Which is best?

[chris bracey]

Hi, I play around with wellding but now need to repair my morris minor body. I woud appreciate your views

I have a SIP top mig 150 to which I have installed the curtain wire liner and use CO2 and recently bought (used) Clarke 90EN fitted with a small gas bottle (argon mix).

The SIP was serviced a few years back and worked fine but I do get wire feed problems if there is a curve in the hose. The 90 EN seems to need the two top settings on Morris Minor thickness panels. but I am unsure if that is right?

Which of the two is best to use on the minor?

Thanks Chris

 

[astro_al]

This may sound flippant, but the answer is whichever you find it easiest to get the best results with.

Someone used to a particular machine will often get better results with it than a better machine that they haven't used before.

Al.

 

[Chickenjohn]

Hi Chris, I've done a quite a lot of Morris Minor welding having restored two and about to start on the 3rd one! I would use the Clark and being a 90, the top two power settings are about right, especially if you are talking about Minor sills and spring hanger sections which are typically 1.2mm thick, up to 2mm for inner sill step repairs. The front chassis legs are also pretty thick. However, if you are welding a new cross member end in to the rest of the cross member, you may be better off with the SIP on a higher setting as the cross member is more like 3 or 4mm thick and will need the extra power to get penetration. Being careful not to kink the wire feed "hose". Maybe you might benefit from a new liner , possibly a steel one.

This is all pretty hefty gauge metal compared to most cars, even classics but the Minor being a very early monocoque design was somewhat over engineered.

Inner wing bowl, flitch and floor pans are ~1mm so the Clarke 90 will cope well with these. The A pillar is a thick gauge though so you may need the top power setting on the clarke.

 

[chris bracey]

Which is best

John,

Thanks. What wire speed to you use... if you have used a 90 en?

chris