Need advice for first restoration job

Max Wilkinson wrote:

> Yea a series 2A definatly sounds good to me , I think id go for a diesel ,
> reliability and practicality is what im looking for ( although im not
> expecting it to never break down !!) Also I'd rather keep the design as it
> was intended , so I wont be preplacing the leaf suspension .
> I was asking a mate of mine about welding car body panels (he's worked as
> a welder for many years) and he siad that arc welding is allmost
> impossible on thin car body panels as it burns too hot , a gas bottle
> welder is more appropriate . Does this apply to welding on land rovers
> also ? or are they made of thicker arc weldable material ?
> Im getting hooked allready and I cant even drive !!
> 4 years at uni.....(my 3 grand loan as just arrived...wonder what I could
> buy! its tempting , although if I work through uni I'll have a good job
> and enough money to own a full fleet and landies!!)
> Cheers ,
> Max

Landie panels are definitely a little thicker than most cars - 2-2.5mm vs
1-1.5mm on most cars.

Unfortunately they're made of an aluminium alloy (Birmabright) which appears
to be more than a little of a sod to weld. I haven't tried it myself, but I
suspect that MiG welding would blow holes in it at best and set fire to it
at worst. I stand ready to be corrected by those with more cojones and more
welding experience than myself.

P.

Max Wilkinson wrote:
> Yea a series 2A definatly sounds good to me , I think id go for a diesel ,
> reliability and practicality is what im looking for ( although im not
> expecting it to never break down !!)

Go for a petrol - easier to maintain and *much* cheaper if it does die
in a major way.

> Also I'd rather keep the design as it
> was intended , so I wont be preplacing the leaf suspension .

Good move, but a set of parabolic springs are well worthwhile.

> I was asking a mate of mine about welding car body panels (he's worked as a
> welder for many years) and he siad that arc welding is allmost impossible on
> thin car body panels as it burns too hot , a gas bottle welder is more
> appropriate . Does this apply to welding on land rovers also ? or are they
> made of thicker arc weldable material ?

Landrover body panels are aluminium alloy (Birmabright). Not easily
weldable by the average DIY type, but rustproof so it's not a major
problem. The chassis is steel and can be arc welded (or better still
MIG welded) but is way to heavy for gas welding. The footwells/bulkhead
are lighter steel and can be gas welded although a MIG will make a
better job in the hands of a amateur. I have gas, arc, MIG and TIG
available both at work and home (I've got a really neat "toy" collection
that owes the same money as a cheap house) and I haven't used the gas
set for welding anything except the odd exhaust for years. You'll want a
MIG (or arc welder) that will go to at least 180 amps for welding the
chassis, and don't be tempted to use gasless wire in the MIG as the
result is poor to say the least.


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On Sunday, in article <[email protected]>
[email protected] "Paul S. Brown" wrote:

> Max Wilkinson wrote:
>
> > Yea a series 2A definatly sounds good to me , I think id go for a diesel ,
> > reliability and practicality is what im looking for ( although im not
> > expecting it to never break down !!) Also I'd rather keep the design as it
> > was intended , so I wont be preplacing the leaf suspension .
> > I was asking a mate of mine about welding car body panels (he's worked as
> > a welder for many years) and he siad that arc welding is allmost
> > impossible on thin car body panels as it burns too hot , a gas bottle
> > welder is more appropriate . Does this apply to welding on land rovers
> > also ? or are they made of thicker arc weldable material ?
> > Im getting hooked allready and I cant even drive !!
> > 4 years at uni.....(my 3 grand loan as just arrived...wonder what I could
> > buy! its tempting , although if I work through uni I'll have a good job
> > and enough money to own a full fleet and landies!!)
> > Cheers ,
> > Max
>
> Landie panels are definitely a little thicker than most cars - 2-2.5mm vs
> 1-1.5mm on most cars.
>
> Unfortunately they're made of an aluminium alloy (Birmabright) which appears
> to be more than a little of a sod to weld. I haven't tried it myself, but I
> suspect that MiG welding would blow holes in it at best and set fire to it
> at worst. I stand ready to be corrected by those with more cojones and more
> welding experience than myself.

Gas-weld only, and since it melts before it starts to glow, it's
extremely difficult.

--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

"History shows that the Singularity started when Sir Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."

Button bashing in practice for another round of Daley Thompson's
Decathlon, Max Wilkinson <[email protected]> left
Shakespeare to the monkeys by typing...
>Hey ,
>Thanks for the posts , Im going to get the restoration manual next week off
>amazon (about £13) and have a read at that .
>Cheers ,
>Max

I'd recommend a tax-exempt IIa or III - free road tax, classic (cheap)
insurance, availability of bits cheap & plentiful,
Get a genuine workshop manual and parts manual (parts manual can be
absolutely invaluable in showing you how bits go together), and look on
tools as an investment.

If you're buying new, I'd recommend
socket set - Teng stock no. 111-6 a 111-piece 1/4",3/8" & 1/2" for
about £200 (I know it's quite a lot, but I bought one to replace a
slightly smaller Teng socket set I'd abused for over 15 years (some
junkie scum had stuck it in his veins along with some spanners - he's
now very wet) - the only damage I did to any of the set was stripping
teeth on a 3/8" ratchet using it as a breaker bar (ratchets are for
speed & access, not applying lots of torque) with 4' of scaffold pipe
over the end (and the repair kit was free) and cracking a 13mm 3/8"
socket using it on a 1/2" airgun running over 180psi (gun rated 90psi) -
and the set mentioned contains just about all the screwdriver/allen/torx
bits you're likely to need (and even splined bits for VW driveshaft and
head bolts)
Britool combination a/f spanner set ND235C or ND243L - IIRC about £40
ish (or Facom 40.JU9 - £39 inc vat last year)
Facom combination metric set 40.JE16 - £80 inc vat last year

I also have Britool socket sets but they're lots more (better quality
than Teng)

The above are what I've bought recently - I'm still using spanners
(mostly Britool) my dad bought thirty years ago and still fit well.

Draper, Richmond etc are ok but expect to replace them after a few
years. Christmas is just around the corner so a quiet word in Santa's
ear (and possibly that of several family members so they can 'gang-up')
might help. Asking two suppliers for prices on the same article can also
often get you a much better deal ("I can get xxxx from yyyy for zzz
etc..")

A torque wrench is also important, but all I can recommend here is the
Britool EVTR1200 (I don't think they even make them any more but I know
mine's always been accurate to within 2% - I've spent more on
re-calibration than the original cost) but classic car magazines often
run reviews on these (IIRC Halfords 'own brand' and Laser made
acceptable ones for around £40 a few years ago)

HTH


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