Rust hole sill, welding advice needed

Trevor /chedder

Trevor /chedder

Zorg Legend
Joined
Oct 23, 2021
Points
83
Well I have my first rust hole, about 2cm at the very front of the sill. All solid at the jacking point. Gutted as I took off the outer sills two years ago and treated everything!
Thinking of buying a flux core welder, and having a go at patching it up myself. Any thoughts or advice, or cheap models to go for? In Stockport
 
The rust needs cutting out and replacing. Do NOT patch! It’s the worse thing to do as water collects between the patch and rusty hole area and simply corrodes. The corrison becomes worse. A man that @Althulas has used before explained this to me. You need someone experienced in welding to do justice to repairing your car.
 
I cant advise on a specific welder but I believe in doing things myself. I have had a small Lincoln wire feed for near 30 years now and it has saved me a fortune. I may take longer then a professional but I get good results with some patience. Sheet metal is cheap and with some time and hammers I can make any part I have needed so far. Passenger side of my car was really bad and I ended up repairing both jacking points and a few other spots.
 
Even better if you could get one of the breakers on here to see if they have a good original part of the sill they could cut out for you before the shell gets crushed, my wife’s was holed right on the front as yours is but some don’t so there’s a chance of using the original contours it looks much better than just patching.
 
Well i did it, not very pretty welds but metal exists where it had previously rusted, and it's solid. I've then covered it in primer and underbody treatment.
 

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Thanks guys. Welder on on the way will spend some time practicing first, feels like a right of passage in car maintenance 😀 (along with cracking a bolt!!)
 
I use a Clark 90amp welder from machine mart. Welding gas is cheap and makes far less mess than using the flux core welders.
Just take time to learn its capabilities.
a 110amp would work better on a chassis section, I did body panels and 90a is fine
 
Trevor /chedder said:
Thanks guys. Welder on on the way will spend some time practicing first, feels like a right of passage in car maintenance 😀 (along with cracking a bolt!!)
Click to expand...
I am looking to do some sills on my old Rover 75 and would be really interested in the Welder you bought and what the results were, plus any top tips.
 
When I lived in Germany I did a LOT of welding for a local garage to TUV/DEKRA standards where any TUV (Their MOT) re-test had to be presented without paint or any form of coating allowing the tester to inspect the repair. We always used proper gas rig.

Many years ago, I bought a cheap gasless welder from Halfords. I got decent results with it but not as nice as the gas. But in my home garage I just don't have the space for the big gas rig and a cheap/small gas rig likely won't be as good as a good gas-less one. I still have that halfords one. It's terribly worn now. Ive replaced parts but it still struggles. I won't do anything major with it so if I ever do need do some welding I'll be looking for a good quality gasless one.

I think of tools as being like a musical instrument. A novice buying a cheap guitar 'just to learn on' is actually hard work and puts the novice off learning because a cheap guitar is harder to play that a decent one.

But, after all that, the hardest part of welding a car isn't the welding. It's the preparation. Removing the old and preparing it and fabricating the new. Too many garages just slap patches over the top of the rusty holes. Don't be tempted to do that.
 
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