Seam Welding, Doith or Don't ith

[Crazy Dave]

So, the car is showing some signs of ageing , especially after a few big hits and tumbles over the last couple of years. So I need to do something about it before it breaks apart on me I guess. Has anyone paid for it to be done and if so how much for a ballpark figure does it cost. Does the engine have to be out and what else. I have stick welder and can make good holes in things about 2 inches thick so :spank: I am not going near it. If it is a drive in and drive away thing I am loving it but I am thinking it is not. This is my 4th rally car and the first time I have had to do it so is totally new to me. Money is a bit tight at the moment so I will have to do some prep work to make it easier, but I am running out of time before Narooma so I need to pull my finger out and get it done.

What has to come out?
What areas have people found need seem welding (I have seen whiteys cracks in his thread)?
What else would be considerred good practice to seem weld?

And yes I am going to have a bbq at my place but no it is not to get you all here to work on my car, I hope to have it somewhere getting fixed by then.

[ernysp76]

Hi Dave,

I had my car professionally done. The idea now seems to be to stitch weld rather than seam weld. I've got an old copy of Rally Sport News that's got some useful ideas about it I can send it up if you PM me your address. The guy that did mine does rally cars for a living, he needed the motor out. All crumple zones where plated over, all critical suspension areas where stitch welded, (all the yellow bits of paint on the photo's I posted on the build). I've since done another rally car myself, bought a mig and went to TAFE to learn how to use it total cost about $1,000 about what it would have cost to get someone to do it, but now I've got a mig and can do more as well as I learnt how to fix rust.

regards

from Sunny and Hot Victoria

30 degrees and it's 11.30pm!

John Ernst

[Damo666]

I'm with John. I bought a $600 MIG and have done my last 2 cars with it, and is obviously super-useful for other stuff car related. Mig's are really easy to use once you get used to them (point & shoot!), a week or so of practicing on old offcuts and I felt happy to have a crack on a real car.

The question of where to weld is probably best left to the guys who have been running for a while, as I get a bit carried away and have stitched literally every seam that I could find (inside, out & under it). But it is has really only cost me nothing more than my time to do this, and the car was at a bare shell which made it easy.

You really need to clear everything in the immediate area or stuff is going to melt, but you may be able to get away with leaving some components in, depending on the areas you plan to do?

As a minimum, I'd be doing the front chassis rails to inner gaurds, the strut tops, and the inner gaurds to firewall in the front.
Underneath, I'd do the chassis rails & rear suspension mount to the body (all of which was suggested to me).