Hello, right I recently gave my car to a welder to sort out as it failed it's mot on a load of welding and, I'm still learning so thought its best for the pros to do it , well he had to fit new panels and make panels as it was a rust bucket it had stood for 10 years, so I bought some panels and he set to work, well he has seam welded the structural parts of the car but the outer panels like my rear arch he has spot welded it, along the whole panel so it's like dot space dot space dot, he has told me he has had mot testers look at the car and they have said it will pass it's mot, he also works at a mot centre, I will be getting the car fully resprayed so I'm sure the painters will have to rub down and finish the car off, but is it ok for him to do that I mean the spot weld, I'm going to take it back to the tester at another garage who failed it on a load welding so I can make sure he has done a proper job I shal also point out that anything that has concerned you as off the welding please fail it if it's not up to the roadworthy standard, hope it's ok tho just want to put my mind at ease with you guys, all advice appriciated in advance,
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shed or dead
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http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/just-some-advice-please.51402/
You may have read this already but it seems to clarify.
I know my mini had to have seam welded replaement cills to pass the MOT as they are structural but would assume that if a bodyshop did a replacement of a rear quarter, for example, this would be attached using a dedicated spot weld machine (rather than MIG) and would be perfectly acceptable.
Is your man spoting with MIG, or a spot welder?
Mine are assumptions so don't rely on this.
You may have read this already but it seems to clarify.
I know my mini had to have seam welded replaement cills to pass the MOT as they are structural but would assume that if a bodyshop did a replacement of a rear quarter, for example, this would be attached using a dedicated spot weld machine (rather than MIG) and would be perfectly acceptable.
Is your man spoting with MIG, or a spot welder?
Mine are assumptions so don't rely on this.
doubleboost
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Any part panel work needs to be fully seam welded
Very little of a modern car is not a "prescribed area"
A complete replacement panel can be spot welded (as was done when the body shell was made)
Once it is painted / under sealed as a tester, you can only assume it has been done properly
I always give a manual advisory "unable to asses repairs due to paint / under seal "
Very little of a modern car is not a "prescribed area"
A complete replacement panel can be spot welded (as was done when the body shell was made)
Once it is painted / under sealed as a tester, you can only assume it has been done properly
I always give a manual advisory "unable to asses repairs due to paint / under seal "
shed or dead
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Reminds me of a story I once read online. A Land Rover was being scrapped, a Series 2 109 if I remember right, and they were chopping it with an angle grinder when they realised the rear cross member was made of Oak, and plenty of Waxoyl!
Regulations are of course there for a reason. The Oak outrigger was probably the most structurally sound part of that chassis!
And shrewd thinking with the advisory.
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It's clearly stated in the tester's manual that a spot weld is acceptable where a spot weld originally was and that stitch or plug welding is an acceptable alternative.
brightspark
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morgans are nearly all made of wood so where does that leave u ??check for rot and woodworm
shed or dead
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Only Dovetail welds are acceptable pracitce if an non OEM plank or ply is used. Twigs may not be used to re-spoke a wheel.
Concourse needs to smell of burning sawdust anywhere a lucas wiring loom meets the chassis.....
Reminds me of a story I read about Balsa wood on a Ford Ka etc etc.....
Thanks for all the replys, I'm not sure what welder he was using but , he has stated that it will pass its mot, the car is a old classic 1982, I want the weld to be fully tested as I rather have it go back and done properly than have problems later on, even tho it needs a trip down to the painter, am I right in thinking that when the car is at the painters, they will have to prep the car so the spot welding to the outer panels will be sorted out,
brightspark
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where does bodging fuses fit in to an advice on a welding post
to me it sounds like he has done it corectly and knows what he's doing.
i used to enjoy working on classic cars and welding them up for people, then the people ****** me off to much.
there is a misconseption that everything has to be fully welded. some parts dont need to be and really shouldnt be. i'e done way to meany campervan repairs for eampel if ive just changed one of the side pannels the absolute worst thing to do is run a line of weld top to bottom of the van in two places. welds allways pull and it will put a rippel in and need load s of filler ( with the camper i refused to fully weld the side pannel so he got some numpty to do it and pulled so much and rippeld the side of the an so badly it was used as a donour and scrapped )
an arch has more curves so won't distort as much but it will. and that means filler possobly lots of filler. the other problem is if you enjoy driveing your car and wish to drive it enthuiasticly seam welding parts of the shell is not a bad thing as it can stiffen that part of the shell but when you seam weld one side and not the other it can make the car feel wrong and uneven espectaly the back end if you like to hang the tail out occasionaly.
i used to enjoy working on classic cars and welding them up for people, then the people ****** me off to much.
there is a misconseption that everything has to be fully welded. some parts dont need to be and really shouldnt be. i'e done way to meany campervan repairs for eampel if ive just changed one of the side pannels the absolute worst thing to do is run a line of weld top to bottom of the van in two places. welds allways pull and it will put a rippel in and need load s of filler ( with the camper i refused to fully weld the side pannel so he got some numpty to do it and pulled so much and rippeld the side of the an so badly it was used as a donour and scrapped )
an arch has more curves so won't distort as much but it will. and that means filler possobly lots of filler. the other problem is if you enjoy driveing your car and wish to drive it enthuiasticly seam welding parts of the shell is not a bad thing as it can stiffen that part of the shell but when you seam weld one side and not the other it can make the car feel wrong and uneven espectaly the back end if you like to hang the tail out occasionaly.
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Wedg1e
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When my dad used to repair other peoples' cars back in the 70s/ 80s he had a few in that had previously been repaired by a local cowboy garage...floorpans that had been 'welded' with cardboard and underseal was a common theme. One of his favourite expressions was 'welded with Catty and pop-rivets'...
Thanks Danny, you have explained the reason, so he must of spot welded it as it's neater and better finish also with the rest of the parts that ain't been welded on the spot welded panel are they to be fillered in and what would they use body filler or will they try a welding technique at the painters when they prep the car for the paint or how will it be resolved ?
Wedg1e
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1982, classic? I can't think of too many early-80s cars that deserve to be called classics, even if the insurance definition is 'anything over 15 years old'!
Also, to some of the guys on here, 1982 isn't old, it's 'a few years back'
doubleboost
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Replacement panels can be spot
/ plug welded
Part panels need to be fully seam welded
Not my idea just the way they want it
Don't even mention brazing
put some pictures up, so much easyer to tell form a piccy, says 1000 words and all that.
rosinante
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Sorry fella got to say it----"stick welding" is acceptable---- groan.
chris
