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Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?

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Deleted Posts: 0	Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?Deleted @Deleted
	May 28, 2011 13:05:24 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Time for me to admit I don't know or can't do something! Always loved cars, right? Problem. I can't weld. Back in the '90s I had a couple of FE Victors I wanted to restore (and an Austin 1100, but that one was really too far gone) AND the time to do it. My parents bought me an "Otter" mig welder, mask, gloves - a basic starter kit. I got into stripping the FEs, wire-brushing off the rusty areas (which by current project standards were laughably minor) and then... nothing. I needed a gas bottle, this stumped me for some reason. I had the fear of it; filling walls and the like also defeats me. In the end, I think I swapped the Mig for a car. Wouldn't surprise me. I don't have it anymore is the main thing. So now I have the NSU. I want to get into this, I want to follow through on a HARD restoration project, and it's so long since I was properly interested, I've little clue where to start. So... help? What Mig is good to buy? What kit do you guys use for the amazing fabrication/resto work you're undertaking on cars which should long ago have been killed. My knowledge is recollection of articles in Practical Classics and the like from the '80s and '90s. No experience at all. Don't let me mess up the NSU like I did the cars I had in the '90s!


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tragic Part of things Posts: 125	Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?tragic @tragic
	May 28, 2011 13:26:33 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	My advice? Do it! Get youself a cheap mig and use the cheap disposable gas bottles from Halfrauds. Get an argon mix, not CO2, as it is easier to get good results with, get a pile of steel offcuts and go play. Pretty soon (half an hour, max) you'll be laying down decent beads of weld and you'll be hooked . You'll suddenly find yourself welding everything you possibly can, workbenches, cars, next door's cat, etc, etc. Mig welding is easy, it's all about cleanliness of the steel and above all, practice. Once you can weld there will be no stopping you. Oh yeah, I do it for a living, I'm a Senior ATA panel beater with over 20 years experience. And I still love welding ;D


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TurboDieselWeasel Posted hell of a lot I like fully mechanical fuel processing Posts: 5,188	Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?TurboDieselWeasel @dieselweasel
	May 28, 2011 14:25:41 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	I can only repeat what has been recommended to me; www.mig-welding.co.uk and this thread: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usetharch&action=display&thread=70135 And then.... Practice, practice, practice! Grap a few panels and practice welding. It took me a couple of hours to get good results, but I'm confident enough to tackle a car now. It also helps to write down the settings you used when you got good results, including the time you used to lay, say a cm, of bead or a spot. And then it's all in the preparation. Good, healthy and clean metal, even gaps etc. It's no good welding rusty metal or having to bridge large gaps... There's no stopping you - go on and do it!! Practice makes perfect, and I dare say it: everyone's first welds looked like dog sh!+ ;D You can do it!! Cheers, Jan
	88 124 Diesel Coupé \| 84 Mini \| 89 124 TAXI \| 79 Clubman Estate motofreibeuter

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vaughant Posted a lot Posts: 1,432	Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?vaughant @vaughant
	May 28, 2011 17:13:12 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Perfect advice from the above,I`d also suggest buying the best welder you can afford as I found with a good,well set up welder it made the whole job really easy. Two other good tips,soak a rag in wd40 and leave it on the welding wire to prevent it going rusty and always grind any paint,underseal rust etc off where your going to put the earth clamp,as otherwise it starts arcing back through the earth and you`ll think theres something wrong with the welder. Also,at first,don`t go for perfect smooth long runs,its really hard to achieve and you end up losing interest,better to drill through the panels where you want to replace and just plug the gaps with little welds to get everything lined up neatly,a bit like they do when spotwelding new cars. Some good tools to note are cold chisels,the claw type spotweld drills,wire brush attachments for grinders etc and spare nozzles and shrouds. Most of these are universal fitting but machinemart hate to sell them this way and try and get you to order item specific parts,which you don't need.


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TurboDieselWeasel Posted hell of a lot I like fully mechanical fuel processing Posts: 5,188	Learning bodywork repairs - advice, kit and help?TurboDieselWeasel @dieselweasel
	May 28, 2011 17:37:36 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	And whilst on the subject of usefull tools; buy a can of nozzle spray, this will do a great deal for protecting the nozzle from welding splatter and buildup. I always use it, and so far everything still looks like new. It's also usefull to protect nearby paintwork or other parts of the car from damage through welding splatter
	88 124 Diesel Coupé \| 84 Mini \| 89 124 TAXI \| 79 Clubman Estate motofreibeuter

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