Chassis rust - Can anyone recommend a good welder not far from Haslemere / Hindhead?

I made the mistake of getting under my 1985 LR90 with a screwdriver and hammer to investigate visible chassis rust at the weekend...

As a result of that (and probably a little over-eagerness) I now have several holes in the chassis on the drivers side behind the rear shock mount. One of those holes is so big I was able to get my hand in and remove a couple of kilos of rust debris from the inside of the box section.

I found when I hit the chassis in places with a small hammer that big flakes of rust were falling off both inside and out - not confidence inspiring!

There is also a small hole about the size of a pea which has appeared in line with the back shock mount on top of the chassis box section - there's not a lot of clearance between the body and the chassis there - maybe an inch - I didn't take the screwdriver or hammer to that because I hadn't noticed it before I put the tools away so who knows how bad that might be.

Not being experienced in these matters (this is my first landy), I'm not sure of a few things:
a) What is it possible to actually fix with a bit of good welding and some steel plates?
b) Would a welder be able to do chassis plating without removing the body?
c) If I have to get someone to remove the body to do some welding, how many hours (i.e. how much) is that likely to take / cost?

Most importantly though, can anyone recommend a good welder not too far from Hindhead - so south Surrey or north Hampshire?

Cheers,
Gid

Maybe not the answer you wanted - but your best bet is to buy a small MIG welder and do the work yourself, otherwise you will be in danger of the work costing more than your landy is worth.

A decent 135Amp mig welder will set u back around £150 second hand and they are useful for loads of stuff, easy to use too.

Plus, its another power tool for the collection

Trotton Gate Garage is close to you. It's on the road from Pertersfield to Midhurst.

wot about Keith Gotts - Alton?

OK - thanks guys - I'm going to see Jon at SE Autoworks in Guildford who's done some other work on the LR for me as I'm in Guildford on Sat AM anyway and then I'll pop to Keith Gott and see what they say... good to get >1 quote after all.

Landy-ads said:

Maybe not the answer you wanted - but your best bet is to buy a small MIG welder and do the work yourself, otherwise you will be in danger of the work costing more than your landy is worth.

A decent 135Amp mig welder will set u back around £150 second hand and they are useful for loads of stuff, easy to use too.

Plus, its another power tool for the collection

Click to expand...

Thats the way it's done, weldin costs a fortune, do it yourself. Make the plates in carboard and then transfer them to plate probably 18 guage. heavier than that its hard to cut them.

You can hire em but by the time your finished you will have paid half what it cost for a new one. It's gona need more again so better to plan ahead, and it's a good skill to learn but migs are **** case to use as said.