Today I will mostly be welding...sills....groan

[Macabry]

Spent the day cutting,forming and welding fitted patches for the two areas of rust in the off and nearside forward sills.....used 1mm mild steel... formed fairly easily.

I wasn't sure about the welding part as I have never picked up a welder before .....eek...... so just thought id try a couple of spot welds on the pieces i'd cut out, tested a couple of joints, couldnt break them......adjusted the gas and feed....and all seemed well.

fitted in my patches ...fizz fizz fizz....alls good...nice fitted patches gonna grind/smooth them in after the mot. I can't believe I never welded before, total cost of the repairs: 7 quid for the sheet metal, 13 quid for the bottle of argon/co2......bloody cheap by any standards.

So my message is:
A- Try welding its awesome
B- Volvos are nice and square for patches...less curves= bigger smiles
C- Nice heavy gauge metal...easier to weld...thanks volvo

Regards,
Shane

[minesa240x3]

Hi Shane that's damn fine welding for a first time.Give yourself a pat on the back mate.
My welding is very errattic as I stupidly bought my mig welder when they first came out.So the wire feed is errattic(spins) and the gauge is useless.The original wasn't a guage.Just a tube with a ball bearing that floated up.The shop I got it from contacted me to give me a free gauge as they had too many reports saying the tube was not working.

You have to keep my lead absolutely straight which means so much fiddling about just to get it right to feed.I really must invest in a new one as I really enjoy welding.

Anyway really enjoying reading all your doings Lol.
Regards Brian.

[Macabry]

I borrowed this one from a mate, its a cheap Clarke model...feed seems to slow and speed up which a reckon would drive you mental if you were trying to do a really fine job...I just stop if I hear the drum speeding up....

The sad thing is that my lovely 740 is sitting unused at the moment as she has decided to develope some weird lecky fault.....still how lucky am I, a 740, a 240.....and a honda c70 so that I can afford to drive them ...he he he

Out of curiousity, my 740 is rust free and spotless, my 240 is actually more original but has a couple of sill issues rustwise...is it that 240 rust easier?

Regards,
Shane.

[minesa240x3]

No basically it's more of a year thing!Some seem to rust others don't it's as simple as that.I had rot on my very first 240 estate.A "B reg".Some numpty had plate welded it along the sills and welded straight over the drain holes.
This meant all the water from the vent scuttle up by the widscreen couldn't escape.It rotted the whole floor out eventually.I didn't know it had drain holes then as volvo's were new to me.
Amazing how many cars get scrapped for the sake of a small welding job.
Regards Brian.

[spandelly]

That makes me wnt to buy a welder and something to weld

[Macabry]

Cant help but think that this car despite only having 103000 on the clock and being really clean and original would have ended up on the scrapheap if someone wouldnt weld it themselves...i.e......a bodyshop would charge about the same as the car is worth for all the welding making it unviable unless you do it yourself.

So the moral of the story is...a bit of DIY and good volvo owners spirit is about all that stands between these finely built, heavy, gas guzzling monsters and the scrappy's torch.

Scary...

Regards,
Shane

[stephend]

Shane, if that's really your first go at welding, all I can say is: RESPECT!

[c_lee]

Shane that looks to be a really good job.

I have a welder I inherited from my brother in law but it has stood in my garage unused for several years now.

Guess I'm a bit ( no, a lot ) frightened of molten metal flying and splashing, mainly on to me.

The 240 auto I have now parted needed some plating in the front sill area just as you have done but that still didn't enthuse me to get the welder out.

I know there are several types of welder and I think, from searching some years ago, mine might be a bit too powerful for body panels - though what do I know.

If I knew someone local who could show me how to use it safely I would try my hand on some scrap angle iron I have to get a feel for it.
Then progress to thiner steel.

Maybe it would be a good idea for a forum member to do a HOW TO on the subject.

Colin

[john h]

Nice job. Rust in that location is caused by Volvo's spot-welded joint between the sill and the lower section of the A-pillar, which is inside the sill.

You would have seen the A-pillar panel inside, when you cut the hole in the outer skin.

John

[Macabry]

Thanks so much for the support guys.... My first go at welding....I'll be honest, i've been into classic cars for years,I never had the balls for welding, it scared the crap out of me....my driving force this time was buying a car that needed more work than I thought....we be all done it.....and the fact that i'm effin skint and the not is in the middle of march......

So,I thought, your not gonna get a cheaper car to screw up on...just take your time and do it.....

It worked out beautifully, forming the panels took longer than anything

I'm really pleased, but I've got more difficult stuff to do, so i'm not out of the woods yet....gulp

Regards,
Shane