Woohoo!! I finally managed to get myself a MIG welder!

The fella I work with (Pete) bought himself a kombi camper some months ago and has been waiting for a friend of mine to do some rust repairs so we could get it roadworthy. Unfortunately, that friend of mine is now too busy with several of his own projects (37 Buick, 65 Mini, 32 Ford rod) to do the job. As Pete has booked his long service for the 3rd school term already, he was champing at the bit about his non-registered camper sitting in his shed, so I bit the bullet and lashed out on a CIGweld Transmig 190, with some ARGOshield Light Gas and some 0.6mm wire.

It's taken me two weeks to get the thing finished as I had some rust to repair above the LH rear wheel, then a roadworthy check found a stuffed wheel cylinder, so I replaced both, and the washer hose was perished. I also kicked out the old (chipped) windscreen and repaired some rust around the bottom edge.

My welding is pretty rough, as this is the first time I've used a MIG, and Pete wasn't giving me time to practice first, but I'm pretty stoked with the job, all things considered.

Here's a pic of the piece I THOUGHT I'd have to replace....

...and here's what I found:

Note the nut hanging out of the chassis; the bus was rear ended, pulling the bumper mount down. I thought I'd get away with bashing it back up and welding it, but as I found out, this wasn't the case.

The more observant readers may have noticed the rust bubbles on the corner. I was hoping to be able to grind these back and treat the metal, but it was so thin, I ended up cutting right around to the seam. I also had to replace a section approx 3x4" in between the seam and the rear wheel-arch.

Here's what's left of the battery tray. The previous owner moved the battery to the LHS, extended the positive battery cable and bolted the ground cable to the coil bracket! :duh

I also discovered a need to replace the bottom part of this pillar, as it was VERY thin!

Here's the new pillar and battery tray:

And the new bottom section of the chassis, with captured nuts:

100mm rod to brace the plate, and stop the battery sliding. I also later added a piece of flat to hold down the RH side of the battery.

Adding some pieces from my donor kombi...

I know the welds are dodgy, but this IS my first experience with a MIG. Nothing that grinding back and rewelding three times can't fix.... :duh

It begins to look better after all that grinding and welding, and a coat of primer:

A skim of fibreglass, then filler, and more primer:

On ya Kol. Looks good for a first attemp with a mig. The good news is the more you weld the better you will get.

And finally! A coat of the original colour 'Martini Olive', and the rest of the bus is looking a bit shabby by comparison.

I managed to get a paint run behind where the bumper sits, and the colour is much brighter than the previous respray that someone else has done, and I could have spent some more time getting it smooth, but Pete was cracking the whip by this stage.

Yeah Glenno, I figured that would be the case, but I'm interested in doing a course if I can find one at the local TAFE.

The 'finished' product. It still needs cutting back, but my brief was to get it roadworthy. Incidently, this was my first time spraying acrylic also, and to make matters worse, I used an 'Eager Beaver'! :jesus

[Edited on 22-3-2005 by KruizinKombi]

nice work dude, i'd be more than happy with myself if my fist mig work turned out like yours

And here's a pic of the rust repair on the other side. "Yeah, I'll just hit it with the flapper disc for ya".... Like hell! As it turned out, there had been a previous repair and the panel was about as straight as John Lennon!

Another first for me: straightening a flat panel!!

Summary: I can see plenty of room for improvement, but I got the job done, and Pete (the owner) is stoked. :thumb

Ohhh nooo. Not the eager beaver.....

m8 going over heaps isnt the best way but its about the same as my 1st go, i did a metal & engineering course so ive bin taught properly and had lots of painfully boring practise, extremely useful skill 2 have tho, and u will get better the more often u do it, and by the looks youve done better at spraying than i could of done, yeah impressive job 4 1st timer, how much rust can u find in other cars around the place?

Good job KK!! suits the purpose perfectly!
I bet you felt a bit concerned after you opened her up and saw more and more of the nasty red stuff!

Looks like you`ll be an expert in no time mate.
Only bad thing is that`s when you take on bigger jobs. LOL

YEs, its a terrible sinking feeling...... oh s*&t, thats not all there is..... have a beer and contemplate, then get into it !

You should be proud of your efforts - thats about a zillion % better than it was to start with, and a good spray job to boot.

Great job, congratualtions on the first time. I wish my first welding job was that good.

good job and arent those cig welders great,use one at work all the time so easy to use and setup :thumb

and dont knock the old beaver sprayers have sprayed about 5 or 6 cars with one till i got my compressor

good work Kol !

should open your own garage, Kol's Resto's !

hows things?

cheers

James

It is good to see you attacked the job in a methodical and very thoghtful way. There are always more than one way to do a job and you have done it first time, better than you would get from an experienced yet lazy panel beater.

By the way Martini Olive was the colour of our first kombi and it is very good to hide in National Parks when you are camping.

well done!

Thanks all for the positive feedback!

Yeah Skewy, doing ok. Flat out lately, but still in the same spot.... kinda like a mouse on a treadmill!