rogue traders

[weldone]

Hi all ,
I am new to the site and to welding,
I have been forced to try and learn to weld because I also have an old camper van that needs welding, and after using a local so called welder was left with more than i bargined for, snotty welds spatter everywhere and panels that dont line up,If ever a grown man was going to cry then that was the time.Idecided to try myself and I'm getting there but it's harder than you think now I have this site and all you guys it can only get easier .
Cheers
P.s. any other vw camper owners feel free to contact me.

 

[rtbcomp]

I know where you're coming from - I took some Riley RM wings to be welded up, it was a disaster, distortion everywhere and instead of welding a patch into the holes they just welded a patch behind the holes!

 

[Hitch]

If they are like me or every other welder i know, we despise welding anything to do with cars!!
People bring stuff in and offer you £10 to do a job, done properly would take 2/3 hours. So they ask for a cheap job, thats what they get.

I have never welded a car except my first.

 

[weldequip]

Fair comment Hitachimad, but you would expect a good job from a "professional" bodyshop; trouble is I've yet to find one! Most garages are using ****e welders, on CO2 gas & 0.8mm wire, ie.everything wrong!!
They tend to spend more on their Snap-On tool box than on a welder!!
weldequip

 

[rtbcomp]

This was a firm called Fabweld, listed under "welders" in Yellow Pages I asked them if they could do it, they said they could and I asked them how much, they told me and I agreed.

They had previously done a good welding job on my Moggy Thou (apart from leaving the wheelnuts loose!).

 

[MrFluffy]

You will always work on your own bus to a higher standard than a garage will, because you care and your not trying to just turn it around as quick as possible. If you roll a vw camper into a dodgy garage, they wont see your pride n joy, but a rusty old cash cow they can bodge up cover with underseal and pocket cash from, and anyone that really knows their craft will groan inwardly because its probally covered in botches from all the bodgers that have repaired it in the past too. I found the sills on my rangie had been glued on with underseal by a idiotic garage once, and I cut plates that were patching plates out of my moggie van. The trouble is to do the job properly costs proper money, and everyone in the past probally got it patched just enough to get through "just one more mot".

I have a t2 1600tp bay window Im supposed to be finishing off for summer here, nice postman just brought me a weber progressive kit for it (a empi one, which means I have to remake the linkage before it will work properly), and Ive got to reskin the right hand door (the lowers beyond patching), and weld in a replacement bootlid closing panel, so nearly there, having replaced all the wheel arches, the lower half of the sliding door, passenger side floor, outriggers on the chassis and various other bits n bobs, and that front panel is starting to look like it needs a replacement panel as the rest of the bus becomes tidier. My mrs says Im too much of a perfectionist. I say if I found a garage that would work on it with the same care and attention as I do, they could gladly do it instead...

 

[Hitch]

Fair comment Hitachimad, but you would expect a good job from a "professional" bodyshop; trouble is I've yet to find one! Most garages are using ****e welders, on CO2 gas & 0.8mm wire, ie.everything wrong!!
They tend to spend more on their Snap-On tool box than on a welder!!
weldequip

Snap on I enquired about an upgrade to match all my orange snap on gear....

I didnt buy it

Quite true about it. Some in the motor trade think Sealey is a top of the range welder :eek:

 

[cobminor]

If you don't like welding on cars don't do it. I would rather not do a job than half do one. For me or anyone else. This does not only apply to welding. When I was wiring houses people used to ask for the oddest things, usually to save a pound and sometimes dangerous. I either did it properly or walked away.