mig welder wanted to repair chasis

tombardier said:

is the steel 3mm thick on the landy chassis? I'd recommend you weld steel of the same thickness in, then you don't have to mess around with pre-heating parts of it, or spending too long on the one bit before flicking over to the thinner bit. It might seem like a good idea to put some massive heavy plate on it, but i don't think it's worth it, not that I've ever had to tackle my chassis with a welder

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Although I don't think a bit of localised strengthening will do any harm, at the end of the day any structure is only as strong as the weakest component. Your only shifting the stresses elsewhere and risking tearing the chassis somewhere else unless your very careful. It makes more sense on a monocoque body to spread stresses out over the body panels, rather than on a vehicle with a seperate chassis.

Try a local fabricator - they will often let you pinch a few bits of steel plate from their skip to practice with.

I used to get most of my repair materials from the scraps bin in work!

Don't go mad with the thickness - Chassis etc are often a bit thinner than you would think...

And do loads of practice before you start off.
I Reccomend the welding book from Haynes - a worthy investment.

captainbeaky said:

Try a local fabricator - they will often let you pinch a few bits of steel plate from their skip to practice with.

I used to get most of my repair materials from the scraps bin in work!

Don't go mad with the thickness - Chassis etc are often a bit thinner than you would think...

And do loads of practice before you start off.
I Reccomend the welding book from Haynes - a worthy investment.

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don't buy it - I've got a .pdf of it somewhere

if i can't find it there's bound to be another copy of it on the net

I've got it if you want it

found it - anyone got some webspace they can host it on for a while so peeps can get a copy of it ?

ere'y'are..

http://t0mb.net/definitely-not-the-haynes-welding-manual.pdf

it's not gonna stay up there forever by the way.

just downloaded it to me computer. cheers mate. lets hope the welder is sound and I dont have to replace anything, well atleast not to start with anyhows. seems genuine.

anyhows I have heard people being scared of hiting wires and burning through stuff. is it really that bad. if you control where your welding, should be ok right?

will try adn find some scraps to play with. is the chasis more like 2mm, and that the better size then yeah.

I'd do a lot of playing with scrap metal before you attempt the chassis. You're going to want an angle grinder as well, with cutting and grinding blades, and perhaps a flap disc and or wire cup brush. Practice cutting pieces of metal accurately, to measurements, and then welding them together, whether overlapping, or butt welds etc. Most of welding is about the fabrication rather than the welding itself. Set everything up nicely, and you've got a better chance of the weld going to plan. Also, remember that if it starts going pete tong, and you think you might blow a hole or something, just stop. You can just pick up where you left off, and that's especially true of MIG. Don't weld with pure co2 gas, as you get splatter, so try argon/co2 mix.

One thing that can revolutionise welding is an auto-darkening mask. Using a normal mask can make it such a nightmare to see what you're doing until you're doing it. That could be a real problem when you're lying on your back underneath your landy, so it's worthwhile investing in one. Doesn't matter if it's one of the best makes, as long as it meets uk safety specifications..

Try and start enjoying welding before you even think about tackling yer landy

tomb I really agree with you. although my chasis does need welding, ie hole in rear cross member and bit on joint up front im sure it be fine til the summer. which gives me plenty of time to play! I read somewhere 10litre of gas does one meter of weld. is that really true? sounds crazy

i don't know about the figure of one metre of weld, but basically, you only need the gas to come out just about strong enough to be able to feel it (I think it might say that in the haynes manual ) possibly a bit stronger if you're outside and there's a breeze. If there's enough of a breeze to blow the gas away, get some cardboard around you're workpiece to shield it

although pure argon is gone before you know it, so go for a mix. pure co2 will last, but it's not good A mix is the best

hey up guys. Picked up my 150 te turbo welder today, that I won from ebay. He did a demo and saw it in action. I got 4 rolls of wire, 4 bottles of gas and two face masks, including a hand held one. also got a few spares including some hose end bit but has the end stuck in it, as wire got stuck when welding but am sure I can drill it out.

Here is a few pictures. £77 paid and a half hour drive to pick it up.







only damage I can see is he used a jubilee clip to hold on the wheel as lost some pin and the wire has been repaired which prob got stuck in door or sutting. but other than that, what you guys think?

seriously that dog molts alot, I only just hoovered yesterday!

Do ya a self a favour and buy a self darkening welding mask there's an american ebay seller that does em for about £25. They'll make life so much easier

ya mean one like this red, do I need to cover certain shade range? Auto Darkening Welding Helmet Mask NEW MODEL with Solar on eBay (end time 30-Jan-10 06:21:14 GMT)

looks like you done good.

if you unscrew the shroud and the tip, unless it's proper welded on feed the wire and then after releasing trigger and turning off.
twist nozzle on wire and it should release unless proper job. Or pliers on weld blob.
Sounds as if the wire speed could do with turning up, your looking for torch about 10mm away from work piece, the wire should flow smoothly and not burn back to tip.
If the speed is right it will sound similar to frying pan crackling and the wire won't feel like it is pushing you away.

I seriously recommend a short welding course at local college

RUDDdefender90 said:

ya mean one like this red, do I need to cover certain shade range? Auto Darkening Welding Helmet Mask NEW MODEL with Solar on eBay (end time 30-Jan-10 06:21:14 GMT)

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Aye owt like that will do.

bargain done well with that , looks a goodun,

cheers matey, I reckon ya be right.

so.......... yer made anythin yet ?