hi guys, bought myself a snap on mig welder and im not to bad with the welding so im guna give my mk1 a wee weld, basically im guna seam weld the whole car, i've got the room and some time on my hands, would this help my dear old mk1 (1983) as its flexing slightly lol. im also getting a show cage rear strut brace and lower front strut brace, any idea's warning i should have before i do all this..... disconnect the battery i no but anything else? thanks guys much appreciated
Disconnect- battery and ECU. Be careful if you're welding near fuel lines or the tank and expect to set the underseal on fire if welding on the floor pan. Have a water hose (already turned on) and fire extinguisher at the ready.
You might find it hard to weld where the seams overlap and are full of seam sealent...don't be tempted to turn up the power or you will easyly burn holes...I know from experience the week before last
only done a few bits....but one part on the front suspension tower (not really an important bit eh!) i've burnt a little whole...no great shakes tho really!
What state is the car in? Bare shell or still with engine in, rear beam etc? If your going to do the whole car, I take it your doing underneath and in the arches. It would probably be easier to remove all of the underseal rather than ****ing about trying to guess where the seams actually are. This will take a long time! If you want to avoid removing the underseal, Imo, the best option would be to just do the main stressed areas such as suspension turrets and possibly some of the engine bay, steering rack mountings etc as they can be got to without removing everything. If you were going to do any other areas in addition to the ones mentioned above, I reckon you would have to do underneath as well. If you stiffen it up in some areas and miss others, those weaker areas will be punished. As for the seams, you will never get all of the sealer out, but get them as clean as possible. Grinder with wire brush and then clean them before welding. The heat from the welding will melt any remaining sealer and can 'interupt' your welds, but does not cause too much difficulty. Lower power on the welder works better. Good luck!
brilliant, thanks, engine is in car but interior is minimal will do the inside and work outside, ill heat up the sealant and remove the rest with panel wipe and other product sand down, weld and re seal sfter weld, all should be good defo a whole weekends worth. thanks for the help 16valver. ryan
I admire your enthusiasm!! Definately a bit more than a weekends work. Depends how far you want to go with it. It has taken me well over 200 hrs on my car so far, but is with other work too. Maybe 4-5 wkends for just the welding and necessary prepping. If you do it quicker than that - respect! This might be of some help. My mk1 rebuild - http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118597
Ryan, I will pop up and pass you cups of tea and point out any bits youve missed if thats any help! Marc
hey mark was just reading through posts and noticed this one lol, thanks very much for that thread 16valver is much appreciated, will take up some weekends me thinks and cheers mark tea one sugar lol
id not really considered doing any seam welding on my mk1, but while its having a bare metal respray it may as well have a bit here and there at the same time. im too tired to read your thread right now 16valver but i certainly will! and 87 UMN il keep an eye on your progress hope it goes alright anyway!
