GafferTapeKing
Member
- Messages
- 62
- Location
- Oxford, UK
I became the proud owner of an auctioned Clarke Mig supermig 180 a while ago, gathered all the bits and put it all in a corner.
It hasnt been used because I havent made the time to use it beyond checking the wire feeds and striking an arc.
At around the same time I gained some cars as lockdown projects, none of which needed welding, even the now 24 year old Micra.
I did all the research before giving up £100 delivered.
The sills were good - TICK
The Sunroof didnt leak so the floor is good - TICK
The Front crossmember isnt rotten round the central jack point or the Towing Eye - TICK
So I have slowly been fixing the things that needed fettling, it has been garaged for 12 years.
Outer CV's, Front Calipers, fuel pump, the water pump is noisy and the radiator has rotted most of its fins away.
My two daughters have been greatly involved in making it work and have put in quite a bit of spanner time and a few new parts are on it
Today I changed the water pump and then the radiator and found a hole at the end of the cross member, some grown up words came out.
It isn't too bad, I gave it a few good wallops to find solid edges and its about 8cm by 4cm that needs a repair patch.
So I want to get suitable material to weld it up with but get plenty of practice in on a bench first before going anywhere near the car.
The first things are
what size wire for bodywork ?
What thickness of metal for patches ?
Do I just lay a plate over the top and weld round the edges (Having chopped out all the crusty bits) or cut out a square in the crossmember to evict all the rust then make a
plate to fit in the hole and butt-weld the edges ?
Is butt welding a thing ?
It doesnt need to be pretty it just needs to be strong, the only people to see it will be MOT Testers, anyone servicing it (Which is me for the forseeable future) or anyone that I run over..
It hasnt been used because I havent made the time to use it beyond checking the wire feeds and striking an arc.
At around the same time I gained some cars as lockdown projects, none of which needed welding, even the now 24 year old Micra.
I did all the research before giving up £100 delivered.
The sills were good - TICK
The Sunroof didnt leak so the floor is good - TICK
The Front crossmember isnt rotten round the central jack point or the Towing Eye - TICK
So I have slowly been fixing the things that needed fettling, it has been garaged for 12 years.
Outer CV's, Front Calipers, fuel pump, the water pump is noisy and the radiator has rotted most of its fins away.
My two daughters have been greatly involved in making it work and have put in quite a bit of spanner time and a few new parts are on it
Today I changed the water pump and then the radiator and found a hole at the end of the cross member, some grown up words came out.
It isn't too bad, I gave it a few good wallops to find solid edges and its about 8cm by 4cm that needs a repair patch.
So I want to get suitable material to weld it up with but get plenty of practice in on a bench first before going anywhere near the car.
The first things are
what size wire for bodywork ?
What thickness of metal for patches ?
Do I just lay a plate over the top and weld round the edges (Having chopped out all the crusty bits) or cut out a square in the crossmember to evict all the rust then make a
plate to fit in the hole and butt-weld the edges ?
Is butt welding a thing ?
It doesnt need to be pretty it just needs to be strong, the only people to see it will be MOT Testers, anyone servicing it (Which is me for the forseeable future) or anyone that I run over..