Do I need to learn to weld?

Hey everyone.

I have finally realised my childhood dream and bought a Disco. I am very pleased with it, even if it is a little slow off the mark! hHaving spent the last 4 years driving around in a Lucida, I needed something that could pull a house and fit the contents of one in the boot. It needed to be a diesel (milage) and needed to be an auto (crippled-it's ok, I am one so I can say it!). All boxes ticked.

Now, I spent a lot of time looking for a nice one and even drove 60 miles to see this one (which was a bit of a worry in a car held together with K-Seal), but having bought it and consigned to Lucy to a cube shaped grave, I'm a little worried I might have bought something I am unqualified to fix.

I did almost all of the work on the Lucy because, like the Disco, they are so big, chunky and easy to , but there was never any need to weld anything. They just (or at least mine didn't) seem to rot like Land Rovers. This is a real surprise because they have no underseal on them because the Japanese don't use salt on their roads.

I have read a lot of posts on here about rotten this, that and the other. I am now worried because I don't really want to have to start paying out for stuff.

I haven't had a great look round or underneath yet, but there does seem to be a bit of flaky rust under the carpet (drivers side) but the passenger side looks like it did when it rolled out of the factory. I can't see any tell tales signs of it being new though. I haven't checked the boot floor yet as I haven't had time to lift the carpet without turning it to rags.

I have seen some shocking photos of sills and footwells...

So the question remains, should I learn to weld? What sort of welding (it would seem there are a few different sorts, annoyingly) would be the best for all round work?

It's not just that I'm tight, but I think it would be something valuable to know how to do.

i havent done any welding on mine yet (2-3 years) but i can see small areas which if left untreated will need welding. the way i look at it is if you keep on top of everything you should be ok, just rub down any problem areas now and put a bit of zink oxide paint on em and you should be sorted. waxoil or underseal the bottom aswel. small non load bearing areas can be filled with some isopon p38/p40 (fibre glass+filler) and depending on how fussy you are you could even paint it back up yourself (i think u can now buy spray cans of the Land rover paint colours). Also landrover parts can be pretty cheap and in some instances its easier and cheaper to just replace the area instead of weld it (inner wings, boot floor etc).

Like with a lot of vehicles some are great and some turn out to be dogs, its partly skill, partly luck in getting the right one.

Do a search on rust on here and check the usual problem areas, if you keep on top of it you should be ok. Im thinking about learning anyway just in case + my old man and father in law both own a variety of small welders so it would be silly not to.

Hope this helps.

get a MIG welder and practise on some old bits of steel. You'll soon pick it up, and save yourself shed loads of cash if you farmed the work out to a garage. My MIG is a 140 bought from Mac Tools about 6 years ago. Still going strong and does most of the jobs I ask it to. I mend taxis as part of my job so it's had a lot of use. Go to somewhere like Machine Mart and have a good look at what they've got. Clarke is a good make.

Thanks Mr Nice.

Having read a little more I am more relaxed.

I know what you mean about some being nails and some being alright. I spoke to my wife granddad, who used to work for Rover a trillion years ago. He worked the day shift (this being back in the days when we made things in this country and the industy was strong enough to require a night shift), he reckons that when you get two cars that are exactly the same and one runs like a dream and has no issues but the other one is a bag of crap, the crappy one was finished on the night shift.

He could of course have been winding me up.

I have used P38 before, so I'm not picky about paint work (the car is 15 years old afterall). It is on the surface a very tidy looking car, but I tend to worry too much about what lies beneath...

im lucky mines black and the only areas ive had any rust are rear arches(when doors are open), where the pillars join the roof and an inner wing so ive sorted them early, and painted them with black primer, job done, funny how on my old beemer i was almost obsessed with a mirror quality perfect finish all over, with the landy i think a few "battle scars" over the years actually compliment it.

Rip the carpet up in the boot and if its not too bad cover it in some oil (thats what i do and mine has been ok for the two years ive owned it). The cills need coating with something but i havent got round to it (always something else to do!) which brings me to my next point, if you google "rave download green oval" you will be able to download a cd with a proper good workshop manual on it for your car. Hope you got a good one Oh i recently went round the factory at sollihull on a tour and im pretty sure the guide said that they work 24 hours/day.

I have answered my own question by taking the Disco for an MOT.
Yes, I do need to learn to weld!
Failed on a fairly big hole in the boot (just under the kids' seats!!!) and a bit on the rear driver's side body mount/sill area.
I rang 8 garages in Bedworth/Nuneaton/Coventry area on Saturday and not one of them would do it.
Is it right when a garage says "We don't do welding." How can a garage not do welding. I was fairly sure it is a neccessary vehicle maintenance and repair skill.
Either someone is lying to me or I have an unrealistic view of the motor trade.

