Nige4927

Active Member
I had a welding threat going but thought i would start a fresh as this is specifically Land Rover related...

A little background, as a day job I teach welding, fabrication and sheet metal at a training centre in Oldham near Manchester and i thought I would do a series of "how to" posts and video's on all sorts of welding and fabrication. Seems there are quite a few of you out there that have a welder for example and have never really had any instruction so I hope these at least help a little, I'm always happy to answer any questions and tackle specific jobs if requested.

so this first instalment I am making repairs to the rear off side wing assembly of an old series 2 Land Rover that the owner is rebuilding. My first job on this wing section is to repair a nasty, very badly corroded hole where the door retaining bracket used to fit, I say used to fit as all that is left is a big hole.

Here is the section before i start work.
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here you can see just how bad the corrosion is.
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I start by selection a piece of shiny new aluminium which is the same thickness as the body panel and big enough to allow me to cut away the corroded edges. I then mark around this with a scribe.
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Next I carefully cut out the offending corrosion following the scribe marks using a cutting disc on a 4" angle grinder. the areas that can't be reached by the grinder i use the blade of a hacksaw. Note that the corrosion has spread to the bracket behind.
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Now with a little careful fettling I ensure the new piece of ali is a snug fit inside the hole because i want this to be a seamless repair not a patch.
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After ensuring both the edges of the wing where it will be welded and the new section are fully cleaned, including wiping with acetone I begin to carefully weld up the section. I do small runs alternating which side i weld and allow cooling in between to minimise distortion.
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The new piece is now fully welded.. It was not to difficult although there were a few areas of contamination that caused a few difficulties.. Aluminium must be totally clean in order to weld but on a piece this old and so badly corroded, no matter how careful you are there will always be some issues..
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Finally using first a heavy git sanding pad on the angle grinder, followed by a fine grit pad, I polish away the welds to leave a seamless repair.. I hope you agree it looks ok..
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all in all the job took about 1 1/2 hours.. Next I tackle the rear section where it fits to the chassis.. I will post that job as well.. hope you found this a least a little interesting..

Nige
 
Settings used for this particular project were as follows..
Welder 160 amp AC/DC TIG
2.4mm Thoriated Tungsten Tip (Thoriated "Red" works better on ali that zirconiated "white" when welding with an inverter type welder)
AC balance set to 35% cleaning, or 35% Electrode Positive (depending how your machine displays this value)
Frequency= 120Hz
Amps= 90 - 120 (I used a foot pedal and used the whole range)
2.4mm aluminium filler wire
Gas = Pure Argon at 9 lpm
Number 10 cup for the butt welds, Number 7 Cup for the Fillet weld

Hope this helps, will add this detail as standard in future as a guide..

Nige
 
I got myself a second hand Tig around 10yrs ago when oxy/acet was getting near impossible to get from friends in the trade:rolleyes:
I couldn't justify an account as I hardly used it.
Got an old Oxford MIG with the pulse/spot stuff ripped out so it's just a basic MIG but 200amp and built like a tank, the wire motor is nearly as big as a defender wiper motor:)
Anyway, the Tig has sat at the back of the garage for most of the 10yrs I've had it. I couldn't seem to get it to work properly but being 10yrs ago I can't remember the issues:(. I will need to drag it out and have another play at some point cos my O/A is low now:(
I got it because I had a go on a customer's set up and practically mastered it after a few minutes:)
I think it was on steel though:rolleyes:
It also had a foot pedal which mine doesn't.
Think mine is a murex but don't know the model.
Pretty sure it won't do ali either .
 
Next instalment and it's time to tackle the badly damaged outer panel.. It appears to have been in a bump at some point and a previous owner has used huge amounts of filler paste to try and repair the damage, it was a right mess.. worse was the corrosion on the edges where the panel rivets to the rear panel.. I decided that the easiest way to deal with this was to cut out the worst of the damage and replace with new aluminium.

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First I made a template from card board of the area I wanted to remove. I decided to cut about 50mm in from the edge of the wheel arch itself as this is good condition and i don't want to loose the original curve.
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After using the template to make out the new section on a nice new piece of aluminium sheet i cut it out on the Pullmax machine.
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Next i folded the bottom lip of the new panel on the box/pan folder.
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Laying the new panel on the damaged area, I marked around it, cut out the damaged area with an angle grinder and polished the edges down to shiny aluminium.
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Next i fettled the new panel until it was as close to a perfect fit as possible.. The clamping the new piece in place I began to tack weld it in place.
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Next I drilled the rivet hole through from the back and riveted in place. Then began to weld the panel up by welding short runs in alternating places and allowing for cooling in between to minimise distortion..
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Almost complete, still need to finish the welding, stitch weld the back for extra strength, polish of the welds on the outside and straighten out and heat distortion.. but I ran out of time.. Maybe tomorrow.. not looking bad so far though eh ? ...
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Made some more progress today..

First tackled the badly corroded lower rear section, cutting out the bad area and making a new piece to weld in.
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Next I tack welded the new section in place, riveted to the side panel before fully welding it on the out side and stitch welding the inside.. The reason I stitch welded the inside is because the welds on the outside are being ground off for a seamless repair, this will weaken the new joint so stitches on the inside will ensure the repair remains strong.
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With the new rear section in place, I returned to the main side panel I had started yesterday.. I first finished the welding on the outside.. then added stitch welds to the inside, again for extra strength.
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The welding process does cause the panels around the welded areas to distort, this is not an issue and unavoidable and it's easy to deal with.. using panel beating hammers and a polished steel block I gently hammered the distortion out, polished off a section of the weld (on the outside) panel beat some more, polished some more, until I had a seamless straight joint, I did this about 4" at a time.. one good thing about working with Aluminium is panel beating is so easy..
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So now the project is starting to look good..
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Still a few jobs to do, I need to fill this ugly hole and blend a nice piece into the corner.
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The final job will be to deal with this area of rot on the inside.. I plan to make a whole new section with matching holes and weld this on top of the old one.
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Settings used for this particular project were as follows..
Welder 160 amp AC/DC TIG
2.4mm Thoriated Tungsten Tip (Thoriated "Red" works better on ali that zirconiated "white" when welding with an inverter type welder)
AC balance set to 35% cleaning, or 35% Electrode Positive (depending how your machine displays this value)
Frequency= 120Hz
Amps= 90 - 120 (I used a foot pedal and used the whole range)
2.4mm aluminium filler wire
Gas = Pure Argon at 9 lpm
Number 10 cup for the butt welds, Number 7 Cup for the Fillet weld

Hope this helps, will add this detail as standard in future as a guide..

Nige
Very impressive. I have a MIG. More research required.
 
Very good sir! Finally, about time to see some needs welds on here! Used to seeing spitting tack welds from hicap, 8250 and co
 

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