Can someone explain something to me...

When you weld two panels together, they have the seams, so you spot weld them, smooth over etc etc... Same with floor pans etc.

If you are not replacing a panel but want to cut rust out and "extend" the existing panel, how do you do this cleanly? I have cut some rust out of the rear windows for the panel van and now need to get the windows back in...

thanks..!

depends how big the hole is... what part of where do you need to fix? Is it flat or shaped? Two ways that I know of is, fabricate a new bit of metal that is the size of the hole, and weld it in, or if they are pretty small, just "weld" in the hole... start from the edge, weld against the edge, let it cool, weld against new edge etc keep going till its gone....

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Size DOES Matter!!!

what i did on the windows of my old clubby was put a crease or a lip in where the overlap is... so the insert piece from the side would look like this:

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otherwise if you weld a flat piece in, just build up the gap with filler..

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tim
68 Deluxe 1293, HIF44, megajolt/EDIS4, daihatsu alternator..

'a mini is for life, not just for christmas!'

There is a tool that will do that for you. Have seen them on eBay - don't know what it's called

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

I just welded 2 bits of flat in (one horizontal, then another vertical) and ground it flush- no filler.
After it was all finish welded I brushed lots of Coldgal paint up in underneath... it won't rot out there again in a hurry.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I think it is called a flange tool. I've got a compressed air driven one I've never used (the panelbeater who ended up doing my car butt welded it - mostly by spot-weld then infilling with braising; ie a combination of MIG and Oxy acetylene welding).
KB

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Following from the Doc's point I had imagined that if faced with that sort of task I would cut a piece to just fit inside the hole and hold it in place with welding magnets and do as the Doc did.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

The tool used is called a joddler, you can get hydralic ones hich cost around $5000. You can buy ones that are run by compresed air. Mine cost me about $350 from memory and works great. Also comes with a hole punch so you can plug weld panels together

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Mini, its in my blood........

Not taking the P**s or anything, but $5000???? You can buy a hand one for about 40GBP - so I suppose that would be around $100? They do the job well enough if you've got the patience to do it. I've got one sitting in me garage. Not sure where you would buy one here though! If it's a small bit of metal a joddler won't be of any use. If it's a small hole and you want to weld it up like Trixitrine says, that's ok, but be careful that you don't burn a bigger hole (because the metal will be very thin around that area!).

There's a few on eBay mostly from the States but this 2 in 1 Flange tool is local (Victoria)

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

That's pretty good value I reckon! If I had a lot of metalwork to do it would be worth it.

I've done a few minis now and there are a few ways of doing it, everyone has there own way though. Personally if its a small hole just fill it up with weld. If the hole is too big for this I drop the grinder in with a cutting disk on and cut out a square or rectangular( cos its easier too make plates these shapes). You then get a piece of card and make a template, then you can do it 1 of 2 ways; cut a piece of metal the same size as the hole and weld it in or cut 4 strips of metal about an inch (25mm) wide and spot weld them all the way round on the underside of the hole so half of the width is visable inside the hole.You have now created a ledge for your new plate to sit on just weld in the new metal as per normal. Just remember to paint EVERYTHING with something like a zinc rich primer. Cheapest place for these is an industrial fastner place, spray cans here in SA cost well under $10. I use zinc rich primer as its the same as weld through primer but costs a fraction of the price. The second way I described is probably easier if your a novice welder/bodyworker because you have a piece of metal to weld into underneath.

Hope this helps and I've explained it ok

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TOO MANY MINIS AND NOT ENOUGH TIME

thanks for the advice guys... Sorry I am bad at explaining things....

Its actually a panel van rear window that had rust cut out.... the side started like this...

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but its now something like this

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if that makes sense... I need to extend the end part on the right upwards so then the rubber will keep the window in... Will the above methods work still...???

Would it be easier to put solid sides back onto the van?

I just hammer the flange into the panel by hitting over a former I have that is the exact shape - a bit cheaper than $5000