Heya Everyone...

I'm looking to doing a welding short course at tafe and was wondering which type of welding would be suitable for restoring a mini. Basically in my mini atm the passenger side floor needs to be replaced as well as pretty much the entire boot. I could get it done by a professional but it's a skill i'd like to learn anyway so figure its worth a go... So the options on offer are MIG, OXY, ARC and TIG... I'm guessing MIG would be most suitable? Probably will make a little frame like JAM has done to put the shell on when i take out the subframes to so welding would definitely come in handy... Any advice would be appreciated

Cheers,
Steve

Do the lot I used Mig and Oxy on my bros resto

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A Bloody Mini

1970 Mini K, 1380cc, 1.75 HIF SU, 30 70 Cam, 2" Zorts
1969 Mini K, Stock Standard and Orginal. (Slow as Hell)

First off I would go MIG. Once you have brought your rig you can pretty much go from there. A Tafe course is a good start. TIG, ARC and OXY can all be learnt but MIG will get you going fairly quickly. Ask Doc his opinion as he is an industrial welder.

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225hp atw on 14psi. 1/4 Mile no idea. Take one 1971 Mini Clubman, one Starlet GT Halfcut, Simmer over a warm MIG Welder, and Voila Minstar! www.mpdesign.id.au

Definately start with MIG.

I own an engineering firm, and although we tend to work on the heavier (industrial) end of the scale, we use MIG or FCAW for the majority of our work.

Oxy welding is good, but mastering it is a lot more difficult & time consuming than MIG.
None of my guys would classify as competent oxy welders - it's a dying art!

Mike

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Too many cars, and too little time.

"FCAW " ?

I know MGAW .. (MIG) but FCAW ?

J

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Here's a web definition:

http://www.ozarc.com/welding_terms.htm

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

Spot on.

Did not mean to confuse, but we mostly use a flux cored wire with CO2 gas shielding.
Very similar to MIG (GMAW), but generally a bit hotter. Good for structural welds and galv/PGI. Most short welding courses should cover this too.

You can also have self shielding flux cored wires - that is what the "gasless MIGs" use.
OK for home use, &you don't have to worry about paying hire on the gas bottles every month.

Mike

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Too many cars, and too little time.

True but the gas bottles aren't terribly expensive. I did a course which was primarily MIG & TIG, but we also learnt gas, stick, bronze welding, plasma & gas cutting. Plus had access to all the equipment - I'm thinking of doing it again!

MIG is easiest to master, and most applicable to panel work. TIG equipment is becoming cheaper, with inverter TIGs which are good for car stuff, but can't weld Aluminium. A true TIG welder is expensive and usually requires 3 phase power. Apparently true craftsmen use Oxy for car restoration (the bead isn't as hard), but it takes a lot longer to master. Oxy also requires the hireage of 2 bottles, although it more versatile since you can heat (for bending) and cut as well.

MIG welders are fairly cheap, I have a Telwin 150 amp machine and it works really well. The gas bottle costs about NZ$10/month. I've nearly finished welding a new RH rear panel and rear panels onto my Clubman, and fixed the completely rusted roof seam along the way. Gasless (flux coated) wire doesn't leave as nice a seam, but handy to have a roll on hand if you run out of gas in the weekend. You can MIG aluminium with the right wire & gas, but you can't (I believe) really do anything structural as Aluminium requires heat treatment after welding for strength.

well i did the intro course that gives you a bit of each, and which is a pre requisite for doing any of the courses that specialises in one process or another. it was great. then did GMAW and MMAW level one courses as they are the most useful for unskilled amateurs like me. course was officially called manufacturing technology or some such.

as far as the instructors go, they love the people who come in the evenings to learn for a hobby, because you are there by choice and want to learn, whereas the average 16 yr old apprentice just wants to fart around and knows it all anyway. Oh and they tend to think anything under 3mm thick is sheet metal

do it for sure, you learn heaps, including what sort of welder to buy, and why you get what you pays for.

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Ditto. Some guys were there to get certified (have to do it every 2 years), but some were building choppers and trailers, even a Bedford van. The tutor was great and let people "specialise". I think I was the only one who really wanted to learn the thin stuff, so Greg showed me how to do good plug welds. Oh, BTW you can get Oxy cheaper if you use LPG - then you only need an oxygen bottle and borrow the LPG from the bbq. LPG burns hotter and is much cheaper. Plus you can refill in the weekend... not sure if you need different tips though.

Oxy/LPG is much cheaper, but is not quite as hot as oxy/acetylene, so we only use acetylene for cutting plate over 50mm thick and use LPG for everything else. You do need different tips.

Mike

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Too many cars, and too little time.

Oxy LPG will braze, but it's not hot enough for fusion welding with steel wire.

I agree with all those above, MIG is the best all round bet for Mini restoration.
I have MIG, stick and oxy, the MIG does 95% of the work.

For welding (rusty) Minis, I find gas and solid wire works better than gasless. I use 0.8 wire on my Kemppi welder. Amazing what it can fill...

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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 did oxy, arc, mig, tig, and enjoyed every minute of it though at the time it had a lot of theory which has been handy. What techs used to do was a panel beating course at night. This was great for learning how to re-skin doors and actually make rust replacement panels. The advantage of this course was all the foders, rollers, guilotines etc that we could use. I repeated it for several years to get my jobs done. As someone said, everyone wants to be there and they are great courses with no time wasters.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

I also did a TAFE course... was 12 months long, 8 til 4 every day.

"Pre-Vocational Engineering Mutli-Trades"

That course included Blacksmithing, Patternmaking, Lathes, Milling Machines, MIG, TIG, Arc, Oxy, sheetmetal fabrication... etc

We had the chance to FABRICATE a WORKING 2 stroke engine, carb and all.... I was too slow and didnt finish it (suprise, suprise )

We did some fun fields trips too - the Submarine Corp was best

Definately a good course.... but may be a bit more than what you're after.

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

thanks for all the good tips guys can't wait to get my hands dirty/// the course i'll enrol in is probably going to be for MIG to begin with (its a 2 day short course, 6 hours each day) then see how I go from there... damn.. wish i had the time to do that 12 month course of yours 850, doesnt look like they have such a course going atm up here... will have to make some phone calls and quit my job then where would all the mini money come from..

cheers guys