First time MIG welding and panel replacement

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Offside where the rear spring connects to the body of the car is pretty rotten. Needs cutting out and needs a panel re-welded in its place.

>>16398230
Anything can be done by yourself, all it take is practice. Just don't give up. The only thing it takes is money really.

File: Nearside.jpg (311KB, 960x720px) Image search: [Google]

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Nearside front end of the leaf spring. There's a hole in this section that goes through to the rear passenger's footwell.

>>16398230
Welding is easy enough to learn, as long as you have at least a somewhat competent teacher and plenty of scrap to practice on.

t. someone who took an 8-part welding basics course this summer

>>16398246
This gradual restoration has taught me that, for sure!
When I bought the car, I didn't even know how to change the oil, I'm ashamed to admit. My family have never been into cars and have always had them maintained and looked after by garages when they've gone wrong.

>>16398257
I think that's probably where I'll go from here. I might need to take a course in welding, although money is a bit of an issue at the moment. Got made redundant Christmas Eve.

One thing is for sure though, I'm not going to give up on this car.

>>16398277
I think that course I took cost like 300 eurobucks, which I think is perfectly reasonable. Definitely a useful skill to have.

>>16398277
Hope your resto goes well, I'm restoring my 280z, ended up taking every single automotive course I can. Went from oil changes to engine and transmission rebuilds. Did all the machining myself as well. Good luck, Don't give up.

Back in school I had a drama friend who let me into the theater welding shop and let me have at it running a few beads with a MIG welder.

He showed it to his master welder prof to gain approval for continuing to use the facilities to teach me welding on the side. Master welder dude said he had lots of students every year who couldn't lay a bead like that even after a whole semester. I said well I've been doing electronic soldering for years and I just thought about it like getting the metal just to the point of liquification so it would bond properly.

Now I'm no pro welder by a long shot, but I think of this as evidence that you can be a quick learn if you have a bit of a knack for something. Practice, practice, practice. I got to be good at soldering because I did it all the time.

>>16398803
I don't think nearly enough is done in schools to teach this kind of stuff. At a young age it's not the sort of thing you'd even think about learning, and my family are not the kind of DIY people that would give welding a go just for a laugh.

I went to a college but I didn't have a high enough maths qualification (maths is not my strong point but I pick-up practical skills pretty quickly) so the engineering prof wouldn't let me try welding. Try to figure that one out.

Its easy to learn the concepts of welding. But it takes practice to make good enough welds, and more practice to make good looking welds.

You can start learning the concepts long before you pick up a gun.
If you spend a week learning, then borrow a welder for a weekend, you can get it done no problem.

Also, while you're down there, get a can of underseal, and rust converter.

>>16398252
This hole can likely be welded up by using multiple welds as filler. No need to cut a patch.


The Morris Minors are great as a first classic. Cheap to buy and decently reliable.
Can go sideways in the wet too.

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>>16399747
Sideways in the wet. Not something you have to tell me about!
Spun it into a ditch in January. Not a positive start to the year. The resulting garage fees are what have largely inspired to undertake certain jobs myself.

Unfortunately the nearside hole is in an area where there's already a lot of patches and the MOT tester says really it needs to be cut-out and replaced.

>>16400111
This post and picture is about the single most British thing I've seen all year. It's almost like the proper thing to do is to have it so nicely in the ditch.

Anyway, if this is your first real welding attempt then plan on it not being your best attempt and having to go back and redo it. One of my first projects was a from-scratch exhaust that promptly rusted apart a year and a Winter later. But before that I did fix up some fully sick bar stools that are still going strong.

>>16400849
If it was an attempt at parallel parking, it would've been amazing. I was driving the way the car is facing, but actually did a 360 spin into the ditch, landing it sideways.

From what I'm reading I think I'll leave it to the pros this time (Despite the cost) and will try finding a course and learn the skill for the future.