Car D.I.Y.

[Adam4868]

I'd like to learn how to Tig, always seems such a nice way to weld, cleaner too

Probably my favourite...especially on something like stainless steel,for precision and detailed work that is.Used to love welding stainless then cleaning and polishing the welds.
It's just practice like most things...bit different because your using a rod to feed the weld but I reckon you could pick it up easy enough.

 

[AuroraSaab]

/Hi all,

I/'m patching a seal on a 944, not a big hole it needs doing but it dose not need a whole new seal yet lolol it first welding and its a 1984 not bad. i think it was caused by someone trying to lift it in the wrong place.

now my question is 20 gauge 0.9mm steel or little thicker? just want to make a nice job of it ?

Same thickness if you can. Go slowly, tack it in each corner; one tack at a time, let it cool. You'll easily blow through on that thickness if you try a continuous weld so it'll have to be lots of little tacks, moving round the piece so you don't keep heating up the same bit. Won't be possible on sills usually but if you can get a chunk of copper behind a weld it helps to prevent blowing through.

 

[gbb]

Engine oil and filter plus spark plugs replaced this morning.
I realised looking at schedules, gearbox oil should be changed at 60k so going to make that the next job. It's apparently quite easy.

 

[fossyant]

Had to go and buy that wee wee stuff last night. First time. Checked the van and it said 1700 miles left on the ad blue. Bought 10l and a bottle of Wynns Crystal Clean additive. Will chuck it in this evening.

 

[neilrichardson55]

Same thickness if you can. Go slowly, tack it in each corner; one tack at a time, let it cool. You'll easily blow through on that thickness if you try a continuous weld so it'll have to be lots of little tacks, moving round the piece so you don't keep heating up the same bit. Won't be possible on sills usually but if you can get a chunk of copper behind a weld it helps to prevent blowing through.

lolol yep i made a hole lol. i did little spots and built it up ground back to find any pin holes took a while but its all good thankyou for advice

 

[tyred]

I'm a natural at the spanners, but never managed to master welding. Respect to anyone that figures it out.

I can weld to a certain extent, arc welder on gates, farm machinery, etc. I was never that great at it and the results were rarely pretty. I've not done it for a very long time now.

I have never used a MIG and doubt my skills would be up to thin body panels.

In an ideal world, I would buy a MIG, practice and improve so I can restore my 205, and it would be nice to say I had done the whole thing myself, but I have little inclination. It's more difficult on thin metal, and 205s were never noted for their thick metal. Perhaps I should get a Ford Pilot instead!

Mechanical stuff interests me but anything to do with bodywork never has, which is why all my cars and bikes are usually cosmetically challenged!

If I ever get this stupid insurance case settled, I'm happy to pay someone to do the bodywork for me.

 

[DRM]

Had to go and buy that wee wee stuff last night. First time. Checked the van and it said 1700 miles left on the ad blue. Bought 10l and a bottle of Wynns Crystal Clean additive. Will chuck it in this evening.

If it says 1700 miles left, it'll be not far off full, be careful as it splurts out & goes on the paint work and stains the floor, check it again in about 3000 miles

 

[CXRAndy]

A common problem with AdBlue is, crystallization of the injector into the DPF. I see you can buy additive bottles to help keep minimise crystal build up.

Dont buy Adblue from garage forecourts. It supposed to be stored away from daylight and extremely cold conditions

 

[fossyant]

Had to go and buy that wee wee stuff last night. First time. Checked the van and it said 1700 miles left on the ad blue. Bought 10l and a bottle of Wynns Crystal Clean additive. Will chuck it in this evening.

Wee wee done, only got half in so it wasn't that empty - apparently a 19l tank ! Got spare now !

A common problem with AdBlue is, crystallization of the injector into the DPF. I see you can buy additive bottles to help keep minimise crystal build up

That's what I added - good reviews. I didn't know how much/miles the van needed with the ad-blue, and yes it did bubble out, so wiped the paintwork down.

 

[Profpointy]

I'd like to learn how to Tig, always seems such a nice way to weld, cleaner too

At the end of my MIG course, once we'd all "passed" on all the set-pieces we had a brief play with TIG. Whilst we were only laying a bead on a flat plate rather that sticking anything together it was immensely satisfying. Even the sound it made was somehow more "sophisticated" than the crackly MIG sound. Despite the supposedly greater skill required, if buying a machine I'd be somewhat inclined to get an AC-DC TIG because of the versatility. Apparently you can weld nearly anything using just argon (unlike MIG where you'd need a different gas for each metal - rental coats on multiple bottles would be crippling as an amateur), and also a few filler rods for every eventuality is going to be cheaper than a great big spool of each type of wire. The extra speed of MIG would be inconsequential as an amateur too though if only doing car panels presumably MIG would make more sense.

Big caveat - whilst I'm now a "qualified welder" in the sense of City & Guilds level 1, that's only very slightly above "clueless" so all the above is stuff I vaguely picked up, rather than based on experience

 

[fossyant]

My son is quite handy with a welder and is self taught. Done a few exhausts !

 

[Jenkins]

A common problem with AdBlue is, crystallization of the injector into the DPF. I see you can buy additive bottles to help keep minimise crystal build up.

Dont buy Adblue from garage forecourts. It supposed to be stored away from daylight and extremely cold conditions

So you can buy an additive for the additive.
I think I'll stick with my Mazda which is Euro 6 compliant without needing AdBlue

 

[fossyant]

So you can buy an additive for the additive.
I think I'll stick with my Mazda which is Euro 6 compliant without needing AdBlue

Yes it's a pain with new diesels. I've gone with the extra additive as my car will not be used much during the week - it's currently used for commuting until my hip/pelvis heals then I'll be back on the bike. My old car did less than 5000 miles in two years. This new one will be doing a lot more trips though !

 

[CXRAndy]

So you can buy an additive for the additive.
I think I'll stick with my Mazda which is Euro 6 compliant without needing AdBlue

Ironic isn't it. That or you become proficient in cleaning the Adblue injector every 25k miles

 

[DRM]

Wee wee done, only got half in so it wasn't that empty - apparently a 19l tank ! Got spare now !


That's what I added - good reviews. I didn't know how much/miles the van needed with the ad-blue, and yes it did bubble out, so wiped the paintwork down.

I've tried to keep an eye on how far the van goes on Ad-Blue, it seems to be about 330 miles per litre, ish