Few questions, steel treatment & purchasing

[Daniel84uk]

Hello ppl, Any advice appreciated.

1) Where can i buy steel sheet?

Is there any where i can just walk in off the street and grab some some metal sheets of various thickness's? If not ill order online.


2) Bare steel treatment?

I'm welding a sill and wont be able to get behind to paint it. what should i use internally? weld through primer? or something else? waxol wax seems a good idea but unless i buy a compressor i cant get in to spray behind the panel.

Also, external treatment on the inner sill underneath. waxol underseal to bare metal? or primer first?
Im actually not keen on waxoyl underseal, Ive had on my arches for months, it doesn't cure, comes off with touch, very annoying.

Thanks all.

 

[Daniel84uk]

Yep i know waxoyl wax doesnt dry, its the Hammerite underseal stuff i was referring too

It says on the tin remains flexible, which makes you assume it would be cure to a rubber like texture, but it isnt. Yes it being flammable is another concern, ill get some chipboard lol

 

[evobilly666]

Zintec has a thin coating of zinc, often available from local motor factors in small quantities. Cheaper from steel stockholders though. This isn't as durable as galvanised. Zinc primers are also avaliable. Both are comprimised when welded. You need to keep overlapping steel to a minimum as it is a water trap and seal welds and seams with a quality seam sealer. If moisture can get in, consider drain holes as a last resort but cavities will then definitely need a coating of some sort.

 

[Daniel84uk]

Yep there are drain holes in the sills already. The rear most hole is now gone, completely rusted through. Ill be butt welding the outer sill panel.

Yep i thought welding would compromise any primer on the rear of the panel, seems a little pointless. Maybe if i keep the panel as cool as possible, take my time. Never welded before, all new to me.

 

[evobilly666]

Fair play mate, practice on some scraps first

Drain holes and things are often a topic of debate, they let moisture and condensation out, but also let it in, and can block up. They do allow you to spray things in to the cavities too. I'm careful where i use them or not.

 

[Daniel84uk]

They are on the oem sill seals and have rubber plugs, i think if you go through a ford or something they are handy to drain out the water, but i never do. Ive only had the car a year. I think the rust culprit, was the oem moulting holes for the 2 stone deflectors. Ill be mounting them with moulding tape instead when im done.

The mig arrives tomorrow, should be fun, thats if i can find some metal to practise on lol.

 

[Daniel84uk]

Think i found a great supplier in my town Redditch http://www.rapidmetals.co.uk, so thats one question solved.

 

[mike 109444]

Hi Daniel not sure where in brum you are but While I was working one time in Solihull and then had to go onto Dudley I needed for my ongoing project some thicker steel than the 1mm x 1.5mt x 2mt sheets I had. I needed some 2.5 or 3mm thick, not much just say 1mt by 1/2 meter so googled for sheet metal in Brum and found this company http://www.fhwarden.co.uk/ There web page looked a bit like some big company that only supplies TONNS of steel to customers BUT if you look at the bottom left of that web page you will see they do "off cuts". Thinking I might get an off cut to suite my needs I went in ,it is very much a factory environment and they are busy guillotining, punching etc. Looking round I thought I was going to get the " no mate we don't deal in small quantities" type of remark BUT I was very surprised when I spoke to the foreman (?) and told him I was after some 2.5 to 3mm off cuts. He said yes no problem just go and see (name forgotten) chap that was operating a guillotine and he should have some. They sell it by weight !! Well couple of 300mm x 1.5mt lengths and some other smaller bits total weight I think was 15Kg and was < £20. I was well chuffed with price and helpful chaps there.
The 1mm x 1.5mt x 2mt I purchased down here in the west country (radstock) and that was IIR £23 a sheet (they may have been 2mt x 3mt ) but can't recall!.
Just remember transporting sheet steal can be fun (not) and take some leather gloves when you go metal shopping.
And welcome BTW

 

[mike 109444]

Think I need to type faster !
Let us know what sort of price they charge for there metal sheet as it's always handy to find other suppliers.

 

[Daniel84uk]

I ended up with a 135te and im scared of it lol. Terrified of flashing myself, jump every time it arcs lol, only did about 2 minutes worth today. What a wimp lol

 

[mike 109444]

Try looking at post 25 and 28. Now that's scary
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/welding-without-eye-protection.56735/

 

[Daniel84uk]

Had another 5 minute go today on some 1mm stuff. I think im moving in the right direction now, watching the puddle, short burst, small circular motions, co2 on full, the regulator lets nothing out until i gets to 4! 1-3 nothing.

 

[mike 109444]

Looking good for only a small amount of practice.