1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

[Nige]

Good stuff Mark, you seem to be learning fast.

[Gary71]

Excellent stuff

[Barry]

I did do a long post earlier, then lost it ( ), so I'll do the abridged version: well done, looks good, top stuff .

How are you finding the weld.er/ing?

[Mike]

well done Mark, full of admiration for you tackling this yourself, Jagermeister's all round!

[sladey]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

Barry I'm loving the welder - I have faith that it will do what I want.

My thoughts so far - Barry I'd welcome your comments on this:-

When I've worked the metal quite a bit and filed it and planished it I'm then approaching welding that piece as if it's as thick as it used to be. It isn't. On the brand new metal I'm turning the welder to 5 for the tack welds and down to 3 for the seam welds. On the actual body the tack welds were fine but the seam welds weren't

Actually thinking back when I started that seam weld (when it blew through ) I remember the sound being wrong - stuttering like it wasn't feeding fast enough. I'm wondering if I hadn't got a good enough earth going at that point.

If there's a slight gap in the join I need to go onto one side first and then stitch it across, because if I catch an edge it will blow a hole. Might be partly that and partly the bad earth? dunno

So I'm thinking my blowing the holes are a combination of
- the metal being thinner than I'd practiced on
- starting the weld off on the joint which had a slight gap in it - (i.e. aiming exactly at the gap) thereby leading me start the weld on the edge of the sheet
- Possibly a less than brilliant earth connection - it was onto new metal but maybe it would have helped if I'd wiggled it a bit first

Any comments?

For the filling in the holes I'm turning the power right down to 1, then starting on a good piece of weld/metal, and gradually snaking that out on itself until I get close to the other side of the hole - then start snaking onto the other side. I found it also helps to do it in relatively little bits - if it all gets too hot it can just fall through (which is when you remember to change out of your slippers). This method is working well - when I need to do it it's producing a far more substantial 'fill' than I was getting with the old welder.

One last point (Gary don't know if you can help here) - the wire feed doesn't actually start to move at all until I've got it up to 4 or 5 on the feed settings - below that it doesn't move. Is there a setting you think I should change.

Any welding-related comments gratefully received

Cheers

Mark

[Bootsy]

Any welding-related comments gratefully received

Bet you look good in the mask

[sladey]

Thanks for that Thomas....

Anyone else?

[Ferry Man]

Anyone else?

How much is it to simply buy a new wing from Porsche?.....

[sladey]

About £800+ IIRC....

Might be OK to you southern printer-types, but to us Northern solicitors types that's a year's whippet-feed or 400 cloth caps

[massivesplitproject]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

Barry I'm loving the welder - I have faith that it will do what I want.

My thoughts so far - Barry I'd welcome your comments on this:-

When I've worked the metal quite a bit and filed it and planished it I'm then approaching welding that piece as if it's as thick as it used to be. It isn't. On the brand new metal I'm turning the welder to 5 for the tack welds and down to 3 for the seam welds. On the actual body the tack welds were fine but the seam welds weren't

Actually thinking back when I started that seam weld (when it blew through ) I remember the sound being wrong - stuttering like it wasn't feeding fast enough. I'm wondering if I hadn't got a good enough earth going at that point.

If there's a slight gap in the join I need to go onto one side first and then stitch it across, because if I catch an edge it will blow a hole. Might be partly that and partly the bad earth? dunno


love this car saw it at hardwick motor company a few times, if you want me to pop round and have a look at the welder settings and share a brew let me know, i am in mansfield

So I'm thinking my blowing the holes are a combination of
- the metal being thinner than I'd practiced on
- starting the weld off on the joint which had a slight gap in it - (i.e. aiming exactly at the gap) thereby leading me start the weld on the edge of the sheet
- Possibly a less than brilliant earth connection - it was onto new metal but maybe it would have helped if I'd wiggled it a bit first

Any comments?

For the filling in the holes I'm turning the power right down to 1, then starting on a good piece of weld/metal, and gradually snaking that out on itself until I get close to the other side of the hole - then start snaking onto the other side. I found it also helps to do it in relatively little bits - if it all gets too hot it can just fall through (which is when you remember to change out of your slippers). This method is working well - when I need to do it it's producing a far more substantial 'fill' than I was getting with the old welder.

One last point (Gary don't know if you can help here) - the wire feed doesn't actually start to move at all until I've got it up to 4 or 5 on the feed settings - below that it doesn't move. Is there a setting you think I should change.

Any welding-related comments gratefully received

Cheers

Mark

[jtparr]

Mark
Good effort there, not taking the p155, it's impressive

Best
Jp

[massivesplitproject]

sorry forgot to add i am in mansfield i could pop over and have a look at the welder settings if you like and have a brew or you could bring the wing here and we have a bash at it with my welder, i run a vw restoration business so therefore own a very decent welder

[sladey]

Thanks for the comments jt

massivesplitproject - thanks for the kind offer - I may well take you up on that. The more I've read about it the more I think I shouldn't be trying to seam weld onto thinner stuff - instead do a load of tack welds - gradually filling in the gaps.

Whatever - I've got to finish my shed before I can get back to the panel beating and welding - once that's done I'm going to return to it properly (and I'm looking forward to that) so at that stage I would welcome some help

Cheers

Mark

[Nige]

sorry forgot to add i am in mansfield i could pop over and have a look at the welder settings if you like and have a brew or you could bring the wing here and we have a bash at it with my welder, i run a vw restoration business so therefore own a very decent welder

Are you near Ransom Wood Quarry?

[massivesplitproject]

no dude i think that is a guy called Andy am not too sure though, i am just off chesterfield road i work from home. Give me a shout when you are ready Sladey