JVY MOT 2011

Hi Steve

First off, commiserations on your failure. 2200TC's are such an outstanding model that everything ought to be done to keep them on the road - just my view :wink:

Looking at the pictures, the bump stop mount is routine and easy both sides, repair sections available from Wadhams. They do need doing, though, as the P6 actually uses its bump stops in normal driving - they add a sort of variable rate to the last few inches of suspension travel!

The area near the top spring mount is strictly speaking a brace for the bump stop mount rather than anything to do with the spring seat. That is further up and can be accessed from inside the car in the rear seat base. Theoretically it should therefore have been an advisory only - but I wouldm't argue in the light of the front chassis leg!

Again the front chassis leg damage pictured is not strictly a problem for the suspension. The car's structure is built out from the bulkhead, not back from the front pamel, so your risk is accelerated collapse in the event of a prang, rather than the front suspension coming off! A failure either way, though, I'd have said. Again, what can be seen is a pretty easy repair, but I would have an aggressive hammer session further up the leg to see if there are any problems nearer important places. And at conclusion fill the chassis leg with old lube oil (because there has been rust there already, waxoil won't work, you need something that floats moisture off the rust).

All these repairs do need the car quite high in the air as you say. The work required is sufficiently minor that I would think a garage repair might well be within budget if you can find someone who's skills you trust. As always, the key is in the preparation - taking things back far enough to expose good metal. My litmus test is that if they are prepared for you to help / watch then they are probably OK, if not...

Front brakes ought to be a striaghtforward case of piston seals and new pads / discs. Perhaps tackle that yourself before submitting for welding and retest?

All the best and keep us posted!

Chris
 
Just thought I'd pitch in and say if you're confident enough to use a trolley jack on the sills then the car must be basically sound with just a few niggles to sort out the tester has spotted.

The torch tips on your welder will need replacing and the wire may not be much use either. If it's been in the shed for a while it can go rusty which will contaminate your weld.

If you have the time, then all of these bits and bobs will cost you less than a garage bill and you'll still have the tools for the next time you might need them.
 
SIP welders are poor in the wirefeed department but if that bit works then its worth using. Most do go down to 25 amps too which helps with thin steel.

For gas if using diposable bottles the Clark bottles from machine mart are cheapest as they're bigger than other brands...

Rich
 
The list always looks terrifying when in black and white after leaving the testing station with tail between ones legs :(
In reality that list will fly by once you get into it if your frame of mind embraces the adventure which is 'Welding' :wink:

The pic showing the floor with the blocks must be an old repair, as the welds are only tacks and not a continuous seam :? That went out of the rulebook many years ago. I'd join the dots on that one just for good measure as it's easy to do :)
 
If you are new to welding, apart from a fire extinguisher, keep a spray bottle handy. Just an old bottle of household cleaner washed out and filled with water will do. You will be amazed at the amount of things that welding will ignite and how easy it is to puff it with water to put it out.

When welding up my old red car, doing a repair on the front floor section that you will be doing, I managed to ignite the residual hairs from the underlay (I had removed the carpets, underlay, and N/S knee bin), and caused a small fire. By the time I had got a bucket of water, it was big fire and had taken out the fuse box, front seat, door card, and a lot more. I had to rewire the whole car :twisted:

I managed to set light to the foam that wraps around the speedo cable when welding Sparky. Quick puff with the water bottle and it was out :)

Richard
 
Speaking of welding, I forgot to mention that if you're patching that hole in the A pillar then don't forget to remove the wire to the interior light otherwise you'll melt it.
 
JVY said:
got some wire but no idea how to tell what gauge it is? Can I measure the diameter and work it out that way?
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It'll most likely be either 0.6mm or 0.8mm. I've never measured it, but guess that applies to the diameter. The tip that screws into the end of the welding torch will probably by marked 0.6 or 0.8. Check to see if the wire fits through or not. (My SIP gives best results with 0.6)
I suggest you buy a tip, shroud and liner kit from Halfords or similar. Made by SIP they're cheap enough and easily fitted. The new liner will make welding a lot easier if the old one's past its best.
In your photo, I'm dubious about the route the wire takes off the drum, suspecting that the drum's on the wrong way round. It looks a straighter line if it came off the top.

Further to Richard's excellent suggestion of keeping a spray bottle handy, also remember that a quick puff of CO2 from the welder will put out small fires far quicker than reaching for an extinguisher.

Re: cutting discs, I buy Smith and Arrow wafer thin discs off eBay and they're excellent. A box of 100 costs £46.
 
