Renault 11 Turbo Phase 2 Restoration

[Chris Smith]

Will get some this week and send you over the info on it

 

[Grizzly]

greats, you perform re bulding in details

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

WELDING - 1 : STEVE - 2 (Steve Wins!)​

Had a day in the garage yesterday with my Best Man Jez to have a lash at the welding required on the 11, as it's holding me up doing any more work at the moment! It's the first time we've done any welding since we were both apprentices in the early 90's, so I wanted someone there for morale support!

There were 3 parts that required attention, first was a hole in the rear chassis rail:

We used a fine "Dremel" style grinder for the fine sections:

Then a larger grinder for the main cuttin:


Out she comes!! The inside of the Box Section looked pretty clean. I will be covering all this with a Dinitrol/Waxoil type product (not confirmed which one yet):

Gave the surfaces a little tickle up with a grinding wheel to remove the paint from where we needed to weld. (Yes they're safety glasses, not just some ones I got from a Madness gig They're actually special ones for boatyards so you don't get dazzled from the light on the water... well that's what my mate said who I got them off, who works with boats!)

Made a little winning plate for the gap:

Then started the WELDING!!

Not going to win any prizes, but not bad for a first effort:


Feeling pretty confident, after that success, we moved onto the next piece, just ahead of the rear axle mounting:




You now see how useful the little stool is @Mart


So this was where everything was going right, and Steve was in the lead with 2 point, and the welding trailing behind with 0. Next part was a piece of very thin steel in the floorpan that had become pitted, so I wanted to repair it. Again the offending piece was marked for removal:

Then removed:

And then a new piece nicely shaped to fit:

This was exactly the point where it all went to sh1te!!! The welder was blowing holes in the metal like crazy... even with me trying to spot weld it..I got thoroughly p1ssed off, and decided to call it a day

Will go back to it another day... and cut a LARGER patch to start with!!

Thanks for reading

 

[DaveL485]

What thickness wire are you using Steve? If it's .8 drop to .6 and drop your current, use max gas as well and let the gas flow for a second before you start the wire feed. Your trigger should be staged to bring the gas in first.
I found .8 is absolutely impossible to get a decent weld and just blows holes through panel thickness like that. It's still not very easy with .6 tbh but do-able.

 

[DaveL485]

Some tips here

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm

Also backing the steel you're welding with copper can help when welding steel. It stops the weld pool dropping out (hole) but the weld wont bond with the copper. Hold a copper block behind it or clamp a flattened bit of copper pipe behind it IYSWIM.

 

[Haz]

Very jealous of your shell, think I had more rot in my engine bay than you have in the whole car!

 

[Mart]

Good to see the little stool getting involved.

 

[DaveL485]

Very jealous of your shell, think I had more rot in my engine bay than you have in the whole car!

Not forgetting its had a couple of bags of sand worth of stripping, rust removal and welding before steveio got his grinder hat on. I only wish I had the time and facility to do the same to my 9

 

[andybond]

That looks great fun !

How did you manage to get the site address etched into the metal though ?

 

[Brigsy]

Not a bad attempt at the old welding Steve, its a nightmare to do on the thin stuff. @Kris M is the expert on welding the french tin! Might be worth investing in a big bottle of gas as its cheaper than the small bottles.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

What thickness wire are you using Steve? If it's .8 drop to .6 and drop your current, use max gas as well and let the gas flow for a second before you start the wire feed. Your trigger should be staged to bring the gas in first.
I found .8 is absolutely impossible to get a decent weld and just blows holes through panel thickness like that. It's still not very easy with .6 tbh but do-able.

Yeah it's the 0.6mm wire Dave, and I'm using Argon shield.

Think as @Brigsy has recommended, I'm going to splash out on a proper hobby bottle, not used those Janky Machine Mart ones which don't have more than a fart inside

 

[DaveL485]

Yeah it's the 0.6mm wire Dave, and I'm using Argon shield.

Think as @Brigsy has recommended, I'm going to splash out on a proper hobby bottle, not used those Janky Machine Mart ones which don't have more than a fart inside

CO2 for mild steel mate not Argon.

 

[Haz]

Think he means argosheild mix Dave.
Hmmm, @Kris M, when shall I drop my 11 off .

 

[j_carter]

That does not look too shabby Steve. Make sure you are really close to the panel with the gun and try a slower wire speed. Looks like its set a little fast..

 

[DaveL485]

Think he means argosheild mix Dave.
Hmmm, @Kris M, when shall I drop my 11 off .

Shortly after my 9 is finished?

 

[Kris M]

yeah good effort steve, its never easy on thin gauge material as already stated.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

So, after losing a point... and my rag... the previous weekend, I decided to try again with the welding on the underside of the 11 Turbo last weekend. I figured that one of the things not helping me was the crappy small gas bottles running out so soon, so after a chat with my local BOC dealer, I came home with this bad boy:


So now it was definitely a case of all the gear... and no idea.. I also bought myself a couple of better cutting and grinding discs. So first it was a case of again cutting out the HORROR that was left from before, and making the appropriate patch:

Again it was a case of carefully welding, and then grinding it back... This time we had more success
But again the welder was blowing holes in the steel like hell, even with the new fancy gas, and the only way we could figure our to stop it was to hold a small piece of the steel on the inside of the car, to give the welder something to go at. Problem is.... I'm now left with this on the inside of the car:

AND I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!! So I'm still scratching my head about what do to next..... to clear it up on the inside. Suggestions welcome

Thanks for reading

 

[Haz]

Just buzz it off. If you're having to offer some support use copper as it doesn't weld. Get a bit of 22mm copper pipe and hammer it flat. Same process as what you've done

 

[DaveL485]

Also backing the steel you're welding with copper can help when welding steel. It stops the weld pool dropping out (hole) but the weld wont bond with the copper. Hold a copper block behind it or clamp a flattened bit of copper pipe behind it IYSWIM.

Just buzz it off. If you're having to offer some support use copper as it doesn't weld. Get a bit of 22mm copper pipe and hammer it flat. Same process as what you've done

Maybe if someone else tells him he'll pay attention Haz lol

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Maybe if someone else tells him he'll pay attention Haz lol

Oi Mr LFB.. I was backing it with a copper plate I had and still we had the problem of the holes blowing through..

I will have a go at gently buzzing off the excess on the inside of the car though, think that may be possible?