Thread: Panels beaters for RRC required (Meccles et al) apply within

Mate we used a spot welder for all thin panels not MIG or TIG. See if you can find someone with one they are best for thin material. Add to that modern sealant/ adhesive and it should suffice.

got a mate who is a master craftsman with rust and panel repair, old time tradie when they did repairs.
He always uses oxy/act on rust repairs for patching with wire, for doing pinholes in a otherwise good panel he uses the oxy with bronze filler rods
some times he will use the tig but reckons the oxy is better because it helps kill the rust. I have never seen him peen a weld on panels to relieve the weld as such but have seen him do plenty of stretching and shrinking with gas, hammers and dolleys.
He also has a couple of good migs in his shop and I have never seen him do rust work with a mig.
Me on the other hand, I use a mig with gas and wire for most of what I do.
cheers
blaze

Re oxy bottle rent, when the local Bunnings got into oxy, I rang BOC and talked to a helpful lady called Jaymie who said they could match that deal where you virtually only pay for the gas you use, no bottle rental. I'd suggest if you really want to use oxy for this or any other job, and there is a BOC agent handy,you give them a call.

Woolly. I think you may have nipped this thread in the bud. I rang BOC a couple of times over the last maybe 18-24 months and there was no competitive interest.

Just rang them now and this is their plan structure, if I understood correctly.

They have a G and D bottle plan. No E plan, so that makes it harder to compare to the bottle swap system, up here at least E is what is basically on offer.

For the G plan:
- Oxygen, pay $179 for the 12 month period. So you walk away with a full bottle, and are entitled to one refill during the 12 months for the price - that's $89.50 a fill effectively. If you want additional refills in the 12 months then its $179 per fill.
- Acetylene, pay $249. Full bottle and a refill - effectively $129.50 a fill. Additional refill $249.

No rental and includes GST.

After 12 months you go through the process again, paying $179 and $249 for two fills of each gas.

Compare this to a swap system, E only unfortunately up here at the moment. Buy E oxy bottle $450 with one fill included, plus each fill after that is $140 (not much under the BOC $179 for a G). Acet bottle $575 with one fill included, plus refills $175 (BOC $249 for a G).

BOC is tempting. Could I see myself normally going through two fills of each a year - probably not? But would I see myself getting lots of practice for the sake of using two fills of each before the 12 months is out - yes.

This guy: SOUP - Classic Motoring E.10 // Lotus Esprit S2, Range Rover, MG Midget, Lotus Europa, Hillman Imp - YouTube is doing an incredible amount of work, just with fluxcore. The reason is because he's using a borrowed welder as he simply can't afford a gas MIG. It isn't pretty, but it's working out well for him. I've done similar welding on my Rangie because I had the same problem you've had - those damned gas cylinders and all the expense and problems of getting them up here. I do have some little disposable cylinders now, saved for important stuff. Fluxcore isn't ideal at all, of course, but it does make repairs possible when you can't get anything else.

Thanks Davo. Remoteness can be a pain at times. According to remoteness classification people who live in the great divide around the NSW/Vic border are more remote than Darwin, based on physical access to services (not accounting for having a hospital but not necessarily the required staff etc).

I'm being pedantic about the door frame, to ensure the channel doesn't get pulled in and cause a problem for dust sealing when the door closes, and don't want to risk pulling the A and B toward each other causing door fit/door lock issues. A hammerable weld helps correct distortion.

I've used oxy before to correct distortion by contra heating, but that has been on construction work - you couldn't straighten it with mallets, winching etc. The professional welder put on some bracing plates on the inside of the RRC chassis, but induced some distortion. I had to rejig the cross bracing member more than original calculations suggested would be needed. If I had oxy on hand at the time I would have contra heated the chassis, but this bit of distortion was not critical.

The guy in your clip is doing good work, and doesn't seem to be having distortion issues.

Yes, he's managing well, I think because the amount of heat isn't enough to cause much trouble. It usually isn't with those repairs, and plenty of people have done sills and pillars on Range Rovers without needing to make any adjustments later on.

Today I dragged three G cylinders into the shed - they are heavy! Oxy, acet and argon universal. Will have to figure a way of getting them indoors/outdoors with less back strain.

Will try the 0.6 mild steel wire with the MIG/argon first, but need to set up a wind barrier. Otherwise the oxy/acet. The BOC guy says the argon universal can't be used with a TIG.

The BOC guy asked if I really needed such big cylinders. The only other size they offered was the D.

The G holds 7 metres with refill cost of $249 while the D holds 1 at a refill of $108 (if I remember correctly). If volumes are a guide (and if I have thought the the conundrum through properly) then I will have to run the D seven times to the depot for over $756 compared to one trip at $249. Give me cheap gas.