1146 replies to this topic

[sonikk4]

That is not bad welding at all to be honest. You are getting plenty of penetration which is the main thing. Remember as long as the metal is welded correctly ie decent penetration then it can be ground down to give a nice finish.

There have been other cars on the forum that have had far worse welding done but when cleaned up look fine, do not be disheartened what you are doing now is good enough for you to start welding the car properly. Always remember you can go back over the welds if you are not happy with them.

Be methodical, take your time and do not panic if you blow holes. They can be filled with weld and ground down. The more you do the more confident you will get and then you will start to enjoy welding. never see it as a chore or it will always get you down.

Enough counselling you will be fine take one step at a time

[hughJ]

A big thanks again, Neil. You are a generous person with your time and you are an encourager - these are great gifts. And then there is your welding!! You gave me advice on settings before and they are much hotter than I can use, so I was concerned about penetration, your opinion is a relief. I am also practicing plug welding - seems a wee bit easier if the two pieces are close. I may invest in a spot welder.

I think I'll practice another week. Maybe in my Christmas holiday I'll give the real thing a try.

Hugh

Edited by hughJ, 11 December 2010 - 05:23 PM.

[CLM]

Looking good! They look about what mine looked like before I said stuff it and started welding on the car, I still dont have enough confidence myself to weld on the exterior, but the floors and whatnot are coming out ok

Welding is ok, remember it's just steel, if there is a hole it can be filled, if there's too much it can be ground off, if there's not enough more can be added.

One thing you may want to be sure of is to clean the things you are going to be welding as much as you can, any surface contamination makes the weld a bit more difficult.

Chris

[hughJ]

Thank you Chris. I will get started, eventually!

Hugh

[Pitcrew6464]

cool update, my 2pence worth would be to make sure you clean area all around welding area and making sure you have a good earth. get a light reactive mask

[johnnyspencer]

i need to get my front end off for the same reason, the front is sound so id like to keep it. how did you do it? do the a panels come off with it aswell?

[hughJ]

Thank you all

johnnyspencer - my A-panels were well gone so I cut through them close to the seam with a grinder. I got a spot-weld bit off Ebay and drilled out the spot welds along the top of the wings in the drain channel. Then there were about five spot welds from the inner wings to the front panel at the very front. Then there was a blob of weld at each end of the wings in the drain channel - I used a combination of grinder and chisel here, but did a bit of damage, which could be repaired. These are not original wings, but have been well fitted. The worst part was three plug welds on a bracket from the front panel to the bottom of the inner wings. I tried to drill them but it was impossible to get the drill at them. Maybe should have waited till the engine was out and got them from inside the engine compartment. I had to use a chisel. You can see I did a bit of damage there. I have been advised by Neil (sonikk4) not to reuse my wings and front panel. They are not very rusty and they would fit back perfectly, but he is very knowledgeable!!

Hope that helps. So chuffed to be asked for advice when I really am the opposite of Neil - not very knowledgeable.


Hugh

Edited by hughJ, 13 December 2010 - 01:17 PM.

[sonikk4]

Having seen the front end photo's at the beginning of the thread you can see rust bleeding through on the front seams. Ok so now people say you can treat that rust with chemicals etc but and here's the crux of the matter if that rust has started in between the flanges then no end of chemicals will stop that rust from reappearing. It may take some time but by then you may have spent several thousands on the car including paint only for rust to reappear.

Trying to get panels apart without damaging them is very tricky, yes it can be done i have done so myself but that was where i had made a mistake on a new panel. On an old panel unless its rarer than hens teeth then its better to start with fresh shiny panels then at least you will have a fighting chance to prevent rust from starting.

With the amount of rust we find on our restoration projects sometimes it makes sense to replace rather than repair and to be honest mini panels are cheap unlike certain Fords etc. (This does depend though on your budget)

My personal choice, i have to say and having learnt by experience of over 30 years playing with all types of rusty cars.

[panelbeaterpeter]

Looks like a nice project, good luck with the welding, I promise you'll get the hang, it's important to have a good welder, a light reactive mask, and welding gauntlets, that way you can put all your concentration into welding and not p!ssing about moving your mask and jumping about with burnt hands! I hated welding when I started, but you suddenly get into it and figure it out, and then it's easy and is a skill that'll never leave you. It looks to me that you have your heat set a little high, you have a little too much penetration. I'd try moving a little quicker too, or slowing down the wire feed.

Oh and whereabouts in the highlands are you? I'm from Orkney.

[CLM]

get a light reactive mask

I second third and all the other numbers this. Being able to see what you are doing is so nice without the flip up flip down flip up flip down...

Chris

[hughJ]

Again thanks for the advice and helpful comments

Neil - I am taking your advice on replacing the front. I would be foolish not to. Thanks again.

Pitcrew6464 & panelbeaterpeter - thanks both for the good advice. I'm not really moving the torch as I weld - I pulse and then move on. You are right - I open the wee eye shield glass, line up the torch, close the wee eye shield, weld, open it, reposition the torch. etc. So it is one handed welding - one hand to work the torch, the other to work the mask!!! I ordered a light reactive mask on E-bay some time ago from China. It's still not arrived. They have told me it has been resent. We'll see.
I stay in Easter Ross, maybe 20 miles or so north of Inverness.

Chris - thanks once more.

[CLM]

You could try... at least untill you recieve your auto darkening one... get an extreamly bright light and shine it at your work piece, you may then be able to see it through the dark lense.

Chris

[Deathrow]

Only just came across this thread as it has been a while since I ventured in to this section of the board, had a lot on.

Glad to see that you've found some inspiration in my project log .

Looks like you've got plenty to be getting on with, good luck!

[hughJ]

Thanks Deathrow

I feel like my hero has spoken to me. Yours was the first post I read when I found this forum. I was riveted as I read it from end to end. Took me a few lunch breaks and evenings it was so large. Thanks for making your information and experiences available. It was a real help and encouragement to me. Best wishes to yourself. Best wishes to your project Elliot. I've missed hearing about and following your work on your post. (73 pages!!). Even keeping that going is a lot of work.

Hugh

[hughJ]

My autodarkening welding mask arrived today. This was ordered on October 26th! When I contacted the seller they said it was lost in the post but they would resend it. I wasn't so sure. But they have been just superb!



It only cost £27.99 on Ebay which included delivery. And it works. So I cannot recommend highly enough. The company is called "yourschoices" if anyone is interested.

It has made welding a bit easier but still not beautiful.

I'm a Chemistry teacher and had today off due to snow!! So snow is good, but it makes the garage awfully cold. I spent a bit of my "holiday" in the garage, practising more butt welds and plug welds.



and the back




and the back


A question to the good welders. Most plug welds that I see on this forum seem to have a big hole drilled for the weld - maybe at least 6mm. When I try this it looks pretty scruffy. Those in the pictures were done using 4.5mm holes. Is the penetration good enough?

Tomorrow I must try a patch on the Mini itself.

Hugh

Edited by hughJ, 17 December 2010 - 07:30 PM.