Jade green VW MK2 Golf GTi, full rebuild.

[SHutchinson]

Bought this to teach myself how to bash metal. I’ve worked on oily bits over the years, had a load of Vectras that we used to modify and take around the country back in the day, but I’ve never really done any metalwork. So, in at the deep end!

 

[SHutchinson]

The day it arrived in my garage.

 

[SHutchinson]

Battery tray repair. Cut the old one out, spot welded the repair panel on, whacked a load of grey primer over the top.

 

[SHutchinson]

Chassis leg repair. Not sure the legalities of repairing a chassis leg so if it’s illegal then I never did it, right?

 

[SHutchinson]

Started to patch the hole under the rear quarter glass. I bought a body cut from a breaker for this panel.

 

[SHutchinson]

And then I ran out of gas so ground it back, threw a coat of etch primer over it and left it. Upgraded to a Hobbyweld 5 gas bottle today so as soon as my new regulator gets delivered I’ll get back after it.

If anyone is near Newcastle and fancies teaching me how to cut and weld metal properly then I’m always keen to learn.

 

[daf45]

If that's really a first go at metal bashing your work is very good. Keep the updates coming it will make a good thread. I had one 20 plus years ago used to rev itself up just so you knew the idle control valve was due a clean out!

 

[SHutchinson]

If that's really a first go at metal bashing your work is very good. Keep the updates coming it will make a good thread. I had one 20 plus years ago used to rev itself up just so you knew the idle control valve was due a clean out!

I’ve watched a LOT of YouTube! Haha. But yeah, other than wasting a reel of wire and 5 or 6 bottles of Halfords gas welding some scrap sheet steel and box section up I’ve not really welded anything. I think I’ve got the absolute basics understood but when it starts to look bad it takes me a while to work out what’s going wrong.

It’s pretty good fun and some escapism from clicking buttons and staring at a computer screen all day.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I’m just an amateur tinkerer, but have a look at fitzy fabrications on youtube, the "cut and butt" method, he has a lot of good tips on there.

I try and space my tacks evenly and keep them hot and quick and as uniform as possible. They will sink lower and it is easier to go from tack to tack without missing anything or ending up with a massive build up by going back over it.
You want to jump from one end of the panel to the other and then come back again to keep the heat build up to a minimum.

Also keep in mind any filler wants to goes on before etch primer, etch can also be dodgy over filler, so best just keep it for bare steel. Or use an epoxy primer, you can fill over that.

 

[SHutchinson]

Yep, I’ve been devouring Fitzee’s Fabrication and also a channel called Make it Kustom. Both doing similar work with different approaches. In my head that’s what I’m trying to do, in practice it turns out it’s really hard to make something look as easy as that!! Those guys are top drawer.

 

[daf45]

See Fitzee's latest one repairing the front panel of Crusty? He makes making the shapes look so easy!

 

[SHutchinson]

See Fitzee's latest one repairing the front panel of Crusty? He makes making the shapes look so easy!

No chance I could do that. How does he have the skill, time and patience!

 

[Keithmac]

I hope your sills, floor etc are in better condition than my Mk2 GTI!.

Odd as where you've repaired yours mine was OK.

 

[SHutchinson]

I hope your sills, floor etc are in better condition than my Mk2 GTI!.

Odd as where you've repaired yours mine was OK.

No, they're terrible. I've got the full set of repair panels to weld in. In the last picture above you can see the rollover jig the car is just about to be bolted to so I can flip it up and cut them out. I'm just tinkering on repairing some small patches practicing my welding before attacking the bigger jobs.

 

[Keithmac]

Will be a lot nicer to do with the rollover jig!.

I ended up buying all my panels from VW Heritage in the end, got messed about before hand with the sills and to be fair Heritage weren't that much more anyway plus very quick delivery.

Good luck, nice to see another being saved!.

 

[SHutchinson]

Two hours graft to get 10 spots of welded burnt on! But, that’s 2 decent man hours in the garage. Might have to adjust the project deadline forwards by a year or 3!

 

[SHutchinson]

Good job I’ve got plenty of grinding discs! But after a day at my desk I felt the need to stand in the garage for 20 minutes. So I fired some splatter at the car.

 

[SHutchinson]

Another hour in the garage time machine