Help with welding

[simple]

Hi all, have spent the christmas period removing my interior (Autohomes assortment of screws and timber ). I have now uncovered the usual rust which has spread along the sill section and up just beyond the seam. Not that bad really and not as bad as some I've seen on here.
I have ordered the repair section from Status VW so am in need of a welder in SE London. To me it looks like a pretty straightforward job, cut out old weld in new, I do not need a top dollar job and am happy to do all the finishing myself. Yesterday I managed to speak to a couple of places, a bloke from 'Splits' near megabug in Plumstead he quoted £350 and can do it in june (no good to me at all), the other 'geezer' from a company who do accident repairs quoted £400 and next week.
All I require is an good honest welder 2hrs work tops from what I've gathered off here, I am supplying panel and have removed all the furniture and gubbins, I will do all the cleanup & filling/painting to tidy the job up.
I'm not after perfection, just sensible quote & an honest repair to keep our van on the road a few years more. Am I asking too much, can anyone help? Maybe some traders on here can put me straight if they think £350 - £400 is what it should cost. Maybe someone not too far will be willing to do the work for a more acceptable fee?

Please, please, please

I have no experience with welding, maybe the way forward would be to buy the gear and do it myself, how hard is it?

Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR

[ricicles]

hi. i am not a trader but i reckon to do a proper job would take more than two hrs. also you do not know what else you will may need doing untill you cut it all out. some of the floor may need repairing as well. if i was you i would buy a welder and have a go myself.

[CovKid]

Having done this, its definately not 2 hours due to all the careful cutting and minor fabricating required. If you want to do it cheaply, do all the cutting and prep yourself (at least a half days work though more likely a whole day) then just pay a local competent mig welder to fit the panel for you. Just remember that heat can distort this area so it has to be spotted, allowing to cool and slowly filling the gaps.

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ar ... outer_sill" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - thats how we did it but there are several ways you could approach it. Bear in mind that the rot can be much further than you realise. For the record, we do that job for about £220

[fullsunian]

Try a pm to damien on here, think he has done a few vans on here. Close to you as well me thinks.
Two hours tops? Most welding jobs are far bigger than you first think, just like an iceberg
IAN

[boatdog]

hi all im a welder i do it for a living and would say that 2 hours is not enough, it takes an hour and a half to drink my brew and eat bacon butty before you start lol. just kidding boss if ya reading this! yo will be surprised once you start cutting and preping how much work there is involved once you start grinding away the rust you will always find twice as much rot than you first thought. also as you start welding up its a slow process stitching the welds so you dont distort every thing, good luck with your van.

[simple]

Thanks all for the insight. Yes I admit ignorance as to how long the welding would take. I am happy to do all the prep work, getting the panel, supplying tea and bacon butties & do all the tidy up afterwards. (how safe is it driving the van to a welders with a ruddy great hole cut in the side? I don't know, if you all think £400 - £350 is fair price then that's that, I'll swallow it, it just seems a bit steep.

I'm not ignorant of the fact that a bloke walking in off the street isn't necessarily going to get a good price off every tradesman however some are of the opinion that repeat custom is worth more than turning a fast buck. Cov that seems like a fair price & your honesty and information you've given on here in all your post has been great. It's a shame your so far away, is there anyone nearer that can be recommended, the more options the better.

[peteabbott]

Go on mate, buy yourself a welder. Part of the T25 toolkit isn,t it ? I know people who faced with the same problem and bought themselves a secondhand welder and practice.........A & E...........practice............eye patches for a week...........more practice and there ya go. They then progressed onto driveway gates and have helped other people out with a bit of welding. Dare I say it, but my wife is as good a welder as I am but its a manpride thing and I wont let her play with my toys.

[happy camper]

Practice welding bean tins together and remember you can always grind off the excess

[boatdog]

have to agree with the others, buy yourself a good "mini" mig gasless ones are best for home use and spend an afternoon welding scrap together, its a skill that will always come in handy on your vw or anything else. whilst i wouldnt usually recommend people welding stuff up themselves, i weld bridges etc for a living, these little diy sets are really easy to use, and there is very little stress on the panels, you with a little practice will be able to do yourselfand its kind of fun doing your own van i think. having said that my beetle is still not finished lol

[chippieshaun]

Simple......i've had this done by a bloke in forest hill / SE23.
He actually did a total re-spray on mine but the first job was just the fridge side panel.
Is a good honest bloke and very reasonable........i'll dig his details out for you tomorrow if you're interested?
Shaun

[simple]

what to buy mig or this?

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... &subCatID=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

has anyone had any experience with one of these, it seems good & you can get a spot welder attachment.

[Martin]

mig welder everytime

[CovKid]

Its not to say you can't weld with ARC but it'd be damned difficult compared to MIG. I'd weld a tow bar with ARC possibly but body panels - MIG everytime (though don't buy cheapest if you plan to do a lot or it'll cut out on you too often).

[boatdog]

hi thats an arc set (MMA) what you need is a mig set usually comes with a gas bottle (co2 mix) and the welding wire is fed in with a motor. trouble with arc is it still creates a lot more heat than a mig at low amps, plus its a lot harder to learn to use an arc set if you dont have any experience. some migs are gasless they dont have a gas bottle but use a wire that is hollow with a flux in the middle.
trick with mig is you need the steel that is being welded as clean as possible, the gas shield is only to exclude oxygen from weld area, it dont have any cleaning properties like the flux on an arc rod.

[footstuck]

Hi, Alan at Mechweld in Foresthill always used to do a very tidy job at the right sort of money. He is on Stanstead Road next door to the Blyth Hill Tavern.If you go in, ask to see what he is repairing, that will give an idea of what kind of work you will get for your money. If you use him would be interested to know how it goes pricewise(I also think that you may have under estimated the amount of prep needed for a good weld).
Good luck