Tips for first bodywork repair

[RIP]

Hey,

I can weld structural steel and I've done a few bodywork repairs but nothing on a serious scale. Could I get some tips from people?

There's not a lot of rust, but it is all in annoying places. I guess that's normal. Seriously Suzuki, a single drain hole in this body mount would have stopped this:



With these reinforced members, there's a lot of rust at the joints. Should I remove the member by drilling off the plug welds? Does anywhere sell universal members? Or "top hat" profile that I could use to replace members?



I don't know how I'd get in there, maybe just blast it and seal it and leave it. The whole assemply could dismantle if I drilled out all the plug welds, but there's seat belt members that make up this section, so I'd need to be careful.



Someone highly recommended buying a plug weld drill, I spend so much on tools though, are they really better than a drill bit and then a small milling bit attached to die grinder or dremel to enlarge until the plug lets go?

And how difficult to close the holes so I can refit the plug welded members? Or do I just fit new members with new plug welds in different positions?

 

[Wallace]

Spotweld drills have a centre point and are ground to cut flat and parallel through each sheet, worth the money. The spot weld cutters can be a ballache to use as they need a bit more care to use. Don't try a milling cutter or slot drill of any type as it has no centre point and will go all over the place.

 

[gaz_moose]

my essential tools for removing this type of stuff is a spot weld drill bit in an air drill and a really thin chisel.
I ground an old donkey saw blade into a chisel.
when you use the spot weld drill walk it round in the hole and you will see when you have drilled through the first layer of metal. tap your thin chisel in and you will find where you need to drill some more.

 

[RIP]

my essential tools for removing this type of stuff is a spot weld drill bit in an air drill and a really thin chisel.
I ground an old donkey saw blade into a chisel.
when you use the spot weld drill walk it round in the hole and you will see when you have drilled through the first layer of metal. tap your thin chisel in and you will find where you need to drill some more.

So it only drills through the top layer?

 

[Wallace]

So it only drills through the top layer?

If you keep drilling it will carry on through like a normal drill bit, the trick is to go lightly and get a feel of how the bit cuts to go through the first layer. You can often see when you break through the first layer as cavity wax or rust will be present and shows up in the hole as you break through. Once you do a few it will al fall into place what you are reading, especially what gaz says about walking the bit round.

What part of Londinium are you in?

 

[RIP]

If you keep drilling it will carry on through like a normal drill bit, the trick is to go lightly and get a feel of how the bit cuts to go through the first layer.

Great! So does this mean I can remove the structural members? That way I can fix them and under them 100% ツ

You can often see when you break through the first layer as cavity wax or rust will be present and shows up in the hole as you break through.

Different era car! On this one it looks like they painted the panels before spot welding. Even the chassis looks like they made it from sheet, pre-painted, and then folded into box section and welded.

What part of Londinium are you in?

South West. About 35 minutes from you, so if you're working on anything interesting then let me know!!!

Which brand of spot weld drills do you recommend?

 

[Wallace]

I don't have a specific brand to recommend but if you have not used one before then go for the HSS drill bit type rather than the hole saw type as they can be frustrating to use. If you are good on a bench grinder you can modify drill bits to do the job. I have interesting cars here but none I am welding at the moment!

 

[RIP]

I don't have a specific brand to recommend but if you have not used one before then go for the HSS drill bit type rather than the hole saw type as they can be frustrating to use. If you are good on a bench grinder you can modify drill bits to do the job. I have interesting cars here but none I am welding at the moment!

They seem to come in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm. I accidentally ordered 10x 8mm thinking I was buying a selection of sizes. Should I be drilling slightly bigger than my spot welds actually are? I.e. if they are 6mm should I drill 8mm?

How easy are these to use? Would you go as far as removing several members to fix under them? Or is removing members a last resort?

I'm looking forward to the job now! Just for days I've just been removing the stone chip, it's a nightmare, but I have a method now so in a week I could start cutting metal It's scary what I'm finding under the stone chip, if you were to look at the car when it was together you'd think it has only a bit of rust. Start removing stone chip and there's a lot more, it's all small bits on mine so the rot is not so far along, but makes me wonder when cars have big visible sections rotted, I'd hate to see what they have under their stone chip.

 

[Burdekin]

Drill from the top and weld from the top, easier. If replacing the rails, just drill all the way through. Good sharp 1" wood chisel to remove once drilled.

8mm are a good size, 6mm can miss some of the spot weld and easy to tear the metal when removing.

Remove the members, or cut out only a section of the floor above the member or cut the floor out around the member and weld in new metal. Assess each bit as you go. But if there are a number of small sections then a new floor panel might be quicker and neater.

 

[RIP]

If replacing the rails, just drill all the way through.

I don't get what you mean, which rails?

8mm are a good size, 6mm can miss some of the spot weld and easy to tear the metal when removing.

Even if the spot welds look to be 5mm diameter?

But if there are a number of small sections then a new floor panel might be quicker and neater.

Even at OEM prices? There's only sills and wheel arches available aftermarket. Unfortunately these cars are only popular with farm hicks now, so no money in them. Almost all the big names have pulled out of the Vitara market now. But still very popular in the US, where specialist parts are still being sold in large numbers.

 

[Burdekin]

Sorry I mix and match terms for stuff, chassis rails, chassis members etc. Assume they are actually outriggers?

Yeah I'd just stick with 8mm, makes for a nice decent plug weld.

If there aren't reasonably priced panels then probably best to patch. Making decent full floor panels from scratch isn't easy to get looking nice unless you have the right gear.

 

[RIP]

Sorry I mix and match terms for stuff, chassis rails, chassis members etc. Assume they are actually outriggers?

Yeah I'd just stick with 8mm, makes for a nice decent plug weld.

If there aren't reasonably priced panels then probably best to patch. Making decent full floor panels from scratch isn't easy to get looking nice unless you have the right gear.

Thanks for the advice, to everyone here.

Now that most of the stonechip is off and I can see the damage it doesn't look like I need to go anywhere near as far as replacing floor panels. It looks like I've caught this car just in time, before serious serious work is needed.

One of the wheel arches is pretty bad and it's where it joins to the outer body panel. I think there I will need to cut off the outer panel, repair the arch, and then weld the outer panel back in.

I originally tried to find a cheap late Vitara to take the body off that and save myself all this work, just swap the bodies over, but it turns out that the later Vitaras had more rust than the early ones. Wierd.

 

[Wallace]

Do you have any old panels to practice on? Finding the spot welds is your first task, a lot stand out but they are sneaky little gits and can disappear in rusty metal. Cleaning the surface rust and paint back with emery or a light going over with a belt sander can highlight them but be prepared for the odd invisible ones and try not to remove metal if possible. A good sharp centre punch ground at 90° will give you a decent start point for the spot weld centre and prevent the drill bit from wandering, don't hammer the punch too hard as you can distort the panel. Start off at a slow speed pressing lightly and try to get a full circle on the metal central to the spot weld. If needs be, stop and check closely to see if you are drilling parallel and removing an even circle of material, adjust your angle accordingly but keep going slowly until you get the hang of it and see or feel the top sheet break through. Perfection should be a a small shiny centre the spot weld size with the drill centre point dent in the middle and paint/wax/rust showing in a small ring around the outside. Don't expect perfection, just back off when you see the first signs of going through and adjust the bit angle to try and remove the remains of the top sheet. Repeat as necessary!