Mig welding a chassis - from beginner to MOT pass-worthy welding

What do you seasoned vets reckon on the above? That is, how long do you reckon it would take to be good enough and just what is good enough?

Reason I'm asking is that my chassis, amongst other bits, still requires a bit of welding for my mot in December. I certainly can't afford to pay anyone this time (my mot bill last year was 560 ) so not looking forward to emptying my wallet again.

I haven't got a mig but am looking to buy one in the very near future and I've never done it before so it will all be new to me. I'm sure I can teach myself easily enough but its welding that's good and safe enough to pass an mot that I need.

From what ive seen most mot machanics cant weld fer ****, practice for a day and go for it. Worst it can do is fail and need you to re- do it.

Not long, practice on some scrap metal first, clean metal is the most important thing, you can't weld to rust

I could dig you out my notes from ressetlement welding course at Catterick circa 1987 but just maybe the mig welders forum would be a better place to start. parrently quite welcoming to noobs (comparatively)

Cheers guys, I suppose it is all about getting some scrap and practicing.

Livers I certainly wouldn't mind if you happened to have them kicking about. Would rather just stick to one forum though, I don't wanna become one of em noobs who shows up to ask a few questions then ****es off again

MIG Welding Forum is the place to ask I reckon

If you're struggling, try finding a local metal fab shop and find one of the welding lads (or lasses) and see if they'll do it for you out of hours for cash.

I have just put my disco through an mot after doing three bits of welding myself to get it through and it passed with flying colours. I'm a rank beginner, bought a sip migmate off eBay for £75 and had a bit of practicing, then went for it. If you #### it up, you can always grind it off or cut it out and start again. I've found that getting the settings right is the hardest part. And I bought an auto darkening helmet which makes things so much easier.

Definitely wanna give it a go myself, its just the lack of experience that's the problem but I guess I gotta get that somewhere.

Bump, I could do that but ideally I wanna learn myself. I own a landy mind so knowing how to weld properly ain't a bad skill to have lol.

the_wolf said:

Cheers guys, I suppose it is all about getting some scrap and practicing.

Livers I certainly wouldn't mind if you happened to have them kicking about. Would rather just stick to one forum though, I don't wanna become one of em noobs who shows up to ask a few questions then ****es off again

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Yes to scrap and practice. there are several You tube videos on mig welding, some 30 minutes or so worth watching. The setting for heat and wire feed can be touchy but once set are fine, but will need adjusting as you change positions. Flat will have a different than a down hand vertical and as well as over head will be different settings. a good grinder is a must, and get rid of rust, as in shinny/silver metal. Wire brushed rust does not get it.
A 150 amp welder is the minimum size welder and get a gas mig. You can always put a tarp around where you are welding if it is breezy out.

the_wolf said:

Definitely wanna give it a go myself, its just the lack of experience that's the problem but I guess I gotta get that somewhere.

Bump, I could do that but ideally I wanna learn myself. I own a landy mind so knowing how to weld properly ain't a bad skill to have lol.

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You were in the ARMY were you self taught to be a solider? or did someone that had experience show you how to? Welding is no different. It is easy to teach someone who knows nothing about welding to weld , than to break someone with bad habits to weld correctly

Thor1950 said:

You were in the ARMY were you self taught to be a solider? or did someone that had experience show you how to? Welding is no different. It is easy to teach someone who knows nothing about welding to weld , than to break someone with bad habits to weld correctly

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Good point well made . I don't know anyone who can weld though. Well, I do, but he's ####ing useless (as in unreliable). Hence the reason I'm just gonna have to learn myself.

Will definitely look up videos on YouTube. First step is to get a welder of course. I've got a stick but I'm not much use with that and its just a silly wee thing anyway so no use at all for a chassis I would imagine. I have heard that mig is much easier to learn than arc?

the_wolf said:

Good point well made . I don't know anyone who can weld though. Well, I do, but he's ####ing useless (as in unreliable). Hence the reason I'm just gonna have to learn myself.

Will definitely look up videos on YouTube. First step is to get a welder of course. I've got a stick but I'm not much use with that and its just a silly wee thing anyway so no use at all for a chassis I would imagine. I have heard that mig is much easier to learn than arc?

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I have heard that mig is much easier to learn than arc? I could teach a chimp to weld.

the_wolf said:

Good point well made . I don't know anyone who can weld though. Well, I do, but he's ####ing useless (as in unreliable). Hence the reason I'm just gonna have to learn myself.

Will definitely look up videos on YouTube. First step is to get a welder of course. I've got a stick but I'm not much use with that and its just a silly wee thing anyway so no use at all for a chassis I would imagine. I have heard that mig is much easier to learn than arc?

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Easy to stick 2 bits together. but to WELD a chassis laying on your back in a . lake of landy leaks with red hot drips falling down your neck/sleeve/ankle, strangely the stuff never falls on gloves/mask/overalls, now that you will not learn in a video or classroom. Practice, practice, practice.
PM me an email and I'll scan the notes for you.

livers said:

Easy to stick 2 bits together. but to WELD a chassis laying on your back in a . lake of landy leaks with red hot drips falling down your neck/sleeve/ankle, strangely the stuff never falls on gloves/mask/overalls, now that you will not learn in a video or classroom. Practice, practice, practice.
PM me an email and I'll scan the notes for you.

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Pm sent cheers dude

Wolf here you go this should help you...
Mig Weld Trouble-Shooting: Common Problems & Solutions - YouTube

Being a welder by trade practice makes perfect , your guaranteed ro make mistakes as does everyone! Get 2 scraps of plate and weld away! Just make sure you have a mask because believe me arc eye doesn't half hurt! (Feels like someone has tipped a bag of sand in your eyes!)

Like a few people have said if you make a mistake just get the grinder out and start again.

disco300tdidom said:

Being a welder by trade practice makes perfect , your guaranteed ro make mistakes as does everyone! Get 2 scraps of plate and weld away! Just make sure you have a mask because believe me arc eye doesn't half hurt! (Feels like someone has tipped a bag of sand in your eyes!)

Like a few people have said if you make a mistake just get the grinder out and start again.

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A good grinder is a welder best friend, as well as a couple of burr bits

All I ever do is turn the welder up till it blows a hole in the metal then turn it down a notch and off you go!

Getting the wire speed right is always the biggest problem for me

Thor1950 said:

A good grinder is a welder best friend, as well as a couple of burr bits

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Ha ha that's true!