Advice re fitting new floor to mk1 escort

[62cd]

Hello to every one. I have never used a forum or a mig welder. I have recently bought a mk1 rs2000 which needs a lot of welding. I plan to carry out the restoration myself. The plan is to buy a Sealey 180 mig with euro torch. Is this a decent/reasonable welder? I have removed the the over plated floors to expose the originals which are in a bad state. My intention is to fit ex pressed steel panel floors only back as far as the heal board. My dilemma is after cutting out the original floor do I overlap the new floor onto the transmission tunnel or but weld it. Any help/advice would be very much appreciated.
Regards

62cd

 

[chevy2]

Butt welding would give a better finish as both sheets would be at the same level,
But.. Seeing as you're a newbie to welding the easier method would be to overlay one panel over the other by about 1/4"-1/2" this way you'll be less likely to blow holes through the sheet steel when welding,
simply finish the underside by brushing seam sealer over the joints to keep moiture out.

 

[stuvy]

i agree with what gary said but seeing as how expensive old school fords are nowadays i would do it once do it properly, you could practice like mad and spot weld them in then get someone that can weld to a high standard to finish it off.

What are your plans for the escort engine spec wise?

 

[62cd]

escort floor pans

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate that the butt weld will look far better finished and that is now the plan once I have taught myself to weld to a decent standard.I thought by starting with the floors the weld is not visible compared to messing it up under the bonnet. The engine at this time is going to remain standard as it is my intention to leave the car as original as possible. Have you all any feedback on my choice of potential welder Sealey 180 mig with euro torch?

Thanks again Colin.

 

[Wozzaaah]

How much is the Sealey?
List price is pretty steep, there's a lot of good machines in that price range.

 

[62cd]

Ive seen them down to £360 which i thought was a decent price as its got the euro torch. What do you think.


Regards Colin

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Don't forget that MOT rules are such that if you replace the whole panel then spot / plug welding similar to original is acceptable but if you don't replace a whole panel then the joint to the old section must be continous and not spot / plug or stitch.

Paul h

 

[62cd]

I didn't know that re the mot. Thanks for the info.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Ive seen them down to £360 which i thought was a decent price as its got the euro torch. What do you think.


Regards Colin

That's a good price tbh. You won't get many machines in that price range with a euro torch. I'm not sure what the quality of the wire feed unit is like but it's probably adequate.

 

[62cd]

Thanks for that.
Colin

 

[cribbe]

to be honest if its expressed panels you are using i would do the floor right back to the seam under the back seat, i did the floor in my mk2 simlar to how your planning and wish id just taken the whole panel out, they are usualy gone below that panel that the rear seat sits on anyway, i butt welded the other side inner sill in and wish id just lapped it

 

[normspanners]

Having done afair amount of car repairs I would tack the whole panel in, with butts in the four corners, then inbetween around the middles, and then slowly start filling in with short welds working a little bit at a time because if you start in one place and go in one direction it can go quickly out of shape. Also with being a newbee you could try doing little short pulse welds that keep the metal hot but they dont let the joins get too hot and drop away and stop you getting large 'hangers' underneath that need lots of grinding to tidy up. The ultimate would be to strip the car, practise your welding on some box section and make a 'spit roast frame' to turn the car to what ever angle you want .

 

[62cd]

Mig/Panels ordered.

I haven't done a lot to the escort lately mainly stripping the car. I've jumped in the deep end and ordered a Portamig 185 and panels from expressed steel which I pick up on Tuesday. My brother who is in the USA on holiday has got me some butt welding clamps which i hope are ok as they are a lot cheaper over there. A local motor factors stocks sheet steel,I've sourced a welding gas supplier so it's down to me to practice a lot before I go near the car. I hope I can post some pictures of my attempts however me and computers have never quite bonded.

 

[Exuptoy]

Good choice with the Porta. I've just got one myself.
If you don't know, you can get a hole punch/joggler which is a pliers which has an offset jaw and you just run it along the edge and hey presto you have a perfect lap joint which will give you a double thickness edge when finished. Make sure you use weld through primer and it will have protection between the 2 skins.
The hole punch is ideal if you want to plug weld like the old factory spot welds.

Frosts are brilliant for resto gear.

http://www.frost.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=Joggler&x=0&y=0&order=relevance&dir=desc

If you want advice or inspiration to rebuild your old Skool ford have a look here and prepare to be humbled.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usetharch&action=display&thread=70135

 

[Landy Lad]

You have given yourself the best start getting a Portamig. I have a 185 for doing one vdubs, and they are great for bodywork.

My brother has done a mk1, took him a couple of years as a hobby, it has been in a newish mag that covers Escorts over 2 litre. Its a shame though as he spent a fortune on it and has only driven it 7 miles since finishing, and 4 of them was for mot. Its up to Rac logbook standard, but is an expensive ornament.

Good luck with the resto.

 

[Exuptoy]

If you want advice or inspiration to rebuild your old Skool ford have a look here and prepare to be humbled.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usetharch&action=display&thread=70135

Never realised until this morning, Tonybmw is a member on here.

 

[62cd]

Definitely humbled.

I don't know any thing about car body repairs but I can see the work that has been done on the Victor is superb. Thanks to everyone for any advice given as this will be a big learning curve hopefully with a good ending. Could any one recommend a full face shield for grinding and a mask for welding fumes/ grinding and paint removal. Thanks.

 

[Exuptoy]

I have the shield below which has the grinding function.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-FUNCTIO...=UK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL&hash=item19cc545f39