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Aug 22, 2016 15:19:35 GMT
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Having been though such a gauntlet as a beginner car restorer, and both me and the car having survivied, I can tell you that there are two huge payoffs at the end of the journey:
1-You will never find any kind of tin-work to be intimidating once you finish the project.
2-You will know better than to take on a rust-bucket project in the first place!
Sadly, you really need to pull off item #1 before you fully buy into #2.
Post more pictures. We all like pictures and they help to offer advice that applies to the situation.
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Aug 22, 2016 16:14:11 GMT
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I will NEVER recommend anyone to break their car for spares. I think that's a supremely unhelpful comment. Anyone who owns a a classic will roughly know how much their car is worth and how much they have and are willing to spend (not to any decimal places but to a degree of "more or a lot more than the value of the car") Have fun and do some learning. Who cares if the car isn't worth much? If you dump £10k into this you'll feel like a king because you would have saved a car that you enjoy - sod the rest of the cars you could have bought with that money. COME ON MAN! YOU CAN DO IT! (more so than me )
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I have a Jaguar XJS - RARRGHH! She is called Lily, and she is my best friend! goo.gl/bT3ASP <-- video of her
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Sheet metal, cheap. Welding wire and gas, cheap. Education, priceless. Keep at it, even if it's never perfect the learning experience is worth it and nothing will seem daunting in the future. When it gets overwhelming ( all restorations do) step back, take a break. Then come back to it it with renewed vigor.
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1987 Alfa Milano/75 1979 Alfetta Mille Miglia 1976 Alfetta GT race car 1970 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Rallye S 1968 Fiat 850 spider
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smeden
Part of things
"Full throttle until you see God,then shift to second"
Posts: 356
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I nearly bought one of those 12 years ago! Nice red one with the Uno turbo engine in it! 4000£ which is a lot of money for an old Fiat even in Denmark! I ended up with a beach buggy instead! Sold that one last year! Would have loved having the Fiat. I want a mid engine car one of these days! Do you have an indoor place to work on your car? Doing a resto like that in a drive way is not to be recommended. Buy the best welder you can afford! And get to angel grinders! One for cutting and one for grinding! And find some fire blankets! To protect glass and interior of the car when working on it! Drink Lot's of tea and have fun! Good luck :-)
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Jaguar xj6 S1 swb manual VW Bay Camper Audi A3 1998 1.8 VW Beach Buggy (sold) Ford Mondeo mrk I RS Celebration (written off) Ford Escort Mrk II RS 2000 (rust in peace)
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thanks guys for the pick me ups i do love thios old thing, just the rot in the inside of the screen pillar and the non existent nearside light hing upset me rather.... and admission time, i have never welded anything before. on the scrounge from a few people to bribe/persuade them to show me how to do it.. the non running engine doesnt bother me tho :-P will post some pics in a bit, cant get my phone my son is asleep! will be stripping out the interior soon to expose the shell as much as poss. i do like the cream vinyl seats tho hehe :-) i cvould buy a btetter one, but what could that be hiding...? besides not exactly the point.
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Last Edit: Aug 23, 2016 8:27:14 GMT by s1105117
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Aug 23, 2016 12:02:26 GMT
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Did you not take a look at the link I gave you to a welding tutorial? The process is specific to welding tin which is what you need to do. Try it. Get back if you have a problem.
I laugh every time I hear people say "I got a Mate who is a welder and he will come around and sort it." The truth is that very few "Welders" have ever welded sheet-metal, and don't have a clue how to do it any more than you.
You should go to your metal supplier and ask them to shear you off a bunch of 2" wide pieces of 19 or 20 gauge tin and you can practice on that. The straight sheared edges make it easier because they give you a nice fit-up.
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Aug 23, 2016 12:28:11 GMT
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Yep I did have a good look at that, its very useful too so thanks there :-) I personally am hoping to get a mechanic I know to show me, as I learn beat through actually seeing the thing being done and shown what to do etc.. for me its the screen surround that looks the most scary, vut the sills and doors are basically straight so I am hoping to do those first. I have also picked up a spare rotten door (and one mrust free one woo) so maybe will practixe on the rotten spare door!
