What I am doing!

[JonathanT]

Im using a wire feed setting between 3.5 and 4.2 On a Sealy Gas Mig 30
Argon CO2 mix all at the lowest power setting and .6mm wire.

About to try out some anti spatter spray

Mmm the grey shell was really much better than this one

It was! till it got blasted .... would have been far quicker and ultimately better. Oh well its still the old original Axe

 

[Azazello]

Your welder should be far better than mine... maximum voltage, wire speed between 3 and 4 and 0.8 mm wire, looks good for thin metal up to 2 mm... for thicker sheets I should go for flux welding, much hotter.
Because of economy I bought a cheap welding, but hope she will get me gloriously over this oroject!
Ah, I have a 14 litre tank of ar/co2 too... thinking of a spare bottle of co2 for cheaper works and where I do need more penetration...

 

[JonathanT]

Ah Ha!!! Back on top of the forum pile.....at least till someone else posts something

90% of the welding done . One of the hideous back corners now fixed and now once more unto the breech dear friends to fix the other

 

[mr-reno-139]

Oh dear you do seem to have more than your fair share of rust to deal with still keep up the good work

 

[Azazello]

Never welded on the body... but you need to be pretty confident to prevent distorsion, with thet thin metal sheet...

 

[JonathanT]

Got the hang of it now, lots of checking , measuring and offering the cut replacement up against where it's to fit. All butt welded . Hard bit is deciding which bit to cut then a series of welds so the shapes don't get lost in the mix . It's actually quite enjoyable but the gas bottles are expensive !

 

[Azazello]

Got the hang of it now, lots of checking , measuring and offering the cut replacement up against where it's to fit. All butt welded . Hard bit is deciding which bit to cut then a series of welds so the shapes don't get lost in the mix . It's actually quite enjoyable but the gas bottles are expensive !

Are you working with the disposable ones?
I preferred to hire a 14 litres tank. .. 1,5 euros/month for renting, around 25 euros for filling... and with one tank I did the whole chassis and a bit of exercising welding before... now there is still something left but given the light weight of the tank not a lot...

 

[JonathanT]

No I have been unaware at the beginning, then thought each time I bought a new little bottle it would be the last

But I did discover there are two capacity amounts available in the same bottle size !!! Seems the little bottles are 60 or 110. Halfords in the UK are the same price for the 60 size as Machine Mart are for the 110 and I got caught out twice thinking as the bottle was the same size so would the capacity. So I lost out badly. In future I will hire a bottle or get a larger size from a specialist hobby weld supplier . Also found grinding flap discs in Aldi for only £3.99 for four! Machine Mart are £7.99 for one!

 

[JonathanT]

Last nights progress ...bit slow took a wrong decision at one point and doubled my work

 

[Vulgalour]

I'm using these guys http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/

It's good stuff at a good price and they have suppliers all over the country. Go on their local supplier page and give them a call. Our local guy was friendly, very quick to supply and even helped me work out what bottle was going to be the best in terms of quantity and cost for the work I'm doing. I had them recommended to me by a chap down south who mostly welds up crumbling Austins and I have to say everything he said was good about them can be said of our North East supplier.

Best of all, it should work out cheaper than those disposable bottles for you.

 

[JonathanT]

I'm using these guys http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/

It's good stuff at a good price and they have suppliers all over the country. Go on their local supplier page and give them a call. Our local guy was friendly, very quick to supply and even helped me work out what bottle was going to be the best in terms of quantity and cost for the work I'm doing. I had them recommended to me by a chap down south who mostly welds up crumbling Austins and I have to say everything he said was good about them can be said of our North East supplier.

Best of all, it should work out cheaper than those disposable bottles for you.

That's brilliant thank you! I'll certainly give them a try when I run short .

Got the right hand side tacked up nice and square. Nothing flapping around now so onwards and upwards!

 

[mr-reno-139]

I certainly admire your patience and at least he will know how to weld at the end of all this however if you had bought a solid left hand drive car from somewhere you could have welded in the steering column parts and built a right hand drive car quicker using a bulkhead leftover from a certain body shell and then sold your red car to someone else to have fun with lol

 

[JonathanT]

Yeah you're right there Paul! However I have a cunning plan..... I still have the RH good half of the certain bodyshell just in case that scenario arises even thought what about an all electric R4 (did I hear several purists slump on the floor?) use the electric one for everyday and Womble for the longer journeys. Tax free super cheap to run and huge engine bay for the batteries. (2000 x PP9's)

 

[petak]

JonathanT it seem to me that you will be master for bodywork after restoring this R4.

 

[mr-reno-139]

I'm sure you won't mind me having a little joke with you I'm just jealous because you're getting on and I'm too busy to go near mine plus you've learnt to weld a skill I haven't mastered it yet if we're going to go on about electric cars this popped up on my Facebook feed
There was one for sale in usa little bit of research and I found this linkhttp://www.renault-5.net/usa_lectric.htm
My theory is fit towbar and tow a diesel generator behind

 

[petak]

Yeah you're right there Paul! However I have a cunning plan..... I still have the RH good half of the certain bodyshell just in case that scenario arises even thought what about an all electric R4 (did I hear several purists slump on the floor?) use the electric one for everyday and Womble for the longer journeys. Tax free super cheap to run and huge engine bay for the batteries. (2000 x PP9's)

Electrical R4 ......nice......it has been in my head for some time now.....but do not know much about electrical installation to drive a car...so it stays in my head only....

I am doing no more than 50 km per day so an electrical R4 with 100km radius would be more than enough

 

[mr-reno-139]

I'm sure you won't mind me having a little joke with you I'm just jealous because you're getting on and I'm too busy to go near mine plus you've learnt to weld a skill I haven't mastered it yet if we're going to go on about electric cars this popped up on my Facebook feed
There was one for sale in usa little bit of research and I found this linkhttp://www.renault-5.net/usa_lectric.htm
My theory is fit towbar and tow a diesel generator behind

 

[jjad]

Tax free super cheap to run and huge engine bay for the batteries. (2000 x PP9's)

made me laugh thanks! :¬)

My theory is fit towbar and tow a diesel generator behind

Is that loophole open? Has anyone exploited it yet, I wonder?!

 

[JonathanT]

Or Nuclear Fusion? !!!

Doc

No Paul I like your humour ! Kept me going

 

[JonathanT]

So ..... Here I am in the shed again FINALLY found something that would dissolve the glue which stuck the wheel arch rubber mats on. I've been through every volatile substance I could find. In the end it was Brush Restorer that did it.

Sealing off each area of repair as I go now before rubbing down everything and checking the fit and alignment of all the body parts. Ooh I can't wait for the paint shop to take over