Garages that don't weld

[earthman]

I recently found out that one of my local garages won't do any welding jobs to a vehicle, they do all other sorts of mechanical, diagnostic and MOT work etc but they don't even have a MIG welder in the building.

Now is this a common thing I'm wondering? Do you know of similar garages where you are??

If so, what is the reason? Lack of skill/interest on their part? Insurance/red tape issues? Just not much call for it due to the majority of folk not owning an 'old' vehicle??

 

[hotponyshoes]

2 sorts of car owner.
Ones that have spent years trying to find a particular classic or have inherited the dads car that's been sat in the garage for 20yrs.
They want a concourse repair and will go to a specialist for it.

The other ones are running a cheap rust bucket and would be prepared to pay £100 to get it through an mot for a cheap years motoring.
They will not spend any more than the bare minimum to get it through the mot and when it fails again on the new rust next year they will moan that you did not do the job properly last year.

I know of at least 2 local garages using pulse migs and one of them runs both a alloy mig and tig set up.
Dont see any transit vans or 15yr old corsa's in there though.
I expect the majority of mot places do in fact have at least one mig welder out the back and enough experience to use it properly.
They also have enough experience to look at a lot of the cars that need welding and say "sorry, we don't do welding mate"

 

[angellonewolf]

or as most welders dont like doing work on someone elses cars

 

[hotponyshoes]

Insurance for hot works is probably a genuine reason not to do it on a customer car as well.
I don't know if an induction heater classes as risky for insurance but most car places have relegated the oxy set to history after getting one.

 

[angellonewolf]

ive done a fair bit of welding before i even had known how to and that was 20 years ago a small hole x that by 5 as that is what you will have to cut out so the person paying sees half a golf ball you see a 5x3 plate and people dont understand that

 

[earthman]

How times and things change I guess. I just can't imagine not having access to a welder or oxy set if I worked in that environment.

 

[hotponyshoes]

How times and things change I guess. I just can't imagine not having access to a welder or oxy set if I worked in that environment.

The cars have changed.
You can quite easily write off a 2k car if you frazzle a couple of the ecu's when welding it up.

I don't think I have ever needed to heat anything on a car that would not fit inside a £500 induction heater that weighs <1kg and fits in the bottom drawer of a tool box. Why pay bottle rental?

 

[Memmeddu]

A mechanic needs a welder .
Not for repair but to make special tools and remove broken studs.

 

[frank horton]

evry one wants a cheap quick job.....
I only ever did the big rebuilds that way u can earn decent money.....they either pay or go away......
cheap jobs are just not worth the effort....
to weld up the odd patch I need €50 min an hour now and even then I'd think twice.....sooner read this forum....
just not hungry enough I guess.....besides the veggy patch always need weeding....

 

[Ashley Burton]

Yeah MOT rust repairs aren't worth the hassle on older vehicles

 

[Chillitt]

My local MOT place never used to weld, or do any spannering. seemed odd, but at least I knew they wouldnt nit pick to get the work to fix stuff. Even more odd was the unused Snap on MIG set sitting in the corner

 

[Melvyn Best]

I don't think I have ever needed to heat anything on a car that would not fit inside a £500 induction heater that weighs <1kg and fits in the bottom drawer of a tool box. Why pay bottle rental?

Flywheel ring gear springs to mind! Yes they can be heated with an induction heater but not the portable type. I recently had to fit one on a classic Mini so they do still need doing occasionally .

 

[premmington]

Insurance for hot works is probably a genuine reason not to do it on a customer car as well.
I don't know if an induction heater classes as risky for insurance but most car places have relegated the oxy set to history after getting one.

I own a garage!

Yes we have to declare percentage of the types of work we do for insurance.

"Hot works": Welding - plus open flame space heaters is another thing they want to know about.

Insurers also want to know about Oxy/propane as well.

We are not covered for any "hot works" off our premises now.

Plus the obvious - no welding in the last hour of the working day!

---------------------------

We did very little MOT welding - "patching" over the last ten years - but of late we are doing more and more of it - I think the reason being - less and less other garages do it now.

Truthfully I don't mind doing an odd patch on a servicable car - save it for another year of use! I draw the line at Land Rovers and the like - plus anything that looks more like a "restoration job".

But the real cost: I doubt anybody would do any welding on a car nowadays however small the hole for less than £100.

Only last week I did three holes along one sill on a V-reg car - had to build up the inner sill a bit as well - the ladies bill was £240. This left the workshop in black underseal - after being welded and seam sealed.

It has been many decades since I have fitted whole sills and painted them in the vehicle colour. Just not interested in this type of work.

 

[Matchless]

insurance would be a big factor, plus welding cars is a pain, they do like catching fire as well! I was quite picky at work, needed to be a welding job I wanted to do, not some old 2002 BMW cabriolet that had been patched 20 times before!

