Beginner Car Restorer needs advice

[Jim Gloves]

Hello,
I am new to this forum and it looks like there are loads of helpful people here.
I have bought a 1965 VW Camper and I want to be able to do the body work/chassis cutting/welding myself to a high standard.
Which Welder should I buy? I would rather spend the right amount of money to make the job easier than go for a cheap one.
What are the best courses I could go on?
Which DVD tutorial is best?
Is there anyone within an hour of Stafford I could watch/learn from who is cutting/welding for car restoration? I would help you with your restoration etc!
Thanks for your help!
Jim

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum Jim, perhaps you could let us know your budget then advice can be related to that.

Do you want the welder for just this one project?, have you other welding plans? etc.

Some basic equipment will have to be allowed for, Mask, gloves, etc.

Look forward to some photo's of the project.

 

[stormin]

As to which welder I'm sure if you've read a few posts on here the recommendation is for a Portamig. Not the cheapest option but certainly up there on quality. Seeing as the motor you have bought will be worth a few bob if it's done well it's worth spending on the right equipment. Someone posted links to some video tutorials yesterday and raved about them.

Not sure I'd recommend a welding course unless it's specific to cars. Welding the thin and old metal of cars is a thing in itself. Practice, practice, practice on some new steel and some old before you let yourself loose on the bus.

Here's linky to youtube videos:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsDxqb2p5OM

 

[outofthefire]

Not knocking you but its amazing how many people decide to do a restoration project without the skills or equipment.

If you want to restore your camper to a high standard its going to cost you a small fortune and a good few years but if your serious and patient there is no reason why you cant achieve it.

 

[smoggyrich]

Good to see another V-Dub owner on here having a bash.

You got any pics of your bus? Here's mine......

'79 bay. Devon Moonraker


Have you been on here.....


http://volkszone.com/VZi/forumdisplay.php?f=27

Take a look through the resto projects in the readers rides section. Lots of pointers on there for how to tackle certain parts/ problems etc.

Post plenty of pics on here and the friendly guys are always there to advise you on your welding etc.

I'm looking forward to your up-dates

Good luck

Rich.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

With respect Outofthefire most people who want to learn to weld and panel beat begin with a particular car that they cannot afford a mint example of. No one has an aspiration to weld bits of metal together and hammer it per se. Jim, before you even think about buying a welder or any panel beating tools I would buy two tuition DVDs. I'll post the youtube links to them in a moment. The basis of my advice is this. You need to learn to weld well, especially on bodywork thickness steel (0.9 - 1.0mm.) Hence the reason for buying Craig Hopkins' fantastic DVD. Secondly, it's no use being able to weld if you cannot shape and fit panels, whether they be panels that you've bought or those that you have fabricated yourself. To that end David Gardiner's DVD is top drawer. Finally, two websites, this one for welding and www.metalmeet.com for metal shaping.

As far as welders are concerned I'd start off by buying a second hand blue Clarke 100E or red Clarke 135 TE for about £100 - £150. As long as it's very clean it'll always be worth that. Get a good auto darkening helmet, a must (don't buy the Halfords £10 thing, you'll weld like Stevie Wonder.) Steer clear of gasless welders.

Wire - everyone recommends 0.6mm wire however a very experienced welder who I was chatting to last week who does mainly automotive work uses 0.8mm for reasons I'll go into later. So whether you buy a welder fitted with 0.6 or 0.8 wire persevere with it.

Finally confidence. You will be very apprehensive until you start learning a few things. As you learn things your confidence will increase. In my opinion tuition DVDs help so much more than books.

Good luck.

Paul.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsDxqb2p5OM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGElSHzm0q8

 

[troppo]

G`day Jim
First up while dvds are great resourses nothing beats having someone there to show you on your own machine.
As paul said your going to need to learn some fabrication skills, you dont need a full blown all the bells and whistles workshop, you need a few tricks, a couple of hammers and a dolly or two, with tools ALWAYS buy the best you can afford, they will pay you back with years of faithful service.
Smoggy posted a great link for the campers, plenty of very useful info there. Buy a few old panels from a scrap yard and cut them up for practice.
The three main things you need to become a decent welder (apart from teaching) are practice, patience and patience lol.
One thing i`ve learned, you can buy new repo panels for about the same price as a decent second hand one in most cases, i would always take the second hand one simply due to the quality of the build. The steel is thicker and the fit is better.
Good luck with the build, we love pics round here.
Cheers mate
Troppo

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

http://www.pbcm.co.uk/html/vw_type_2_.html

Jim,

click on Paul Baker's website, click on Volkswagen and prepare to be amazed. Then click on Jensen (my chosen marque) and prepared to be even more amazed.

Good luck,

Paul.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIP-PLAIN...274?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a12ee8652

Having said that, this little guide to welding by SIP is worth every penny of the £7 cost. However don't buy one of their welders. Their wire feed mechanisms are not the best.

 

[stormin]

http://www.pbcm.co.uk/html/vw_type_2_.html

Jim,

click on Paul Baker's website, click on Volkswagen and prepare to be amazed. Then click on Jensen (my chosen marque) and prepared to be even more amazed.

Good luck,

Paul.

Lol at the thickness of the filler on that Interceptor MkIII, surprised the car didn't lean over to one side.

As for the Jag XK120, don't see any pictures of it finished, looked a bit to far gone to me. From the outside paint and panels looked nice but everything underneath was a horror story. One to view to make you feel better about any other project you may own.