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Mar 14, 2005 16:25:03 GMT
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The beetle failed its mot for a 'hole witihin 12 inches of front suspension' and I'll have to put in a new bumper mount panel. I'm not a very neat welder so can I grind the welds back flat afterwards or should I leave them rasied. I will lap joint the panels rather than butt weld. As its under the wing it doesn't have to be really neat but I would like it to look ok.
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Mar 14, 2005 16:33:06 GMT
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Yup, you can grind them down, but bear in mind you'll still need to get good penetration to make the weld strong in the first place.
I'm new to mig welding as well and find that I often have the current set too low for a really strong weld.
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Peugeot 307sw - Suzuki SV650S - MX5.
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,626
Club RR Member Number: 1
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welding questionNathan
@bgtmidget7476
Club Retro Rides Member 1
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Mar 14, 2005 16:38:21 GMT
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Yer i would Grind them Back to make it look neat, Like wagoneer said set your current correctly to get the penetration at least then you know the Sus aint going to give way in the future.
I find Weding a Very ver good Stress Relief cus you can see the thing building up in front of you.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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welding questionslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Mar 14, 2005 17:00:07 GMT
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Set the current high and just do small tack welds every inch or so then go back over and fill in the gaps in the same way. You may not end up with a professional looking weld (who can on rusty sheet steel??) but it will look nice and uniform and will be strong.
Nothind wrong with finishing it off with a grinder so long as you only grind off the excess not the whole weld!.
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Davenger
Club Retro Rides Member
It's only metal
Posts: 7,272
Club RR Member Number: 140
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welding questionDavenger
@dminifreak
Club Retro Rides Member 140
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Mar 14, 2005 17:06:00 GMT
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Noo, don't set the current high, you'll blow right through the panel.
set it between medium and low, test out on some scrap metal of the same thickness and adjust the wire feed until it sounds and looks right.
Nowt wrong with a bit of grinding, especially with a lap joint
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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welding questionslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Mar 14, 2005 17:55:57 GMT
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Well obviously not so high that it blows through  I mean higher than if you were trying to run a cnostant bead of weld, you can get away with it quite high when only using small tacks at a time. |
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Davenger
Club Retro Rides Member
It's only metal
Posts: 7,272
Club RR Member Number: 140
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welding questionDavenger
@dminifreak
Club Retro Rides Member 140
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Mar 14, 2005 18:05:20 GMT
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I know that, but to a noviceit could have been taken a bit too literally |
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Mar 14, 2005 19:32:30 GMT
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The failure sheet should state that the welds should be left uncovered for the retest, but I would seal them afterwards, neatens them up and stops water getting into any pinholes. You can buy proper seam sealer but I use the cartridge type brown window frame sealer (NOT silicon) from the local discount/pound shop.... works a treat!!
Oh, and the trick with MIG welding is to really clean up the area you're going to weld to.... it don't like rust/paint/underseal ect....
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Last Edit: Mar 14, 2005 19:34:40 GMT by mattblack
... the only injury I sustained was a bumped head when I let the seatbelt of without realizing the car was upside down  and that's not really the car's fault. |
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Mar 14, 2005 20:30:06 GMT
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since when has a bumper mounting panel been structural anyway? i see the point of the tester - a hole is a hole - and they can't be expected to know which parts of what cars are structural or not but a bumper mounting...? every beetle i've seen has the bumpers mounted on swiss cheese |
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Never trust a man
Who names himself Trevor.
Or one day you might find
He's not a real drug dealer.
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Mar 14, 2005 20:37:50 GMT
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since when has a bumper mounting panel been structural anyway? i see the point of the tester - a hole is a hole - and they can't be expected to know which parts of what cars are structural or not but a bumper mounting...? every beetle i've seen has the bumpers mounted on swiss cheese I would HOPE an MOT tester knows which parts of a car are structural..... And if the bumper isn't secure..... FAILED!! ;D ;D ;D |
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... the only injury I sustained was a bumped head when I let the seatbelt of without realizing the car was upside down and that's not really the car's fault. |
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Mar 14, 2005 20:42:08 GMT
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but a bug will pass without a bumper on - just remove it for the test! ;D ;D ;D depends if the bumepr is insecure (which wouldn't have been listed as "hole within 12 inches of suspension mounting") or whether the tester though that panel was part of the chassis.... i pulled a fiat uno out of a swamp with my bug using just the towing eye (directly mounted to the bumper iron), plenty of holes in the panel but no way insecure |
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Never trust a man
Who names himself Trevor.
Or one day you might find
He's not a real drug dealer.
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Mar 14, 2005 20:46:52 GMT
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Looking at the original post, it seems that the 'hole within 12" of front suspension' and the bumper panel are two different things, hence the confusion ....but having no bumper is still different to having one flapping about ;D |
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... the only injury I sustained was a bumped head when I let the seatbelt of without realizing the car was upside down and that's not really the car's fault. |
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Mar 14, 2005 20:58:06 GMT
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yeah i've re-read it.... aaaah curse word in my defence - look at the pretty penguins! |
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Never trust a man
Who names himself Trevor.
Or one day you might find
He's not a real drug dealer.
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Mar 14, 2005 21:24:51 GMT
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The bumper was actually quite firmly attached and the hole didn't seem too bad.  But once I got the underseal off I found lots more rust !! I guess I'll leave the welds for the retest then see about cleaning them up afterwards. Thanks for all the replies, I seem to be able to get a strong weld with good penetration but its just a bit messy. Front apron has rotted away as well but that can wait for another day. I'll refit the bumper to hide some of the holes in that! |
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and that's not really the car's fault.