Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[petelang]

Well, forty years after my first attempts at college to weld bits of metal together I'm starting again. Who said you can't teach an old do new tricks?
It's not pretty but it's getting better although a great deal of "tin bashing" will be necessary to straighten things out I think.
I acquired a Clarke E90 mig welder with CO2 Argon mix and 0.6mm wire, watched a huge number of YouTube videos, cut up a load of scrap bits to practice on (I'm not proud of those results) but have now started actually sticking metal to metal, cutting out the rust and replacing with new.
The wing I've started on was the best of the two however it's still very bad in places and as I have no access to an English Wheel, I'm having to bash into shape all the individual repair patches. I am conscious of the heat distortion issues so trying to do bit at a time and letting the work cool but still have a lot of skill to develop.
The first lesson is always to convince yourself that you can actually do it!
Any tips gratefully received.
It's still work in progress and the messy welds need dressing down, a few holes to still fill and I may cut some out and re-do but it's progress.
Peter








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Daimler Fifteen 1934
Armstrong Siddeley 15 Long 1933
Daimler V8 250 1969

[Rootes75]

They look OK to me.

Its all about practice and confidence in my opinion.

I use a gasless Mig and once you get the hang of your machine its pretty straightforward I think.

To limit distortion I always tack weld about an inch apart and let it cool, then I will run a weld seam between each tack and then let that cool a bit. The result sometimes is a bit messy but when fettled back its acceptable and then with a thin skim of filler you can get a lovely finish.

On the point of shaping, I have a panel beaters set of hammers (quite cheap really) and I often use tubes in a vice to tap round or sometimes I even shape a bit of timber to tap round depending on the shape required.

I find it quite a nice job and enjoy trying to improve the finish on my previous attempts.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[alastairq]

They look fine to my eyes as well.
I have a few dents to sort in one of the Dellow's rear 'wings' or mudguards.

The wing is really mostly an 'outer' in ally, but has a wired edge. At some time in the car's life the wing got dented and the wired edge was 'snapped' in one or two places. repaired it seems, by inserting thin bits of metal where the wire edge has split.

I have no idea how to rectify a wired edge that has been 'peaked', then semi straightened out, if the wire itself has been parted?

Some years ago I purchased a set of small 'dollies' [not Barbies, honest!], but then mislaid them
In my mind's eye I thought they were a silver colour....Found them today, where I had looked before, but they're painted black!

Now I might have a go at easing some of the damage to that wing....?
Bashing isn't my strong point....but, do I place the dolly on the inside of the curve?

I have a small ball pein hammer [with a shortened wood shaft, fits my tool roll now....] so I'm hoping that will do the trick, more or less?

Filler on the wing/mudguard in my case I am a bit leery about. The 'wing' is quite vulnerable to passing scrapes, and I fear the filler skin will simply drop out.....

Does anyone know where I can get brush-on paint, in Olde English White?
The present paint is quite a thick layer, so I don't think it was 'sprayed' on , when the colour was changed [1970's?]
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[ukdave2002]

Your welds are better than my early MIG attempts !

When welding body panels with MIG , one has to accept the joint can't be planished (shaped with a hammer & dolly) so some filler will be necessary over the joint. Frequently when folk butt weld with MIG they end up grinding the weld down, now MIG joints are very hard (the reason why they can't be planished) and grinding them can make them thin and brittle, with a risk of future cracking.

If you knock the edges of the "hole" down a bit (1mm max), and do the same with the repair section there is now effectively a "V" that can be filled with the MIG weld, this will require little of no grinding, but will require filler or lead, it will be strong and won't fracture in the future.

[petelang]

Thanks Dave for words of support. You have in fact confirmed my suspicions as I tried a bit of flattening, and subsequently found cracks appearing. It's tricky knocking the welds down as I don't want to make the sheet any thinner than I can help and yes, they are hard to reduce.
Looks like I'll need a ton of lead, and will have yet another skill to learn!
It's been too darned hot to contemplate wearing a welding mask and overalls in the garage just recently so I've temporarily stopped...again!
Peter
_________________
Daimler Fifteen 1934
Armstrong Siddeley 15 Long 1933
Daimler V8 250 1969