Pointers for Beginner

[Kevin108]

Just teaching myself to weld during the lockdown – always wanted to do it, but never had the time – and the tutorials have been very useful.

My first challenge is to repair a very small hole I found on the turret which developed into what is seen on the picture once cleaned up (about 2.5 cm square)! The hole is at the end of a brace behind the turret which links to the inner wing. The metal around the hole and the rest of the turret looks in good order.

As a beginner, I would welcome any pointers before I get started…

 

[tom2207]

you have it well cleaned back to good metal , thats very important , on that job my next move would be to trim the hole back to being a square ,, lots easier to make the patch that way .
but dont go too close to the recess on the right , that would make cleaning up harder .
are you mig welding your patch in , or stick welding it

 

[tom2207]

sort of like this

 

[Dcal]

Was the patch spot-welded to the section in the middle of the patch?
I assume that's why it rotted.

What welder are you using?
What thickness is the metal and as @tom2207 said cut it a bit bigger so you are sure you are into good metal.
I also assume you will need to drill 8mm holes in the patch to spot weld it the cross member, unless you can weld it from the other side. It will be easier to drill them before fit up.

Practice on scrap the same thickness before you tackle the repair but you should be able to make a really good job of it. You have made a really good start.

 

[eddie49]

Hello, and welcome to the Forum !
I assume that this area is double-skinned - that would be why the rust started. What does it look like from underneath? How old is the car?
What make/model of welder are you using? With gas, or gasless?
Have you already practised laying beads and making simple joints on thin ( 1 mm ) sheet metal?

 

[tom2207]

The trick is to practice on the same material you will be using ,,, first beads ,,, then cut a hole the same size in the bit of material you have ,,, and then a practice patch , then weld it in ,, then do it again a few times if needs be until your happy with the result and comfy doing it ,,, post pics if you need help and advise ,, when thats done move on to the car ,, no point in messing up the expensive part , ie the car , till your happy that you can do what you want done without messing it up.

 

[Kevin108]

Thanks Guys

Some great advice and has given me the confidence to proceed.

I plan to MIG weld and I am looking at a number of welders to buy. Favourites at the moment are the Clarke Pro 90 MIG Welder or the Clarke MIG135TE (which is right at the top of my budget) but I would welcome any advice.

The car is a 1980 TR7 convertible which overall (unusually) is pretty solid all round which is why I bought it. Having thoroughly checked it out now, I am pretty happy with it apart from this hole but am sure there will be other small patches here and there. Most of the work to be done is renewing suspension, steering, brakes etc and also a new interior.

The ‘cross member’ you see in the middle of the hole is a bracket (bolted and welded) which runs horizontally from the turret to the inner wing. It acts a bit like a brace and supposedly stiffens the front end up but is renowned as a dirt trap and likely the cause of the rust! I have cleaned up behind this and the other bracket on this turret and the two on the other turret and the rest look pretty solid.

I am very very cautious so there will be plenty of practice before I go anywhere near the car!!

Thanks again…

 

[eddie49]

Have you made a decision about shielding gas? Both those machines ( the Pro 90 at £240 and the 135TE at £300 - Ouch ! ) are gas-only. I hope you have not chosen the "burn a £20 note every 5 minutes" disposable route ...

If you are prepared to consider a cheapo inverter rather than a traditional transformer-based MIG, for half your budget you could get an Uptime 160:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...igbt-160-amp-mig-welder-mma-euro-torch.88278/
This is gas/gasless, and also can be used as an Arc welder.
https://www.uptimewelding.co.uk/upt...th-industrial-plug-torch-and-accessories.html

 

[mike os]

Best place to start is the tutorial at the top of the page , the green buttons

 

[Kevin108]

Thanks for the recommendation eddie49 - I will have a look...anything that saves me money is most welcome!