Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Deadeye]

Hi All

I'm currently in way over my head on a Mk1 Astra GTE restoration.

I joined here as it seems to be full of nice chaps doing proper restorations and I'm hoping to get some advice.


I've replaced both rear quarters, rear valance, rear inner arches, front inner wings, front panel, bulkhead and scuttle assembly and floor.

When I fannly get all these panels lined up I want the factory spot-weld appearance.

However, no-one seems to hire out spot-welders any more.

Does anyone know of a place that does? I'm in North Oxfordshire.

[Uncle Alec]

Best suggestion I can think of is to buy a secondhand one then sell on afterwards, if you decide you can live without one.
About £300 should get one.

[Kelsham]

Have you considered Plug welding with a Mig welder. I allways use this method myself and with practise it approaches spot welds in looks.

You drill a hole in one panel and turn up the current . Make sure the panels are held together tightly and weld in the hole, in a spiral. The resulting welds can be cleaned up if neccessary and can look very good.

Kels.

[Deadeye]

I have plug welded the rear inner arches. I got quite good at it but the rest of the work will be on show (to a certain extent) and is with really thin metal in some places.

What is the optimum size hole for plug welding?

[MikeEdwards]

I've been using 8mm holes for my plug welds. In theory the weld should be invisible once you've ground it down, so the only problem would be that there are no spot welds showing where there should be, but you could fix that using a suitably-sized punch after the welding is all done.

It might be a bit late, but have you read through the "Making Panels" thread on Retro Rides? That's a cracking read, a lot of very useful techniques there.

[Deadeye]