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Aug 23, 2016 12:37:59 GMT
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and admission time, i have never welded anything before. I was in the same boat. It's why I got the car. To learn. I started with the crash bar behind the bumper. It bolts off, is hidden and is thicker so a bit easier to weld. Shaping the bits to weld in was harder though. I taught myself. Internet videos and lots of practice. One day it just clicked. I think it was recognising the moment the weld pool sits down into the panel - that moment when it penetrates but just before a big hole appears. bjornagn is spot on though. Gluing some thick angle together is totally different to working on a thin panel. I started running beads on some scrap then cut strips and welded them back together. After welding I ground it down and bent along the weld in the vice. If I got a crack on the back of the weld it wasn't good enough. Good luck, I'm sure you'll get it. James
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Aug 23, 2016 13:09:30 GMT
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Don't be scared of welding! I recently bit the bullet and set myself up with a MIG welder, a bunch of hammers/grinder/power file etc. and in a way it feels really liberating- not having to rely on other people to sort out bits of crustiness as I know I can do it myself. It's not the cheapest thing to get into- I think I've spent in the region of £650 once you include a decent mask, overalls, gloves, gas account etc. but you can't put a price on new skills! I think it finally "clicked" yesterday for me when I realised that cranking the power up a bit and moving faster gave a much better weld, I was messing about on lower power settings but going too slowly and blowing through. Then as Sweetpea says, you see the weld merge into the base metal rather than sit on top, and the sound changes from a rat-tat-tat to a smooth bzzzzz
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Aug 23, 2016 20:59:15 GMT
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cheers guys, i really appreciate the input. and sweetpea have read your thread your welding is inspirational! today's development has been that i have started stripping the interior out, only had an hour or so of free time but things moved quicker once i realised that access fore my gangly frame would be easier with the targa top removed! just carpet around the pedals to go tommoropw, tho i know the floor that side is a tad more suspect. anyway, have some photos of bits and pieces. i am a poor photographer.... the rustlooking thing in tyhe left of the footwell is actually the remnamnts of some insulation :-) this is the bit behind the washer reseviour that i found yday... this, for some reason upside-down, is the rotten light hinge ear the evidently sound bonnet hinge!? love how easy all the bit were to remove, ceross head screws or good decent bolts. proper job car construction! except the rust.... oh and that lump of filler was one of two that came out of the sill... had the door seal attached into it :-P
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Last Edit: Aug 23, 2016 21:05:41 GMT by s1105117
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Aug 23, 2016 21:29:40 GMT
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I think this will be a great way to learn how to rescue an old car. someone has said it before and there's plenty of advice already but my only advice would be to do one area at a time. I stripped down my DoKa (link below) chopped loads of stuff out and then stared at it for about a year before deciding that it was all too daunting and paying someone else to do it! And Ive never been happy with the welding since Go for it, but one piece at a time!
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Aug 23, 2016 21:54:13 GMT
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cheers guys, i really appreciate the input. and sweetpea have read your thread your welding is inspirational! "Shonky" is the word I'd have used but it's very nice of you to say. Hate to say it but that makes my Toyota look good. To be fair Toyota had got the rust problems largely sorted by the early 80s. They were no worse than any other car. Still, if you start somewhere and work your way round. You'll get there eventually. You'll be more confident when you've got the hang of welding. Once you can put things back together you don't mind cutting them apart so much. lufbramatt , You're up the road from me! I'm in Fav. Anyway, if the weld goes almost completely silent you may have a problem. The wire can melt inside the shroud of the gun rather than at the joint and then sort of drip out. You wind up with no penetration as a result. A shade more wire speed sorts it out. I did my first downside up welding this year. The problem is worse because gravity pulls the molten metal down into the gun. I needed considerably more wire speed to stop it. Anyway, as we all know, penetration is all that matters. But back to the welding.... I'll get my coat.
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kev13s
Part of things
Posts: 96
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Aug 23, 2016 22:37:41 GMT
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Patients will be a virtue with that one, took me 9 years to get my Lancia done and I can honestly say that it only got finished because I was not going to let it beat me. I've always wanted an X/19 so I'll be watching with interest. Good luck!
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Paul Y
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,948
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Like others have said, take your time and don't expect it to be perfect. As for welding, I taught myself through trial and lots of error, watching those that actually do know how to do,it and YouTube! Two bits of additional advice. 1. Don't let the first weld of the day be on the car. By that I mean practice on some scrap before using the torch on your repairs. In that way any adjustment to settings etc can be done where it doesn't matter. My first weld of the day is always poop. 2. Start repairs at the back of the car and work forwards. Why? The old boy I worked with many years ago told me you can adjust the front wings if it is a little out of square but you can't adjust the rear quarters! Enjoy, looking forward to seeing your progression. P.
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Aug 24, 2016 12:14:54 GMT
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Right, and under neathe the drivers-side carpet we find.... YIKES! and under the spare wheel (behind drivers seat as i am sure you know)
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Aug 24, 2016 12:27:39 GMT
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Flintstones! Sorry That hole in the floor is the perfect practice piece. It's flat so not much shaping. You can weld it from the top. And it's under the carpet so if it's not too pretty it doesn't matter. Go for it!
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Aug 24, 2016 14:58:31 GMT
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Both seats now reside on my bedside table hehehe :-)
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Aug 24, 2016 17:31:27 GMT
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Not sure where you are with the space or budget, but have you considered making the first welding project a rotisserie? This way you wont be working in awkward positions when trying to weld in new tin. Here is me putting a new floor in an old Volvo. your spinner can be as simple as two cheap engine stands with elongated height and some mounts that attach to the bumpers.
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Last Edit: Aug 24, 2016 20:58:25 GMT by bjornagn
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Aug 24, 2016 20:42:17 GMT
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Ah man..... that looks like that special cancerous old-Fiat rot...... that just crumbles to the touch even where it looks like just surface rust. The X1/9 was the only Italian I've owned..... You'll be a black belt in fabrication and welding when you've finished that Nick
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Last Edit: Aug 24, 2016 20:43:30 GMT by vitesseefi
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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scimjim
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,503
Club RR Member Number: 8
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1988 Fiat Bertone x1/9 scimjim
@scimjim
Club Retro Rides Member 8
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Aug 24, 2016 21:31:50 GMT
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Some inspiration for you Saw this Uno turbo powered beast last weekend And this in Malta last year (not sure that any of this is actually X1/9 though
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