How hard is learning to weld?
Discussion
Hi all,
Have a rusty Mk1, with rotten sills. Am thinking that a decent repair would be £500+, but saw a welder in halfrauds for about £200, so thinking that welder off ebay + a bit of practice could see me doing it myself for similar money.
Would this be a bad, bad idea considering
1. I've never done any welding before
2. There might be more to it than cutting out the rotten bit and welding new bits on?
3. May end up getting duff gear from the 'bay
4. It may have emsman like disastrous results
5. I may do a crap job and have to pay for it to be done properly
Have a rusty Mk1, with rotten sills. Am thinking that a decent repair would be £500+, but saw a welder in halfrauds for about £200, so thinking that welder off ebay + a bit of practice could see me doing it myself for similar money.
Would this be a bad, bad idea considering
1. I've never done any welding before
2. There might be more to it than cutting out the rotten bit and welding new bits on?
3. May end up getting duff gear from the 'bay
4. It may have emsman like disastrous results
5. I may do a crap job and have to pay for it to be done properly
If you're doing sheet work then i'd reccommend a MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welder. I try to stay away from the flux cored DIY type you may find in stores such as Halfords and in my experience they don't give as good a weld.
They have there place don't get me wrong its just that if you're doing (or going to be) a lot of welding then i'd stick with a gas setup. I'd also reccommend that you try your local technical college for evening classes in welding, there's a lot more to it than gluing two bits of metal together with molten metal. Ensuring penetration and monitoring heat soak, is fun enough on thin sheet as it is but it get even more difficult when it comes to vertical and overhead welding.
If you can't get to a formal class, then ask around locally (a neighbour or motor club member perhaps)if they could give you a few lessons and explain the theory to you or get a theory book, i'm sure its the sort of thing Haynes might do. I'd be glad to teach if you were in West Cornwall.
I hope that this helps.
They have there place don't get me wrong its just that if you're doing (or going to be) a lot of welding then i'd stick with a gas setup. I'd also reccommend that you try your local technical college for evening classes in welding, there's a lot more to it than gluing two bits of metal together with molten metal. Ensuring penetration and monitoring heat soak, is fun enough on thin sheet as it is but it get even more difficult when it comes to vertical and overhead welding.
If you can't get to a formal class, then ask around locally (a neighbour or motor club member perhaps)if they could give you a few lessons and explain the theory to you or get a theory book, i'm sure its the sort of thing Haynes might do. I'd be glad to teach if you were in West Cornwall.
I hope that this helps.
1. It's not the most difficult skill in the world, but it's hard to do well.
2. No, that's about all there is to it.
3. Might, but stick to the well known makes from sellers with lots of good feedback and you should be OK, the better the kit is, the easier it is to repair too.
4. Don't mess about with safety, you can easily end up with third degree burns or be blinded using welding kit.
5. In all likelihood, this will happen.
Welding well is something you learn with practice, welding thin steel such as car bodywork is one of the hardest things you're likely to want to do, it's very easy to blow holes in your work and make a complete pig's ear of things.
Though I can weld, I don't do it often enough to trust myself when it comes to bodywork, so my car is off to the professionals next week for both rear sill sections done at a cost of about £200.
2. No, that's about all there is to it.
3. Might, but stick to the well known makes from sellers with lots of good feedback and you should be OK, the better the kit is, the easier it is to repair too.
4. Don't mess about with safety, you can easily end up with third degree burns or be blinded using welding kit.
5. In all likelihood, this will happen.
Welding well is something you learn with practice, welding thin steel such as car bodywork is one of the hardest things you're likely to want to do, it's very easy to blow holes in your work and make a complete pig's ear of things.
Though I can weld, I don't do it often enough to trust myself when it comes to bodywork, so my car is off to the professionals next week for both rear sill sections done at a cost of about £200.
Office_Monkey said:
5. I may do a crap job and have to pay for it to be done properly
This would be the real thing that would put me off.I guess its a nice skill to have though, and would put you in good stead for projects in teh future.
Do you plan on doing any more welding for this car or on other projects?
The only time ive seen it really work financially on 1 project is something like a VW camper where the welding job is so massive you will save a fortune.
I've got a small welder and can stick two bits of metal together with it but I don't consider that I can weld!
If you are welding every other day then you will learn to do it better but that takes a lot of time.
By all means get a small MIG and learn but I'd suggest for the current problem you'd be better off letting a garage help you out.
If you are welding every other day then you will learn to do it better but that takes a lot of time.
By all means get a small MIG and learn but I'd suggest for the current problem you'd be better off letting a garage help you out.
I have done a small amount of welding some 20 years ago with guidance from an expert. I was welding an engine subframe for a hovercraft. The steel was nice and thick, and with guidance found it pretty easy.
However soem 15 years later i decided i would try welding some 'thin' steel sheet with a MIG welder. This i found impossible and eventually resorted to a mate doing it. Finally sold the mig welder for half what i bought it for and feeling inadequete.....
Just my personal experience....
Mike
However soem 15 years later i decided i would try welding some 'thin' steel sheet with a MIG welder. This i found impossible and eventually resorted to a mate doing it. Finally sold the mig welder for half what i bought it for and feeling inadequete.....
Just my personal experience....
Mike
Just like all skills, some have a flair and others cannot weld to save their lives.
I do all my own welding and would say I was competent but I know a chap who welds top class classics and he is a genius but does no know it!
I would get a Clarke or similar MIG welder and some sheet steel and just have a play until it flows.
I do all my own welding and would say I was competent but I know a chap who welds top class classics and he is a genius but does no know it!
I would get a Clarke or similar MIG welder and some sheet steel and just have a play until it flows.
For what its worth dont imagine it will be £500+ for the repair, I had a similar problem when our 5 failed its mot on sills, I got them cut out and welded for a grand total of £180 and it was a spot on job!
If I had to choose I would rather pay to have it done properly the first time rather than bodge it myself than pay someone to firstly fix my mistake then put the origainal problem too.
If I had to choose I would rather pay to have it done properly the first time rather than bodge it myself than pay someone to firstly fix my mistake then put the origainal problem too.
Office_Monkey said:
Pretty much what I was thinking. Firman, where did you get yours done if you don't mind me asking? Am in London, but a drive to mk wouldn't be too bad for me. Would like to be able to weld, but in reality won't be doing it loads so may not be worth it.
It was just a little local mobile bloke I used but he did a bang on job! Went from this
P3130220 by Jamie Firman, on Flickr
P3130219 by Jamie Firman, on Flickr
Back to as good as new in an afternoon on my driveway, will grab some proper after pics in the morning
The second pic was a damn sight worse after it failed its mot and the tester ripped it all out with a screwdriver
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