Practice Butt Welding. Inner Arch Action

[Alpina99]

Just out of curiousity, where do you get the magnets from ??

[JWaller360]

that looks like good welding! you're getting there at least. I find body work quite hard with mig, as said earlier try and do opposites, so as far as possible between welds, again to try and minimise heat buildup. One way to stop if blowing through, especially on bigger gaps or crustier metal (we've had to do some pretty quick fixes on the rally car, so I don't condone bodging ) is to hold a copper mallet behind the weld spot, this stops the wire poking right through the weld pool, and also cools the area. However, it tends to spark a bit more (probably due to quality of metal in our case) so make sure you've got gloves on. The copper obviously doesn't stick to the weld, so you don't end with welded hammers on your P&J

[Martinaston]

When welding thick plate edge on you bevel the top edges so it creates a V along the weld and makes it easier to penetrate the metal, not sure how that would work with such thin plate but you could probably lower the power and reduce the heat.

[scott180gtb]

I got the magnets of ebay. They are really strong. Cost about £2 delivered if I remember correctly. Do you think a brass bar will work for filling the void?

[DanThe]

Brazing?

Could do with a bit more power IMO, its nearly there but you do need more penetration to get a better joint

[JWaller360]

Brass would probably work too, just make sure you're not holding it bare handed obviously, but it shouldn't stick to the weld and will probably some heat.

Copper hammer is widely available, and the bit you hold doesn't get hot!

[HairyScreech]

yep a skim of braze would do it, but your introducing a lot of heat back in, its the trick i used on the 328 cabrio roof frames i made.

its looking good though, your picking it up quick.

[Brianmoooore]

Lead or solder is the material to use to fill voids and imperfections, when mechanical strength isn't required.

[scott180gtb]

Thought I would share my recent welding antics with you all. I have basically over the past month been having a bash at all the rot on the floor of my supposedly rust free turd. Its upsetting how much you can find if you dig hard enough

I started with burning of the under seal on the front factory pads and all the weak spots underneath. I have had to replace all the floor sections that have a stud on for the front exhaust heat shield

If you scuff of the under seal and soundproofing from the inside the metal is either infected or missing

I then moved onto the front pads after taking some advice from Matt. The sill looked in good nick until you start digging. I had to let in a lot of new metal just to get something solid to weld back too.

Some of the cancer that has come out



















I'm fairly happy with the results. Pretty it is not, but its rust free and that's what counts. there is still some cleaning up to do but with some seam sealer and the sound proofing back on it should look pretty factory and good for a few years at least.

Lots more cancer to come out. Should have this ready for paint in my life time.

[E30BeemerLad]

Damn! That shell looked clean too

I'll stick to the fibreglass

[e30topless]

Looks good Scott ,

you been down at Matts picking up tips ?

[scott180gtb]

Matt's given me a few pointers

Those sills are really scary. They looked and felt real solid. All the rot starts at the factory pad and eats its way into the sill and along the seam were the floor plan is spotted to the sill. If you scuff of the under seal from underneath the car you can see cancer in the floor plan.






What you can't see won't hurt you and all that!
I think E30 ownership should come with a welding warning!

[Ant]

nicely done

good panel fab skills, kudos indeed !

welds are a bit dirty, a tad more gas required I'd say, or more purge before/after welding maybe.

[scott180gtb]

What do you mean by more purge Ant? I'm still new to the welding remember!

[beardymat]

Looking good Scott, kinda satisfying when you build something from scratch like that isnt it?

Its shocking how much rust a "good" e30 can hide which makes pricing a job like this a nightmare as i know there will be rust but how much wont come to light till work begins.

Keep it up buddy, dont see any reason for me to do the metalwork with the results youre getting

[scott180gtb]

A little rusty update for you all. Plans have now changed for this shell. She is going to be turned into a cheapo track slag with some M20 power. I thought I would share some of my work over the last week.

Rear Quarter Action






I had to fabricate a hole new piece of inner arch in four pieces but I'm pretty please with the end result.




Plenty of bird shit thrown at this inner I'm going to cover it all in seam sealer and hope it keeps the tyre smoke out



Rear battery tray repair.



All the brackets on the inner arch. After doing these I realised I don't need them as I have got a separate fuel tank. Never Mind



The near side inner arch is in a bad way but I'm still going to have a go a repairing it. Trying to twist Matt's arm to come over and stitch in some new arch lips

I get my roll cage this Sunday and some 51mm struts and trailing arms tomorrow from Matt.

Rust Pile



Has anyone got a scrap shell with a good rear quarter pannel? I need to replace the chunk I cut out.

[e30topless]

Has anyone got a scrap shell with a good rear quarter pannel? I need to replace the chunk I cut out.

what colour would you like ?

Looks like your getting somewhere Scott,
I have been doing the same thing on and off for the last 2 weeks, Practise makes perfect !

[beardymat]

you get a lot of that with the replacement arch Scott, what isnt there will be easy to fab up, especially easy for a guy with your special skills.

[E30BeemerLad]

when can you come over & do mine?

[Dezzy]

Looks like good work there Scott.

Matt's mobile mending.

[scott180gtb]

How bad is your arse Lee!

I thought you had treated yourself to mig. I will do your arse if you help me fit my M20 donk!

[Dezzy]

Lee snap his hand off.

Fook me Scott I will chuck 12v wrongness in there if you will weld up my new turd.

I hate welding cars.

[E30BeemerLad]

Yeah I have a mig now mate, but that don't mean I know what the f'k I'm doing with it.

I think religious beliefs prevent me from intalling M20's

[airborne_7]

excellent work there mate, im heading down the same route, never welded in my life, for basic e30 welding what welder can someone recommend? i noticed on some of your pics that youve encounted warping is that purely due to to much heat?

[billgatese30]

chemical metal FTW!

P40 FTW

[scott180gtb]

I'm no welding expert but I think any small Clark welder will do the job for car body work. You need a welder that uses gas. I use argoshield borrowed from work.

As for the heat distortion that's mainly caused by laying to many tacks at once. I tended to get carried away at first thinking "Look at me I'm welding!"

I have found that when working with thin metal the maximum amount of tacks I can lay at one time is three before things get to hot and you blow through.

You need to work round the fillet piece by dividing it up. Like I said I am no expert. Its all about the practice.

I think if you are serious about e30's you need to get serious about welding. Its the future