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/awg-w ... d_731.html for AWG-mm conversions.
That does look like the control for the gas, if you are going to use it it might be an idea to blow through it in reverse to clear any crud out of it seeing as it's been left open. As for gas, you will need a flowmeter and a regulator to drop the bottle pressure to an acceptable level plus the associated plumbing to join it all together. Change the shield in the front of the nozzle and get a stash of tips to guide the wire through.
Also, get 'er indoors to buy you a tin of "Spray and Cook" anti stick stuff to spray into the nozzle to stop the spatter sticking so badly to it.
I'd also replace the earth cable with a "proper" clamp and a thicker gauge wire and make it a meter or 2 longer than it is now, it will come in handy at some time in the future. Something like this... http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/sear ... &R=0179780

THen, like said, get hold of an old fender and chop it up and weld it together a few times to finesse your abilities. It will look like crap the first few times, but the beauty is that a flap wheel covers a multitude of sins......
 
Thanks to everyone again for all the very useful advice.

Progress to report so far is that I have secured some funding from SWMBO and put in order with Screwfix for some 0.6mm MIG tips, welder's magnets, 0.6mm MIG wire, 1mm 4.5" cutting discs, wire wheel for grinder, chipping hammer, gauntlets & clamp set. I did have a look at Machine Mart and Toolstation but Screwfix seemed to have some welding accessories on special offer and they usually deliver it all next day. I wasn't sure if I needed a chipping hammer but it was on £1.79 and it looked like an interesting tool that I can use to inflict all sorts of damage. :) Will see if can talk to JRW to order the LH & RH bump stop repairs (thanks Chris) and can hopefully pick up the other bits and pieces locally for the weekend - angle grinder, gas and welding mask etc.

Also managed to liberate a small amount of scrap steel to practice on - looks more like 2mm 14 gauge than suggested 1.2mm 18 gauge. If I can get the welder going and do a practice, at least I can see what other parts I might need for it. I already have a fire extinguisher but will certainly make sure I have spray bottle handy (make sure it's the one with water and not meyth's in it :D ).

One more thing that occurred to me was, shall I need a joggler to set the edge on panels (e.g. if I am making up repair panles for the floor? Or is this just too ambitious for a newbie welder? I am looking forward to giving welding a shot and wondering if I should change my forum name from "JVY" to "Metal Butcher". If it's not too embarassing, I may even post some pic's of my 1st attempt?

Unstable Load, is "Spray and Cook" vegetable oil or some kind of Teflon spray?
 
JRW to order the LH & RH bump stop repairs
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I've just got one of these for PAE, and i wouldnt have fabricated anything that good myself so worth the money i think!

If you've seen the PAE thread you've seen how messy my welding looks - key is practice. The stuff i'm doing now is so much better than what i did at first i want to go back and do some bits again once i have the MOT!

Rich.
 
In terms of a joggler, I have one but rarely use it, once you get well practiced at butt joints you don't need it, but it may be usefull to you as a beginner as it's easier to weld a lap joint, and the joggler means the finished weld will be level to the panel, the only problem is you end up with a 1/2" flap of steel on the other side, so it's better for repairs where you can only see one side of the repair.
 
Unstable Load, is "Spray and Cook" vegetable oil or some kind of Teflon spray?
Click to expand...
Here's the blurb off the manufacturer's site.....
When it comes to multitasking, Spray and Cook beats the competition hands-down. Not only is this easy-to-spray, non-stick agent economical and mess free, it is available in two healthy variants - Original and Olive Oil. This means that cooking is as easy as pie with Spray and Cook, which is formulated for use in both microwave and conventional ovens. Ozone-friendly and endorsed by the Heart Foundation, it is cholesterol-, preservative- and colourant-free, maiking it the healthy cook's best friend. Apart from being the perfect alternative to oil or butter for lining cake, pie or bread tins, there are over 100 novel ways Spray and Cook will make your cooking a breeze.

You can still enjoy all those delicious foods you love most, when you substitute Spray and Cook for oil or butter. South Africa's best-loved, most versatile spray, Spray and Cook has an endless number of applications in the kitchen and can be used for frying, baking, braising, sautéing and roasting. Most diet plans allow you limitless use of Spray and Cook because the kilojoule count is so much lower than when using fat or oil for cooking - and you can enjoy the flavour of food with no risk to heart health.
Click to expand...
http://www.tigerbrands.co.za/Brands/Dom ... ontent.htm
Available here for the UK...
http://www.modshops.co.uk/sashoplist/Sp ... -Cook.html
But basically any non stick cooking or baking spray will do the trick. It won't stop the spatter from sticking, it just minimises it a lot.
It's also a pretty good buzz if you spray it into a plastic bag and inhale it if some of the guys I knew as a youngster are to be bleieved..... :(
 
Didn't get a chance to do anything on the car yesterday. Though, the bump stop mounts are now on order from JRW (hope they will arrive for weekend). Also, received my welding bits'n'bobs from Screwfix today. The reel of 0.6mm MIG wire is huge and I don't think it will fit inside the MIG. Reckon I may have to carefully spool some off the big reel onto the little reel. I should have realised it would be too big when I ordered it as it was described as a 5kg reel :evil:

Hope the rain stays off tonight and I can get some work done - it has been really miserable for the last month in West Central Scotland - even colder and wetter than normal for summer.

