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Difficult chassis weld - any
suggestions?
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Posted By : John Fannon, 11-Sep-2005, 09:34pm
Hi
I've just been cleaning up the area of the chassis around the rear suspension on my vitesse mk2 and I've spotted a hole on each side in a very tricky area
to weld (see image). The holes are quite small and the surrounding metal seems ok as I've had a good poke around with a screwdriver.
Anyone got any thoughts on how to weld this, I'm not sure I'll get my mig in there, even cleaning the area is going to be difficult.
Is there an alternative DIY welding method?
Cheers
John
Difficult chassis weld - any suggestions?
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Posted By : Adrian Lee, 11-Sep-2005,
09:52pm
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.............the wonders of Arc welding!.........marvelous
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Posted By : Paul Humphries, 11-Sep-2005,
10:02pm
Do you want to do a quick MOT bodge or stop the rot spreading ?
To do it properly I'd "bite the bullet" and carfully cut the obstructing parts off, repair chassis and then weld parts back on.
It looks, to me, like "tip of iceberg" so why not repair properly now rather than have to do it later anyway ?
Paul Humphries.
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Posted By : Kevin Rochfort, 11-Sep-2005,
10:07pm
John,
That's a tough one !
Cleaning it up - easy ! Use a grit blaster - glass beads are best for rust removal (but comparibly expensive)
As for welding, an arc welder might work.
Oxy-Acetelene will need a lot of protection to keep the flames away fom everything else
MIG, using a torch with a small shield might get in there, and using a high gas flow rate to try and keep it all shielded. I would also use a 0.8mm or
1mm wire.
Good luck, I think you'll need it.
Kevin
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Posted By : John Fannon, 11-Sep-2005,
11:36pm
Hummm....I see the point regarding a 'proper' repair, and I usually like to do things properly. However, if I was going to start doing that, I may
as well get the body off and do the whole thing properly. My intention is to keep it going for a while longer before a full body off restoration
(maybe when I have a bigger garage!), so a relatively quick and dirty solution is what I was after.
I have a migmate 130 which can work gasless, so I guess it's not so important for the shroud to be close to the weld?
How tricky is arc welding??
John
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Posted By : John Fannon, 11-Sep-2005,
11:45pm
Just had another thought...
I don't actually need the bracket for the lever arm damper as I'll be converting to telescopics - so cutting that off would give me better
access and make for a 'proper' repair.
Anyone else converted to telescopics and removed the lever arm brackets?
John