Help please, repair panel thickness

[FAAace09]

im restoring/rebuilding my girlfriends land rover and it rotten everywere usual,
.front kick panel
.front floor
.rear floor
.boot floor and sides
.cross member
.and worstly both inner quarter panels and rear arches
.sills
.front arches
lol so alot but ive got alot of time and scrap metal panels so to the point ive bought a clarke 100e mk2, for panel work as its thin and welder can handle that but my questions is how thick should the repair panels be as i havent a clue. 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm ?? i was thinking aroun 1.5mm for strenth as 1mm seems abit small to me but i dont no lol. just dont wana do all the repairs to find out its all wrong so please help.
Anbody no the original panel thickness and is the floor thicker than the sides ??
lastly chassis thickness and repair panel thickness im at a loss there to, i was thinking 2.5mm but is it enought or is it over kill, thanks for replys

 

[troppo]

The best thing to do is replace like for like, measure the thickness of the rotten stuff and get the same thickness. Cut a patch of rust back to clean steel and take that with you to your steel supplier and sai i want some this thick

 

[invicta]

Some of these parts are made by YRM metal solutions so you will not need to consider thickness for those ready made panels.
Also try a search on one of the Landrover forums as these questions are covered on those forums. The sills and cross member are often discussed.
For patches, it is best to measure and match the existing thickness of material used as has been said before.

 

[john224]

What landrover is it you are working on ?

 

[pedrobedro]

For the panel repairs you can use 18g (1.2mm) for everything. It's thin enough to bend and thick enough to weld and 2mm is good for the chassis.

 

[Robotstar5]

What landrover is it you are working on ?

From the list in the first post, my guess is a Disco?

Your welder might "run out steam" on some of the thicker chassis bits

 

[octo0072000]

disco here disco there

From the list in the first post, my guess is a Disco?

Your welder might "run out steam" on some of the thicker chassis bits

i agree disco or could be a rangey metal 1mm or 1.2mm and you will find it more rotton than you think once you start stripping it
you can use 100mmx60x3mm box to replace the sills

and as said you need a bigger welder yours will struggle

 

[DEANO3528]

Some of these parts are made by YRM metal solutions so you will not need to consider thickness for those ready made panels.
Also try a search on one of the Landrover forums as these questions are covered on those forums. The sills and cross member are often discussed.
For patches, it is best to measure and match the existing thickness of material used as has been said before.

I would second the use of YRM as I spent a lot of time fabricating parts that I could have obtained (at a price obviously) direct from them.

 

[mrcheese]

1.2mm is correct. I did mine a year ago and I have work to do on a mate's one soon. The Disco rear cross member is the one under the rear door. It is also 1.2mm. I did all the work with a Clarke 100E. I bought a big sheet of steel and fabricated what I needed. Much cheaper than buying repair panels. But I still had good metal to work with. More rot and I would have gone to YRM.

Main chassis is 2mm.

 

[FAAace09]

thanks alot, its a disco, so panels 1.2mm and chassis 2mm, so my welder really wont weld 2mm chassis?

 

[keith19]

thanks a lot, its a disco, so panels 1.2mm and chassis 2mm, so my welder really wont weld 2mm chassis?

Of course it will do 2.0 mm. It's getting near the limit, but take it steady in short runs - up to 4 or 5 inches, and it should manage adequately.

Study this review on here of the Clarke 90 en;
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/clarke-90.htm
not quite so gutsy as yours and it still managed 2 mm okay. So your 100e should be alright. Anything any thicker and it may be gasping, but 2 mm should be fine.

 

[FAAace09]

thanks so much i really hope it does how do you test strength do you hit with hammer or hammer and chizel or sumthing to see if it moves ??

 

[keith19]

Do a few test pieces when you think your welding is up to scratch. Say a couple of small 2 mm thick plates, maybe 10 cm long. Butt them up together, no space between. Tack each end. Then weld the rest together in short runs of maybe 5 cm, pausing in between welds a few seconds. Let it cool.

Put it sideways in a vice, clamp tight. The weld seam should show just above the vice jaws. Give it some welly with a hammer, knocking it both ways back and forth, until metal fatigue breaks it in half. The steel should crack and break before your weld does.

Another test: With it in the vice as above, bend it over with the hammer as far as you can. Take it out, bash it down a bit more so it goes into the vice, widest end first. Close up the vice on it, pausing now and then to adjust its position in the vice. When its bent double, if your welds haven't cracked or broken, you've done okay.

 

[octo0072000]

weldability

here you are clarke manual for your welder says 3mm max so 2 mm max 3mm with V prep you will find it cuts out a lot so bit at a time and see how you go body work ok but would struggle on chassis main point is clean metal no matter what go over it with a grinder flap disc's 60grit work well for cleaning don't gouge as bad as grinder disc's get yourself some 1mm cutting disc's for cutting out the rot on the car makes life a lot easyer

have fun

http://www.clarkeservice.co.uk/manuals/mig_welders/migpro90_150te.pdf