goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,889
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Mar 28, 2021 10:34:53 GMT
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Doing the welding yourself can be a rewarding (and very affordable after the initial investment in the tools) way to get the car back on the road. I taught myself to weld on my first proper project and now I'd feel lost without that ability. There's great resources available online to help you get started.
But, it does require somewhere safe to do the work, you don't want to be spraying the neighbours cars / passersby with sparks or giving them arc eye as they stop and stare at what you're doing! It's also noisy job, lots of hammering and grinding, so that needs to be considered. I'm not saying you need a purpose built insulated garage, but equally an allocated parking space under the neighbours window isn't really where you wanna be attempting metalwork repairs!
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Mar 28, 2021 10:56:50 GMT
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Thanks, paint is getting there now. Struggling to find someone to come out & look at the sills for welding. Can't wait to start on the mechanicals. Buy a mig and have a crack at it yourself, practice on spare bit of metal before you start on the car itself. And if you do, don’t remove the panel your replacing before you have made the replacement panel. Use the existing panel as a buck, or template. Happy to talk you through the process if need be. It’s not hard, just patience 👍 I have a budget machine mart mig I've had for years. However I use it on chassis plates or hidden bits as I'm not that confident. I'm really fussy with bodywork and want it to look like no work has been done on it. Saying that though I might just have to if I can't find anyone local or cheap enough. |
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Mar 28, 2021 11:04:14 GMT
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Buy a mig and have a crack at it yourself, practice on spare bit of metal before you start on the car itself. And if you do, don’t remove the panel your replacing before you have made the replacement panel. Use the existing panel as a buck, or template. Happy to talk you through the process if need be. It’s not hard, just patience 👍 I have a budget machine mart mig I've had for years. However I use it on chassis plates or hidden bits as I'm not that confident. I'm really fussy with bodywork and want it to look like no work has been done on it. Saying that though I might just have to if I can't find anyone local or cheap enough. Unfortunately I’m in Australia, otherwise I would give you a hand. No harm in trying to make a panel though, nothing ventured nothing gained 👍 |
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Mar 28, 2021 11:09:58 GMT
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Doing the welding yourself can be a rewarding (and very affordable after the initial investment in the tools) way to get the car back on the road. I taught myself to weld on my first proper project and now I'd feel lost without that ability. There's great resources available online to help you get started. But, it does require somewhere safe to do the work, you don't want to be spraying the neighbours cars / passersby with sparks or giving them arc eye as they stop and stare at what you're doing! It's also noisy job, lots of hammering and grinding, so that needs to be considered. I'm not saying you need a purpose built insulated garage, but equally an allocated parking space under the neighbours window isn't really where you wanna be attempting metalwork repairs! I have my own driveway & always wait until late morning until I start any work, just good consideration. I've lived with my neighbours for 20 years now & feel lucky we all get on. They know I'm always playing with cars so it's always a good topic of conversation as to what I've got & plans for said project. |
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Mar 28, 2021 15:05:21 GMT
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Had a lazy car day today but I did get one niggly job done. When I bought the car I had 2 sets of keys & one of the keys was snapped. It turns out the passenger door lock had seized & the previous owner snapped the key trying unlock it. Too be fair the keys seem to be really soft so I do intend on getting a new pair cut. So door handle stripped, lock removed & stripped & broken bit removed. I've refitted it but daren't try a key in it as both keys already look slightly twisted.  |
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Mar 29, 2021 18:01:55 GMT
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Last Edit: Mar 29, 2021 18:06:03 GMT by ianlea73
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That's come up a treat. You can be proud of that result!
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Apr 10, 2021 17:57:42 GMT
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BiAS
Club Retro Rides Member
Insert witty comment here
Posts: 2,231
Club RR Member Number: 147
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Barn find mx5BiAS
@cheeqi
Club Retro Rides Member 147
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Apr 10, 2021 18:17:16 GMT
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That's a pretty decent shell if the rear end is anything to go by.....
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(car+wheels)-rideheight=WIN
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Apr 10, 2021 18:29:48 GMT
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That's a pretty decent shell if the rear end is anything to go by..... Thanks, so far so good. I cleaned all the interior panels above the tank with isopropanol alcohol wipes as it was filthy. |
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Apr 10, 2021 19:25:23 GMT
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Great work. Looks rock solid.
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Apr 18, 2021 19:47:27 GMT
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Slow progress on the car this week. I did knot wheel the tank after stripping it down, then gave the bottom of the tank a fresh coat of underseal & the top half is etched ready for paint this week.   I'm going to strip & inspect the rear subframe assembly after shifts this week & next weekend weather permitting I'll get the underside of the car knot wheeled & cleaned ready to underseal. |
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Apr 21, 2021 12:01:09 GMT
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Looks pretty clean under there all things considered, pleased for you that it didn't put up too much of a fight. I've heard horror stories from other owners (although much like any other 20+ year old car).
Look forward to seeing the renovation.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Apr 21, 2021 17:03:48 GMT
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FAIR PLAY TO YE , YOUR DOING A FAB JOB ON THAT WEE MOTOR I TIP MY HAT TO YE KEEP HER LITE
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I had a local welder come out last night to look over the outer sills for repair. Had a good chat & a happy quote, so I booked the car in with him for mid June. So today I got out the knot wheel & grinder to clean the rear end for rust convertor & underseal. Started digging & quickly discovered weak metal, so carried on & found this!  So I'm now at the point where I'm undecided whether I want to keep putting money into this car or build back to a roller & let someone else lavish love on it. |
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xfu990
Part of things
Posts: 78
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Don't lose heart, you're doing a cracking job.
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I've seen far worse MX5 shells with MOTs if I'm honest, that doesn't look like it'll be too much of a pain to weld up. As said above it's already had a massive turn around, keep at it, and the way MX5s are going just now it's never going to lose value. Besides, when it's done and it's a beautiful summer evening, roof down as you trickle down your favorite B road it'll all be worth it
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Current retro:
1984 Peugeot 505 GTI
Previous retros:
1989 Ford Fiesta 1.1 Ghia
1994 Mazda MX5 1.8S
1993 VW Polo GT
1994 VW Polo Saloon GT
1989 Volvo 340 DL
1988 Honda Civic
1998 BMW 318Ti
1996 BMW 316i
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As already said, you've brought this on superbly so far and it's got to be worth asking to the welder for their opinion/cost of putting that right?
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,889
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When the sills were as obviously gone on the outside as yours were, it was kind of surprising that you hadn't found rust in that spot of the inner sill. Very 'normal' for mk1 Mx5s to rust there.
Don't loose heart. It's not that big an area to weld. People talk about how bad Mx5s rust, but go visit the threads on a forum like this for 70s or older cars, and you'll see what real rust looks like! This is pretty straight forward to fix.
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I have to agree with the above still not too much work and a common area for Mx5's to rot rest of the underside looks good which would be more of a positive thing to focus on. A few years ago I had a 91 UK spec 5, looked pretty sound aside from some bubbling on the rear arches. Couple of months later took it in for an mot and was shocked when the tester showed me the underside, total basket case would be the best phrase to describe it, holes everywhere so I sold it straight away. If I were you I'd stick with it mk1s are on the up in value so any work you do to it would be a wise investment in my eyes.
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1975 Triumph Spitfire 1500
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