Welding with Disco

Hi all,

I bought a mig welder and have been practising for a couple of weeks now and
I reckon I am ready to tackle the footwell, I have some 3mm plate (I
consider that will be strong enough).

I know that I have to disconnect the battery, however should I disconnect
anything else? Radio or alternator? There is no fancy electrics as it is a
1993 K plate 200TDI Disco.

Andy

Help stop the world I want to get off, I saw a Martian Butterfly I want to
catch!!!!

So long as you disconect the battery you ought to be right, that effectively
breaks the circuit for all the electrics in your car.
I weld on cars and tractors every day for my job and have never had a
problem yet only taking off the battery leads. If you wanted to be SUPER
sure you could take the wires off the alternator as well but it's not
necessary. The thing with Mig welders, as I'm sure you've either found or
will find is that the 2 surfaces to be welded together NEED to be really
clean from any paint, rust etc.. for them to work well.
Good luck, let us know how you get on! I've got to do the floor in my 76
Classic but it's the last thing I feel like doing after work!!!

Richard.


"Andrew Renshaw" <andrew.hart.i hate [email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I bought a mig welder and have been practising for a couple of weeks now
and
> I reckon I am ready to tackle the footwell, I have some 3mm plate (I
> consider that will be strong enough).
>
> I know that I have to disconnect the battery, however should I disconnect
> anything else? Radio or alternator? There is no fancy electrics as it is a
> 1993 K plate 200TDI Disco.
>
> Andy
>
> Help stop the world I want to get off, I saw a Martian Butterfly I want to
> catch!!!!
>
>


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"Andrew Renshaw" <andrew.hart.i hate [email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I bought a mig welder and have been practising for a couple of weeks now
and
> I reckon I am ready to tackle the footwell, I have some 3mm plate (I
> consider that will be strong enough).
>
> I know that I have to disconnect the battery, however should I disconnect
> anything else? Radio or alternator? There is no fancy electrics as it is a
> 1993 K plate 200TDI Disco.
>
> Andy
>
> Help stop the world I want to get off, I saw a Martian Butterfly I want to
> catch!!!!

Hi Andy
3mm is probably a bit OTT - you'll have difficulty welding it to the
surrounding metal. I'd only use 1mm for footwells. As for disconnecting
things, the alternator lead as otherwise you could fry the voltage reg/diode
pack.

The bulkhead on your disco is the same as a RR classic, and hence decent
replacement panels are available for the side vertical box if necessary. If
you're going to do the repair yourself with fabrications, make sure you cut
out all the old metal and don't plate over it. You'll often end up having to
weld some seams twice, once from the inside and once from the outside to get
a nice neat job. Also make sure that you get the metal really clean before
welding. Think carefully about where and what you weld too - there are all
sorts of parts designed to dismantle, like the bulkhead from the rest of the
vehicle and the transmission tunnel etc. If things were originially made
from two pieces of metal keep them that way! Sorry to patronise if you know
all this already!! Another thing is the water tends to get in from somewhere
like the window seal on the windscreen . Once you've welded the footwell up,
you might find it starts to fill with water again. It's worth checking the
seals at a later date if this is the case.

Have fun,
Andy

Andy Warner wrote:


> 3mm is probably a bit OTT - you'll have difficulty welding it to the
> surrounding metal. I'd only use 1mm for footwells. As for disconnecting
> things, the alternator lead as otherwise you could fry the voltage reg/diode
> pack.

Yes - somewhere in the 1.2mm range would be ideal. If you disconnect
the negative battery terminal you'll be safe, no need to touch anything
else and everything is then open circuit. Incidentally a MIG is DC
current only and so long as it has decent capacitors inside to remove
any AC ripple shouldn't hurt an alternator anyway. I've yet to kill any
electrical/electronic bits with a MIG (welding on vehicles at work
daily) and all we ever do is disconnect the negative terminal.


--
EMB
change two to number to reply

On or around Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:08:12 GMT, "Andrew Renshaw" <andrew.hart.i
hate [email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>I bought a mig welder and have been practising for a couple of weeks now and
>I reckon I am ready to tackle the footwell, I have some 3mm plate

!?!?

>(I consider that will be strong enough).

Assuming you're talking about repairing the floor panel and not the chassis,
it's at least 300% over spec, maybe more. ISTR that LR chassis were 14
gauge steel, which is about 2mm. floor panels on such as the disco are
probably about 1mm.

3mm on a chassis is over-engineering it, while 3mm on the body is a bit
silly, IMHO - if you do any amount of repairs it'll end up weighing about 4
tons.

also, plate that thick is very difficult to deal with for anything but a
flat patch. Even 2mm is quite difficult to bend to odd shapes, although
it's the right sort of spec for chassis repairs. Most body repairs are
gonna be 1mm or 1.5mm at most.


--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering
from the strawbuilt shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing
horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed."
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

Andy Warner vaguely muttered something like ...

> Think carefully about where and what you
> weld too - there are all sorts of parts designed to dismantle, like the
> bulkhead from the rest of the vehicle and the transmission tunnel etc. If
> things were originially made from two pieces of metal keep them that way!

Heheheh, been there got three friggin' t-shirts ..

--
Paul ...

(8(|) ... Homer Rocks

"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

On or around Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:08:12 GMT, "Andrew Renshaw" <andrew.hart.i
hate [email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>I bought a mig welder and have been practising for a couple of weeks now and
>I reckon I am ready to tackle the footwell, I have some 3mm plate

!?!?

>(I consider that will be strong enough).

Assuming you're talking about repairing the floor panel and not the chassis,
it's at least 300% over spec, maybe more. ISTR that LR chassis were 14
gauge steel, which is about 2mm. floor panels on such as the disco are
probably about 1mm.

3mm on a chassis is over-engineering it, while 3mm on the body is a bit
silly, IMHO - if you do any amount of repairs it'll end up weighing about 4
tons.

also, plate that thick is very difficult to deal with for anything but a
flat patch. Even 2mm is quite difficult to bend to odd shapes, although
it's the right sort of spec for chassis repairs. Most body repairs are
gonna be 1mm or 1.5mm at most.


--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering
from the strawbuilt shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing
horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed."
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

> Yes - somewhere in the 1.2mm range would be ideal. If you disconnect
> the negative battery terminal you'll be safe, no need to touch anything
> else and everything is then open circuit. Incidentally a MIG is DC
> current only and so long as it has decent capacitors inside to remove
> any AC ripple shouldn't hurt an alternator anyway. I've yet to kill any
> electrical/electronic bits with a MIG (welding on vehicles at work
> daily) and all we ever do is disconnect the negative terminal.
>

I once fried one with an AC arc, so I guess I'm just over cautious with the
mig!!

On or around Thu, 26 Aug 2004 14:45:26 +0100, "Andy Warner"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>> Yes - somewhere in the 1.2mm range would be ideal. If you disconnect
>> the negative battery terminal you'll be safe, no need to touch anything
>> else and everything is then open circuit. Incidentally a MIG is DC
>> current only and so long as it has decent capacitors inside to remove
>> any AC ripple shouldn't hurt an alternator anyway. I've yet to kill any
>> electrical/electronic bits with a MIG (welding on vehicles at work
>> daily) and all we ever do is disconnect the negative terminal.
>>
>
>I once fried one with an AC arc, so I guess I'm just over cautious with the
>mig!!
>

never really understood how that happens - if you send current from one part
of the chassis to another, adjacent part, I can't see how it gets into the
alternator, for example. I've not noticed any problems with migs, maybe the
voltage is less?


--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Appearances: You don't really need make-up. Celebrate your authentic
face by frightening people in the street.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.