spot welder
Turbo Mini Forums

im going to put new outer sills on me car (pukka ones) and want to do best job possible is it worth hiring or buying (second hand) electric spot welder for the seems . last times i did sills i used me mig and they wernt that neat a job. :) how easy are they to use.

cheeres
carl

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

VERY easy...
Bear in mind they're only good for spotting around 1/2 of the length of the (inner) weld line of the sill as the seat box and rear 1/4 gets in the way.
For external seams - they are the daddy. You won't regret buying one. :)

For the inner seams - I just drill holes in the outer panel (sill) and plug-weld them with the MIG on HIGHEST amperage (for a 135 at least). This is very effective - but only if you have the panels flush. I modified an old shroud by welding a piece of 1/8" key steel along it, such that it was sticking proud of the shroud by 1/4" or so. This allowed me to push on the outer sill, forcing it against the inner sill, then spotting it.

Important thing is to make sure the weld first hits the rear panel first (inner sill) then as a pool develops, do a small circular motion to 'catch' the outer sill and then fill the hole.

You'll have the hang of it inside of a few attemps if you're already familiar with a mig.
:)

Carl I have a spot welder you can borrow, you'd have to come and fetch it though.

It also has some extension arms that fit on so should be OK to get to most of the "spot-able" areas.

I "plug" welded new sills on the wifes 35 last year and the MOT guy failed it.

He stated that all weld repairs must be continuously welded!

I was right pissed off.

Best check that spot welding will be passed by your MOT guy.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

cheers tom i may take you up on that, but dont need it just yet.

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

I basically wouldn't put new sills on and tell the tester they were new. Paint them, underseal them, and whatever. Tell him you stripped them back to bare-metal and re-painted them if needs be - but just don't tell him they are replacements.
That way - he can't have any doubt about failling it can he?

I don't like spot welders, I thought they would be easier to do panels with so I bought an expensive computer controlled one. I personally found it hard to get a good weld with it and found plug welding much better. The result is a £400 spot welder sitting on my bench doing nothing!
Just my opinion though