Thread: The restoration of Wombat

Oh it's all high excitement in my shed.

I headed out to my shed to do some stuff for me rather than the kids.
First step, practice my welding... with my new welding gloves (gardening gloves don't quite cut it) and chipping hammer (instead of the claw)
I'm practicing running a line of weld along an old star dropper on the grounds that I don't mind ruining it. Everything fired up ready to go.
Okay, so I can't get a weld started, never can and I can only imagine that one day, starting will be a breeze. Eventually, I got the weld started and, in a stop/start fashion, burnt down one rod. Chipped off the crud and lo and behold, some bits of it looked quite even... for about a cm. Fitted a new rod. It jams to the metal. Twist it free. Do this two or three times (not sure if that's traditional or a fault in my starting technique ). Burnt down the rod. Chipped it clean and it too looks semi-horrid in parts. Go to fit a new rod... and the clip that holds the rods is euchred The very end of it pulls out of the handle. So I guess that means I'll have to go buy a new one (saw some in Bunnies today). At this moment I should point out that I rescued my welder from an old shed about 15 years ago and she was very sad then. I haven't used it till now.

So I put my welding stuff away.

Now to get that rear brake line off. Initial attempts at undoing the bolts discussed above predictably fail. No problems, Gromit has given me permission to fire up the mighty, el-cheapo angle grinder and make sparks. So I did.. and the cutting wheel had worn down too much to reach the bolt.

No probs, just fit a new one. I even had a new one in the box... which I fitted... and spent ten minutes trying to work out why the rotten thing wouldn't stay tight even though I was doing the lock nut up tight I eventually worked out that I could turn the lock nut over and it'd hold tight. I seem to remember that I go through this everytime I fit a new disc

Ground off nut.

Went to other side. Couldn't see what I was doing, couldn't get light in there (and a fancy trouble light probably wouldn't have helped), cut by feel. Sort of got it clear and using a cold chisel to lever the fitting off the other side should have done wonders. It didn't... until I took the plastic cover off the tip of the thing

I got cunning them - no, I didn't go inside for a cuppa. I knew from the others that the brake lines would be a stubborn fit into the splitter so I left the splitter bolted in place where I could use it to get some leverage. Attempts to move them with the spanner just started to round off the fitting.

Traditionally, you just keep going and ruin things so you wind up having to resort to the tool of nut destruction however, I'm getting learning stuff in my old age... and fired up the torch... and applied heat... and WD40... and lo, the wee fittings cracked free with only immoderate language.

The flexible fitting wasn't having any of it. She was wedded to that splitter and no attempts at a divorce were going to prove fruitfull.
So I undid it at the chassis end.
And un-bolted the splitter (which chose not to give any trouble at all)... and dropped a washer... which hid against a tyre so, after I finally found it, I had to move the vehicle forward to get to it, then move it back again (which only goes to show that these vehicles CHOOSE to be bloody minded, they don't HAVE to be).

The hard brake lines removed, I was left with the splitter and the flexible hose firmly in place. I clamped the 'nutted' part of the flexible hose in a vice, fitted a BIG shifting wrench along the base of the splitter, applied some force and... it cracked free.

So I've now got all the brakes lines off the chassis.
I knocked off before I could any real damage.

Originally Posted by crackers

Okay, so I can't get a weld started, never can and I can only imagine that one day, starting will be a breeze. Eventually, I got the weld started and, in a stop/start fashion, burnt down one rod. Chipped off the crud and lo and behold, some bits of it looked quite even... for about a cm. Fitted a new rod. It jams to the metal. Twist it free. Do this two or three times (not sure if that's traditional or a fault in my starting technique ). Burnt down the rod. Chipped it clean and it too looks semi-horrid in parts. Go to fit a new rod... and the clip that holds the rods is euchred The very end of it pulls out of the handle. So I guess that means I'll have to go buy a new one (saw some in Bunnies today). At this moment I should point out that I rescued my welder from an old shed about 15 years ago and she was very sad then. I haven't used it till now.

Welding is an art that needs practice, so stick with it.
It does seem (on face value at least) that you are not running enough current to the electrode. What size rod and what current are you running on your practice piece?
Low amperage can sause erratic start, and inability to continue a weld (as the amps you have at your disposal are used to melt the rod, maintain the arc, AND heat the work-piece). Your travel speed may also be too fast, meaning that more current is being diverted to heating the job than maintaining the arc. My tip is to slow it down and speed up as necessary- the worst that will happen is that you create a real fat, hot weld and at worst burn thru your work piece (which is not the end of the world on a practice job). Chuck some pics up of the wleder / your setup and welds if you want and I can assist as much as possible.

Thanks mate. There's no adjustment on this welder, might even have been a base model when new. It's certainly very very old and very very poorly looked before I got it... and I've just put it in the shed and ignored it, so it can be forgiven for not working properly.

As far as current goes, I've just been clipping the earth onto the rusty star dropper so that might be part of the problem. Originally I cleaned a spot but it's been working as is so I haven't bothered.

The rods are the ones that came with the welder when I got it. I haven't really looked at them or thought about it too much. I was going to worry about that later on when trying to weld bits of metal together.

I should point out that my 'training' is watching some Youtube videos and giving it a go. I'll certainly posts some photos of what I'm up to - thanks for the offer of help. It won't be till next weekend though.

Originally Posted by crackers

No problems getting Whitworth or don't you bother?
What do you ask for, especially as far as coating goes? Mine are all made of rust and they probably don't sell that.

Mines a series 3 so it doesn't have (much) whitworth, although I have come across a couple of nuts that both my metric and imperial stuff doesn't fit, so who knows.

If you're looking for originality in yours, then I'm not sure - you may be resorting to the expensive bolt kits from the UK.

Stick the rods in the oven at a low setting to drive the moisture out. We need to see the welder to figure out the settings.

Originally Posted by bacicat

Mines a series 3 so it doesn't have (much) whitworth, although I have come across a couple of nuts that both my metric and imperial stuff doesn't fit, so who knows.

If you're looking for originality in yours, then I'm not sure - you may be resorting to the expensive bolt kits from the UK.

So what do you ask for? Just take metric? What sort of coating?

Originally Posted by crackers

So what do you ask for? Just take metric? What sort of coating?

I'm using metric zinc plated for all the steel bits, and stainless for anything fastening aluminium. I haven't got to the body yet, so mostly zinc at the moment. I'm sure the bill will go up dramatically once I start on the body.

From an electrochemical point of view, stainless should not be used in contact with aluminium. If you do use it, use nylon washers and sleeves to prevent contact with aluminium. (Have a talk to any marine chandler about fixing stainless fittings to alloy masts)

Galvanised steel in contact with aluminium is preferable, but hard to get.

John