Ink said:

I have answered my own question by taking the Disco for an MOT.
Yes, I do need to learn to weld!
Failed on a fairly big hole in the boot (just under the kids' seats!!!) and a bit on the rear driver's side body mount/sill area.
I rang 8 garages in Bedworth/Nuneaton/Coventry area on Saturday and not one of them would do it.
Is it right when a garage says "We don't do welding." How can a garage not do welding. I was fairly sure it is a neccessary vehicle maintenance and repair skill.
Either someone is lying to me or I have an unrealistic view of the motor trade.

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Lots of garages won't weld now due to the risk of fire. Insurance goes through the roof if you tell them you weld cars.

On the subject of learning to weld, the welding part is easy, as long as all surfaces to be welded are clean, ie, no rust, oil, paint etc. Cutting out areas to be repaired and getting replacment part to fit well, thats the problematic part. Do you have the tools for this. Grinders, air saws, power snips etc. I don,t want to put you off because all things on a Landy can be done at home (almost), just want to let you know its not just the welding to consider.

No, most small-ish garages generally don't do welding. Don't know why, but that's just the case for some reason.

I recently bought a very cheap (Sub-£60) stick/arc welder from Toolstation, it's only 100 amps but I have successfully welded 5mm steel with it. Bearing in mind I have never touched a welder in my life before now, it went pretty well! It's not a difficult skill to learn, but it is a very difficult skill to master.

If you do go for welding, go for a MIG unit with gas, Co2 or Argon/Co2 mix would be good. You need current range (amps) for car work - low enough for panels but high enough for chassis stuff. I've got a 40-180A Clarke Turbo MIG - Clarke are about the best of the hobby range, above that it gets expensive.

I use Co2 gas from a friendly pub landlord and taught myself the basics on a pile of scraps of metal. Preparation is important, you can't weld dirty or painted metal and never weld galvanised steel - the fumes are very bad for you.

My disco came with a new MOT so i'm ok for a year but i'm dreading my first MOT as i have doubts about the ticket i have, safety first, bodywork second

Dave

Does it sound odd that I have always wanted an angle grinder?....
I'm not sure what power snips are, but I am envisioning a 'Jaws of Life' like tool, but smaller

Outside of cars, there hasn't ever been anything I couldn't fix, fit or repair with a hammer and a roll of duck tape (God bless the holy tape)...

davek0974 said:

My disco came with a new MOT so i'm ok for a year but i'm dreading my first MOT as i have doubts about the ticket i have, safety first, bodywork second

Dave

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When I get mine back from the garage (see my other thread about Rusty boot floor, MOT and possible dodgy dealer), I will be checking it with my local MOT centre (who are very helpful even if they don't do welding).
I have been looking in to it-if you suspect that the garage that issues your MOT has passed it in an unsafe condition you can get VOSA to kill 'em.

Ink said:

When I get mine back from the garage (see my other thread about Rusty boot floor, MOT and possible dodgy dealer), I will be checking it with my local MOT centre (who are very helpful even if they don't do welding).
I have been looking in to it-if you suspect that the garage that issues your MOT has passed it in an unsafe condition you can get VOSA to kill 'em.

Click to expand...

Yeah i have heard that, trouble is i have had it a month now and it alls boils down to me proving it, so if you have a suspect dodgy centre its best to ring VOSA the same day. As it says on the ticket - it only proves roadworthyness for the day of the test.

My worries were that it had no water in the wash-bottle at all, and there is oil on the back N/S disc, both of which are fails but they will normally top up the washer if thats all thats needed, apart from them, i just didnt trust the guy but i could see that the motor was pretty sound.

I find it very tough to trust anyone that tries to sell used cars. I'm sure they, for the most part, are genuine but have just had a bad rep since used cars have been about. If you think about it, you only have the sellers word that it isn't held together with snot and gaffer tape.
Mine has 124000 and a full service history (up to 110000). I thought that was enough, but it seems I have still fallen foul-but that serves me right for buying a 15 year old Land Rover, which are notoriuos for rotting, and I knew that before I bought it. Still very happy with it though.

Anything I sell comes with 12 months ticket and I make a point of telling people the various bits (stupid you say) Because if they are given accurate description = no grief.

I also welcome an AA or RAC inspection, reason being is if the buyer is paying it shows they are properly interested and shows I have nothing to hide.

Yeah i think its a poor lot for many car dealers based on the antics of a few rogues. I'm not overly worried because i'm pretty sure the motor's a good'un, he was very upfront regarding some minor front damage and details in general, its just the MOT i was a little dubious of.

At the end of the day, i knew it was 16 years old and was bought solely for hauling a trailer, trouble is, its so much fun to drive, i cant stop myself fixing it up