't like doing it because it still makes for a weaker joint, you lose 2 right angle joints in the process. Also on most minis this is probably one the last remaining factory welds on the car!!

Also it takes freaking Agggggggeeeeeessss!!!

De-seamed roof gutters never look right in my opinion, and to be honest I've never done one and I'd imagine that they're an utter pig to get right.!!

Lol!

Well, ever since you told me you don't like to do it I thought "Hmmm, well I DO like how Minis look as standard.....I think I'll keep it seamed!" NO bumpers though! PM me sometime what your estimate is for my Mini Sean! I've been waiting for the price for awhile! Cheers!

[jack_marshall]

Months and months of cutting, grinding, welding, beating, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, filling... and so on.



2 years of everyday and hard use and not a split or crack shown (then I sold it)

It does take a long time, if your paying somebody else to do it to the point of ready for paint expect to pay thousands... but if its what you really want, do it. I never regretted doing mine, not everybodys taste but I loved it and lost count of the amount of people that commented on it everywhere I went.

I wish I had time to do another!

[danieldavidgregory]

thanks for the replys guys, anyone up for welding it, how much you want hourly, etc

[Shifty]

Jack, that looks stunning, I honestly dread to think how many hours that took to get looking that nice.

The other point about de-seaming(in my opinion anyway) is that most shells are now pretty rotten and have had some major restoration/repair work. Before carrying out the de-seaming its important to ensure the rest of the shell is up to it and any repair work is of good quality.

Everyone will have PM!!

[camp freddy]

The rear seams aren't the problem, its the windscreen pillars, theres no way to get inside them and reinforce them!!

A weak joint here isn't what you want in a front end smash.

What I usually do it grind 2" of seam down so that its sits pround of the panel by about 2mm and then weld it up using a slightly higher power setting, this gives better penetration(oooh errr!!)

Getting the wing to A-panel joint to look right is an utter test of patience for anyone!!

I still don't like doing it because it still makes for a weaker joint, you lose 2 right angle joints in the process. Also on most minis this is probably one the last remaining factory welds on the car!!

Also it takes freaking Agggggggeeeeeessss!!!

De-seamed roof gutters never look right in my opinion, and to be honest I've never done one and I'd imagine that they're an utter pig to get right.!!

The corner seams are spot welded , so how would a fully seam welded joint be weaker?
I've got complete confidence my de-seaming, as for re-inforcing there is no point IMO

Edited by camp freddy, 28 November 2009 - 08:52 PM.