Iveco Daily mot welding - mig or arc?

[Nomad]

Hi. I’ve been asked if I can weld up the chassis on an Iveco coach for the mot.

Most of my welding is using mig on retro cars when they need new panels for mot. I guess the Iveco will be a lot heavier to weld - what’s best arc or mig?

This is a friends camper so it will be done at cost, there is a budget to buy an arc set or 3-in-1 if needed.

All suggestions welcome for the best / easiest - cheapest way to fix it for a few more years life




The next question will be: is anyone selling a suitable used welder ?

 

[KemppiFrog]

Has to be mig and doesn't need to be a big one.

 

[8ob]

Looking at the failure sheet I reckon the previous owner must have been Jacques Cousteau


Bob

 

[GRW]

I weld my LDV Convoy (similar separate ladder chassis with a body on top) with my Oxford MigMaker 180-1.
It's got plenty of spuds for the chassis and can cope with thin body panels.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Mig.
Bare in mind the box sections are dipped in a rust killing solution at the factory.

 

[KemppiFrog]

To add, I put a Ducato camper through the local MOT recently. Absolutely no corrosion, but looking around, it was all thinish sections, so Mig.
While it had some years, no salt on roads about here and it really makes a difference

May have mentioned this before, but all these conversions are based on delivery vans, built to do 200k miles in two years with the first owner, after that, not so important with later owners.
Vitos seem to be vulnerable, not what one expects from MB, but they are in a competitive market. 'Cors, they did have a big prob with rust a while back.

 

[minimutly]

Looking at the failure sheet I reckon the previous owner must have been Jacques Cousteau


Bob

It's an Iveco.....

 

[roblane65]

I had an Iveco daily from new for 12 years ! the last 2 mots were the only problems inner sills , there weren't any ! rust held together with under seal and the big plate under the front cross member was gone , Tha,ts a big old thick chassis to have any rot in it !

 

[Bornfree]

These jobs get bigger and bigger as you go. I hope you have plenty of free time.

 

[roblane65]

Nope didn't get any bigger , mot was october and I couldn't be a***d lying around in the cold so I got a new van

 

[Barking Mat]

I wouldn't go near bodywork with an arc welder, unless you're a masochist.

 

[bricol]

I wouldn't go near bodywork with an arc welder, unless you're a masochist.

First time I ever welded a car in 1989 - a 1977 Lancia Beta coupe - I used my dad's very heavy arc welder and his left over 1.6 rods . . . put two sills on well enough to pass an MOT over a weekend back home from Uni.

I also spent the Sunday evening at the Royal Hallamshire (I think) in Sheffield with rather painful eyes . . . I'd used a combination of sunglasses and eyes shut, as the mask to go with the welder had no glass in it . . .

 

[m_c]

Only chassis issue there is the anti-roll bar mount.
Everything else is body. Daily body's are bad for rotting around the body mounts. Personally, I wouldn't touch it, as you'll really struggle to do a good repair with the body still on the chassis. Quite a lot of the bits you're likely to need to weld, you'd want to weld from the underside, but the chassis/engine/gearbox/axle are in the way of access.

 

[God mode restorations]

It's been well looked after lol. Its definitely repairable. But it's a time consuming job especially around the ereas mentioned. Structural body mounts are sometimes difficult. Have done a fair few . Iveco are no different to any other truck. I have sn iveco beaver tail low loader .its like factory new underneath. Mig would be the preferred choice.

 

[Alan Reynolds]

First time I ever welded a car in 1989 - a 1977 Lancia Beta coupe - I used my dad's very heavy arc welder and his left over 1.6 rods . . . put two sills on well enough to pass an MOT over a weekend back home from Uni.

I also spent the Sunday evening at the Royal Hallamshire (I think) in Sheffield with rather painful eyes . . . I'd used a combination of sunglasses and eyes shut, as the mask to go with the welder had no glass in it . . .

Surprised you found anything of a ferrous nature to weld to on a Beta. Mine was in trouble after just 2 years from new. Lancia took it back in the end because it had so many problems including the steering wheel support just giving up the ghost on the motorway. That was interesting. It had rust, peeling paint, an oil pickup that was too short and starved the bottom of the engine on sharp bends. Looked nice but that was it.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Surprised you found anything of a ferrous nature to weld to on a Beta. Mine was in trouble after just 2 years from new. Lancia took it back in the end because it had so many problems including the steering wheel support just giving up the ghost on the motorway. That was interesting. It had rust, peeling paint, an oil pickup that was too short and starved the bottom of the engine on sharp bends. Looked nice but that was it.

I ended up scrapping my HPE at around 8 years old as terminal rust with no repair panels available from Lancia

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Whilst repairable I think it's very near the end of it's life without substantial work. If you do what is needed to get MOT this year then there will only be something else that need welding next year - and so on.

 

[bricol]

Surprised you found anything of a ferrous nature to weld to on a Beta. Mine was in trouble after just 2 years from new. Lancia took it back in the end because it had so many problems including the steering wheel support just giving up the ghost on the motorway. That was interesting. It had rust, peeling paint, an oil pickup that was too short and starved the bottom of the engine on sharp bends. Looked nice but that was it.

Sounds like a Friday afternoon/Monday morning car!

Found 'em no worse than anything else of similar age - had two coupes, two HPEs and one Spyder, with twincams from 1400 to 2000cc. If I had room, I'd have another.

Lancia taking 'em back was the cause of the rust thing started by the Daily Mirror - if they'd done the same as British Leyland, Ford, Datsun etc and ignored the cars failing their first MOTs with rust . . .

Mind you, that also caused the price of second hand ones to plummet and meant I, as an impoverished student, could afford some fantastic motor cars.

 

[Memmeddu]

This Truck frame is roughly 1.5 or 2mm I'd go with mig just for speed.
I did weld a Cabstar frame using 7018

 

[KemppiFrog]

Lancia taking 'em back was the cause of the rust thing started by the Daily Mirror - if they'd done the same as British Leyland, Ford, Datsun etc and ignored the cars failing their first MOTs with rust . . .

.

The particular problem was the Beta, they really did rust quickly and often the engine mounts collapsed. It was MUCH worse than other cars of the era.

Russian steel again, like the Alfasud.