 

[Domdom]

I do bits for a pal who owns a garage. He is a one man band so to speak so a “small welding job” as so many customers like to refer to them can take a day or two which means other jobs can’t get done. His insurance covers welding without problems although it is always done on the outside ramp, never the one in the workshop.

He’s right as well, which is another reason he gets me to do it. That way I quote the job and don’t give in to customers bleating about how it’s only a 5 minute job. I don’t care if they take it some place else, it’s not my full time job, just a bit of beer money. It’s also a good way for him to fend off all those “mates” he seems to have, the ones who expect him to work for bugger all. I think we can all do without mates like that.

That’s the main issue really. So many people expect everything, for nothing and they want it done yesterday. That’s the reason so many places won’t do such jobs. They don’t want the PITA idiots who think the price of the job should be proportional to the low value of their rusted out heap.

What so many folks fail to understand is that 95% of a welding job is fabrication, cleaning, cutting out rot (and previous welding bodges), shaping, bending, hammering, drilling, grinding etc. Not to mention stripping back carpets etc so the damn thing doesn’t catch fire. It’s only actually welding for a small portion of the job. This is definitely not plating like on a production line.

I charge him £30/hr so he can make a profit on it to cover electricity, coffee etc. The customer pays £45/hr +vat in the end which is still uber reasonable for the standard of work they get. Everything is done right and the finished job is sealed and rustproofed.

In return I get to use his workshop and ramp when I need to. Everyone’s a winner. Except of course those who think a day’s welding should only cost 50 quid. They go elsewhere

 

[gaz1]

most transit owners dont like there 1000.00 bill just for the welding

yet they run it daily make it work for itself and yet they run it into the ground

then they turn round and say its only a little bit of welding just to pass its test ....

youve got to be kidding im not happy with that price cant you do it for less

ok then im going to try elsewhere first

its the same with builders, plumbers, joiners, roofers basically any trades person never really treat the van to a good clean and also recoat under there vehicle as they quote havent got the time to do it same with car owners really

 

[zx9]

its the same with builders, plumbers, joiners, roofers basically any trades person never really treat the van to a good clean and also recoat under there vehicle as they quote havent got the time to do it same with car owners really

And it can only get worse now that cars have become 'white goods' or consumer durables that you buy off the internet without even having a test drive, sitting in them, playing with the controls, listening to the clunk of a door closing.

 

[Gragson]

I recently found out that one of my local garages won't do any welding jobs to a vehicle, they do all other sorts of mechanical, diagnostic and MOT work etc but they don't even have a MIG welder in the building.

Now is this a common thing I'm wondering? Do you know of similar garages where you are??

If so, what is the reason? Lack of skill/interest on their part? Insurance/red tape issues? Just not much call for it due to the majority of folk not owning an 'old' vehicle??

My mate has been running his own garage business for over 30 years, successful and busy 6 days a week.
He has 5 permanent mechanics and MOT folk, none who weld for the business.
He gets a good welder in once a week, brings all his gear and is flat out for the whole day. Both are very happy with the arrangement.
Mate reckons it just doesn't make financial sense to have the skills and gear on a permanent basis, although he is thinking of asking if he can do 2 days a week given amount of work

 

[James1979]

My mate has been running his own garage business for over 30 years, successful and busy 6 days a week.
He has 5 permanent mechanics and MOT folk, none who weld for the business.
He gets a good welder in once a week, brings all his gear and is flat out for the whole day. Both are very happy with the arrangement.
Mate reckons it just doesn't make financial sense to have the skills and gear on a permanent basis, although he is thinking of asking if he can do 2 days a week given amount of work

This is what I do for a guy here from time to time. He has a ‘pool’ of a few guys who are self employed or ad hoc. I won’t do the cars. Not my forte but trucks, trailer and agri - no worries. As above he can justify his price and if I don’t want to do it he asks one of the others or vice versa. Occasionally you get a bit of crap none of us will touch! They get sold to the outer isles where you don’t need an mot

 

[reb78]

Our D2 failed the MOT on a rusty Inner wheel arch on the passenger side (holes around the abs modulator). Fair enough. I asked the garage for a rough quote. They said £250 minimum. I knew that on stripping it would be worse and add up to more so knew how hard it was for them to put a solid price on it.

I brought it home. Stripped the arch and moved the brake lines and aircon pipes out of the way, hole in the bulkhead too so that needed patching. Fitting it in around the other half giving birth, I reckon it took me 2-3 days by the time it was painted too. Theres no way the garage could have made money on that or the bill would have sky rocketed. (Im no professional so suspect they could have done it quicker but even so).

I think the disco is on borrowed time. Last year both sills needed welding at the rear arch and the year before the other inner arch at the front needed doing!