Thanks for the joggler info Richard - will maybe see how I get on before buying one. Thanks for the rundown on Spray & Cook Unstable.
 
I'll be replacing a bump stop mount this weekend so i'll post before/during after pics on the PAE thread which will hopefully give you an idea of what's involved!

Rich.
 
Rich,

that would be much appreciated. I am curious to see exactly what you get with the bump stop kit as I am wondering how much additional metal I will have to weld in place before I can weld on the mounts. Will keep an eye on you thread. If I manage to get some work done this weekend, I reckon I will do some of the aesier jobs and get a bit of welding practice before I attack the bump stops.

One question for everyone please:-

testrider wisely advised me to remove the interior light wires from the A-pillars (so that I don't melt them when welding on repairs to the holes in the pillars). Is there an easy way to remove the wires without removing the headlining :?:
 
JVY said:
Is there an easy way to remove the wires without removing the headlining :?:
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The headlining is in two parts, and removing just the front part which is held by the sunvisors and mirror should give you access to any wires that run up the A post.
 
Thanks Harvey. That sounds like a lot less hassle than taking the whole lot off :D

I managed to get my old MIG welder into a condition last night where, I think, it is ready to go but ran out of time to try it out. I wanted to give myself and hour or two to do plenty practice welds before I dare to go near my car with it. Hoping I will get a chance tomorrow.

At least I had some time last night & today to get some weld-thru primer, a sheet of steel and got a local paint shop to mix up an aerosol of Lunar Grey paint. Just getting all the stuff together to start some small body/chassis repair tasks is like a mini-project in it's own right! All good fun though :D
 
There's some pics on my PAE thread now... not quite finished but should give you an idea what to expect!

Rich.
 
Had my first go at MIG welding this weekend. I had just started when the regulator tap decided to give up and started spewing CO2 out - another trip to Halfords to get new one :x

I ran some test welds on 20ga steel but the results are just too embarrasing to post any pic's. One problem I seem to have is that the wire feed in the old SIP MIG I inherited doesn't seem to be constant. At first the wire wouldn't feed at all, so I got some fresh wire, replaced the torch liner, tip and even dismantled and cleaned up the rollers. Now it is feeding but the speed is a bit jerky. This is infuriating - just as I get about 1/2" of good smooth weld with good heat penetration, the wire jams and it all turns to sh!*t :x

I don't think the problem is the wire feed motor as I can hear it turning at a constant speed. However, even with a new liner, there still seems to be a fair amount of resistance in the feed between the MIG unit and the end of the torch. I even dismantled the torch and it all looked OK. When I pull the torch trigger off the workpiece, the wire comes out just fine - nice constant rate. However, when welding, it seems to stutter. I even tried Unstableload's "Spray & Cook" suggestion to coat the tip/shroud. Though this helpled, I still seem to have a problem

The other thing I considered is that the pinch wheel might be slipping. I have double checked that it is the correct 0.6mm size for the wire I am using - can these things wear out and cause the wire to slip on the rollers periodically. It's really annoying, as Iam not absolutely sure if there is a problem with the MIG or if it's just my inexperience?

One other question is what gas is best to use? There seems to be a bit of conflicting advice on different websites - some say C02 only for steel and others, for example, recommend Argon/CO2 mix with 25% carbon. I got a bottle of SIP CO2 and a bottle of Argon/CO2 (15% CO2) from Halfords.

Any help/suggestions please :?:
 
The other thing I considered is that the pinch wheel might be slipping. I have double checked that it is the correct 0.6mm size for the wire I am using - can these things wear out and cause the wire to slip on the rollers periodically. It's really annoying, as Iam not absolutely sure if there is a problem with the MIG or if it's just my inexperience?
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This is the crap design of SIP welders... They have a rubbish wirefeed mechanism with i wheel that gradually goes off centre so cant grip properly. I had this problem before moving to the clarke welder.

Before you spend too much money on it i'd add up just how much getting it sorted might cost and whether it's worth it. There's a guide to how to modify the SIP welder on http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/sip-wirefeed.htm I sold my SIP (which didnt even have wirefeed control!) and got a secondhand clarke which was a vast improvement, although i did end up replacing the liner and the earth clamp on it... I wish that i'd just bought a brand new one when i started to be honest! There is the money element, but also the time, and wondering how much is me and how much is the welder.

One other question is what gas is best to use? There seems to be a bit of conflicting advice on different websites - some say C02 only for steel and others, for example, recommend Argon/CO2 mix with 25% carbon. I got a bottle of SIP CO2 and a bottle of Argon/CO2 (15% CO2) from Halfords.
Click to expand...

I've had differing advice here. Argon/co2 mix is technically the best from what i've been told, but in practice i've found CO2 to be fine and seems to last longer. Machine mart's co2 bottles are bigger than other people I believe ( although i'm not sure how you quantify that - they all use different measuring standards!)

Hope that's some help!

Rich.
 
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