Too good to comprehend..

[CBA]

Footman James have just paid me a refund £58.

I've just taken out another policy, £25~ to start.

This is one heck of a refund, I've been PAID to get 6 months insurance.
Also just won a welder on ebay for £22.
Bought some rods.
Cans of spray.


Car is trying to restore itself as we speak..




still £2 up.

have to lie down now

[jon-ovlov]

Great winner there mate! I've just taken out a policy with Footman James too, fantastic price, considering I'm 21 and have a heavily modified car. It's epic!!

[magnumpi]

You lucky so and so, i wish i had your luck sometimes.

I've just started using FJ for my 240 insurance as they were the cheapest by far

[CBA]

I love them, you can not go wrong.. you read your policy benefits
- In case of breakdown you get "Angel Assistance"

Balanced out today by finding a load of little dings down the side of my car done by the local description defyers.
But, it needs painting anyway and there isn't a perfect panel on it. no loss - no use to be miffed. Got it tucked safely away at night now. Can't wait to start welding, very interesting to learn - hope I pick it up easily.

[Speedy88]

Mig welding is really easy to learn, even apes like me take a few tries to get it good. Just remember that heat is everything. And keep a fire extinguisher nearby.

[valman]

theyre bastards, would never deal with them again. i had an accident ages ago where my wheel came off and it did no damage to the other car but the bloke claimed for 800 quids of damage and they paid up but never told me i had a claim against my name. so when it came renewal time i asked them to send me proof of no claims and they said they would do. then i asked them for a renewal price and they gave me a stupid quote, asked them if it was due to me having an accident they said no, and confirmed that it didnt go through as a claim. now that my new insurer is asking for proof of NCB surprise surprise, i suddenly have a claim against my name

[jtbo]

Cleaness is key to succesful weld, even tiny spots of rust cause welding to go wrong with hot metal flying all over the place. Just take short bursts of 1 second or so, lean nozzle against the surface tilted so that every new weld overlaps old weld 50% or so, don't even try to move nozzle at first, you should be able to do weld eyes closed, when getting hang of that some more advanced techniques might follow.

Clean nozzle often and use welding spray, so it is easier to clean.

If handle is pushing away from surface you are welding, there is too much wire feed or too little power, too much power makes big hole instead of weld, too little wire feed makes arc cut off, like trrr-trrrr-trrr, when it should be trrrrrrrrrrrr.

That is at least what I have learned and I'm not very good at it, but that is what I learned when patching up one car for MOT.

I actually dislike good luck, every time there is something good fortune, there will be at least equally bad coming, often in much greater scale. I prefer rather eventless life, having nothing big happening is best, joy from small things is better, it does not kick back.

[CBA]

I've watched 4 hours of "how to weld" by a bloke who sounds like bender off futurama.
I'm going to be rod welding - I've seen it done perfectly with my equipment and got some proper inside information about how to do it.. I'm ready.

[Chris_C]

I've watched 4 hours of "how to weld" by a bloke who sounds like bender off futurama.
I'm going to be rod welding - I've seen it done perfectly with my equipment and got some proper inside information about how to do it.. I'm ready.

It's all about practise. I have a stick welder and it's not my weapon of choice when doing body work. What dia sticks have you got? FWIW, my MIG welding has improved epically since I've been stick welding so it's all good practise.

For stick, first thing to try to get the thing to strike and be able to hold an arc. That'll be your first hour or so and 5 or so sticks. Next, is go to your metal shop and get a 2.5/3mm plate about 6in square. Run a bead all the way across the top right next to the edge. Then, run a second bead below it just overlapping it.

Continue until you have a plate of horizontal lines. By the end, you'll be a ninja.

The other thing is to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH3EpX4oqi0 It's only 3 minutes but everyone everywhere should watch it

[jtbo]

Stick welding has name for reason, it really is sticking all the time, never really got it, maybe my motorics are not enough for that, but sticks often were red from tip to base, it was most frustrating thing I have ever tried.

[CBA]

I'll find the guy who sounds like bender - I listened to the lot and feel fairly confident, wheras befire I hadn't got a clue.
http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/31608281

it goes on forever, hours and hours.

there is plenty on all kinds of welding.

[Nimminz]

I quite enjoy stick welding. Last year i did an even course in level one MIG at a local college. finished early so i got to play with the stick welder. Was much more difficult but was more enjoyable. He said he usually would start people off on stick then let them change to the easier MIG. So you've started right, if you ever get a MIG in the future it will feel really easy and most of the techniques are the same.

I have both a MIG and a stick set at home and use them abaout the same amount. Tend to use the Stick welder on thicker stuff and the mig for thin stuff.

What we did for practice was do lines of weld about 15mm apart on a small square plate, then weld 'C' shapes between the lines. and also did what chris_C said doing a plate with lines overlapping (but we turned the plate 90 degrees afterwards and did it again on top. did that about 5 times But i wasn't paying for the sticks ) We used 6013 sticks on 3mm plate

Good luck using it, I'm sure after a bit of practice you'll be capable of doing most welding jobs to do on a 300.

Post some pics up when you get some done!

[CBA]

I've had a go, done my first weld (at the OSR sill where the panels overlap inside the rear door) - it is really really ugly, I beat the crap out of it with a hammer and it's definately stronger than the surrounding metal so perfectly passacble

9mm thick of primer has sorted it right out and it looks like a professional job.


Next bit is the whole of "underneath the battery tray", from the bumper to the suspension cup - all rotten..
My Missus is even sanding down the edges for me

Cant take pics, my budget so far for welding is pretty close to
£0 - may be negative.


Plate??? I've ripped the cover off my hot water boiler, it being 1.6mm steel

Also cut an old washer drum like a bean can and rolled up the outside, that will do for the holes in the doors


Doing well.. bit harder than I€ thought but I'm getting better.

Rebuilding the battery tray to look as much as possible as a legit volvo battery tray is my side project..
I'll get as many pics as I can, but this will probably result in me having to watch the same channel on tv till next payday.

[jtbo]

I did sold the tv and since then have owned welding machine that I use way too little really.

But that special welding wire to weld without gas is pretty expensive, so can't practise as much I would like to. It has certainly paid it's price already though as I did weld sills of my french crap thing, it would of cost a ton at garage.

Also if you have connections, when having bit of skill build up, it is rather easy to get some income by fixing friend's cars with small patch here and there.

Sheet of metal (that is almost size of sheet used in bed) is around 30 euros here, one can me many sills from that, welding wire will cost probably much more for me, I don't know if sticks are cheaper but I guess not?

[CBA]

20 sticks for £2.59
26p each


My welding is really bad though, there is plenty solid steel holding it together but it is dog ugly.
It might pass its MOT, thats the best statement I can make.

Cant afford batteries for the camera. pics when I'm able, but its all been tarted up with filler and undercoat, cant tell its been welded. (hopefully)