Hi looking for a good welding/sheet metal/restoration course. Preferably non tafe. Would love one that involves working on a project and manufacturing the replacement body parts rather than buying them all. Even if some one needs a hand with their project!I don't have a project but it's always something that I wanted to learn, for when I do have that project!!
Also I'm guessing it's mig welding mostly that would be used on body panels? What brand make model etc would be good for a beginner who would use it once a week sort of thing. And where could I buy one? I keep seeing them in Bunnings but don't know what ones good and what ones not, if any knowing Bunnings. I'm in Sydney btw.

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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
1979 998cc Leyland Roundnose Irish Mini

Hey dubguy, I was keen to do the same about 2 years ago but only course I found was a 2 day panel beating course at North Sydney tafe. So I ended up doing it but it wasn't what it was advertised. We did hammer and dolly work which we shaped a fender out of sheet metal which was really good but didn't get any written information. ( but hey was 2 days so guess couldn't get to much in!) However for anyone who reads this they have a setup there where you can bring your car in ( pretty sure you had to pay or be on a waiting list) and work on your project in a classroom with access to every tool you can think of and teachers to help you! Might be worth looking into hope it helps.
Cheers ian.

I recently went out and bought a mig welder and after asking a lot of people I ended up with a 165amp Razorweld Unimig. I can't tell you if it's any good as it's sadly been sitting since I bought it. Damn exams...

From what I've been told you want a gas welder (most important), that can be accurately adjusted to low settings and with an inverter. 165amp is good if you want to move on to bigger projects in the future.

I can't help with classes but I'd suggest getting them first before buying a welder and picking the teacher's brains.

Edit: as for gas you can rent a big bottle for roughly $18/month and something like $80 for a refil. The place I bought mine from are willing to lend me a bottle over the weekend for around $10 plus whatever gas I use. You can also buy little disposable bottles if you don't feel like you'll use up one of the big ones quickly enough.

Before you rent a gas cylinder check out if you can buy a cylinder?
Much cheaper option in the long run. I rented from BOC for years and have only recently purchased a new cylinder from Speed Gas in Sydney

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

I have Speedgas cylinders on the MIG (Ar + Co2 + O2), the TIG (Argon) and the oxy set (O2).
All these are available now in NSW from Gasweld. Not sure of Qld & Vic.
You take the empty in and swap for a full one. Just pay for the gas. NO rental, you own it outright.
Gasweld have `Speedgas' G size, E size, D size and now (in mixed gas or Argon) C size (=tiny, but bigger than the throw-away mixed gas bottles).

Saving a fortune on what I used to pay BOC...

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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 a short course probably 10 years ago at st george sutherland shire community college. Probably something like the following link
http://www.sgscc.edu.au/course/?ID=0011 ... rd%3dmetal


I bought a welder the other day from Gasweld. Also bought a bottle as it will work out cheaper in future, so easy.

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1963 850 - laid up
1970 Morris mini K van - eating up the kms!

Course looks good. Pity I don't have a project but il sort that out!
What welder did you get? Was it recommended or do you do a lot of welding?

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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
1979 998cc Leyland Roundnose Irish Mini

re welders, these days I'd get an inverter based one. Voltage control on these is stepless.
The cheap ones sold at Bunnings etc don't have enough voltage steps.

I run a 25 year old Kemppi, (has stepless voltage control) it's an oldie but a goodie.

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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.

Cheers guys

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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
1979 998cc Leyland Roundnose Irish Mini

I bought a welder about 2 weeks ago, after doing research and talking to experienced welders.

In the end I decided upon a Bossweld MIG 186 (clicky).

And I bought a D sized mixed argon/CO2 gas bottle. I chose that over the smaller bottle as by the time I did a few refills of gas I would be ahead financially. All bought from Gasweld.

My criteria was - 15A single phase plug maximum (this has 15A plug). Good for panels and thicker stuff for other projects (180A is plenty big enough for what I'll be doing). Needed to be gas. I didn't want cheap crap but I didn't need $$$ professional gear like Lincoln. The experienced welders pointed me at this one as opposed to the Unimig as the housing is much more straight forward to open and replace components if required (the Unimig is a molded shape as opposed to the simple box shape of the Bossweld) [edit: I seem to remember one saying that you had to remove the front panel to get to other components in the Unimig]. They did say however that you wouldn't go wrong with the Unimig either. Told to avoid Bunning level stuff.

Anyhoo, I have done some welding with it and to my only marginally trained eye it has been good. A very experienced welder helped dial it in and show me the basics and he seems to think it's good and that it is plenty powerful. He said it suits him as he likes to weld at fairly hot levels compared with other welders.

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Build thread for Supercharged 1275 1967 Deluxe Resto
Build thread for Mini ute conversion 998cc Turbo

jeez, thats the exact one i bought this week! from Gasweld, but i went an E-bottle (4 cubic m).


i might have to ask you what settings you have used

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1963 850 - laid up
1970 Morris mini K van - eating up the kms!

Nice! Yeah I've done some thick stuff. It's mostly trial and error at this stage. I haven't tried panel steel yet (I'm in the middle of a new shed installation so will be a few weeks).

I'll pm when I'm ready to see if YOU have any tips for ME related thing - this model doesn't have the voltage and wire feed suggestion table like other welders do. Bit of a shame. I'll see if I can find one online/email them and let you know.

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Build thread for Supercharged 1275 1967 Deluxe Resto
Build thread for Mini ute conversion 998cc Turbo

What every you end up buying, I found having a mate come over and help get the settings right made the learning process much faster and easier. I started on 3mm steel plate before progressing to tackling the windscreen lip on my mini.

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"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick it once and you'll suck forever" Brian Wilson

Haha i think you will find your settings before me. I have had a cheat infection so i havent even turned it on. Im happy to hear your secrets!

I will hopefully be using it a bit in the next month on thicker materials (3-5mm). Then attempt some sheet metal haha

I agree it will be a lot of trial and error, and then adjusting as some people prefer more heat... its so easy *cough*

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1963 850 - laid up
1970 Morris mini K van - eating up the kms!

+1 what he said, spot on

...though it might seem incongruous, I will say that once you figure out what you're doing with the thicker stuff: if you use a buttload of tack welds to do thin panel steel, changing location each time to dissipate heat, then it seems it is easier than joining two dissimilar metals of different thicknesses at a weird angle while doing a long bead...again though, just the thoughts of a relative noob.

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Build thread for Supercharged 1275 1967 Deluxe Resto
Build thread for Mini ute conversion 998cc Turbo