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Telf

[Body_Work] Rust Rust And More Rust!

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DamirGTI

Perfect opportunity to buy yourself an MIG welder and learn how to weld !

 

Don't be scared off rust/bodywork repair , at least try it out and see what happens .. i bet you'll be surprised with what can be done by yourself without spending xx.xxx amount of money paying someone to do it for you , and who knows you might end like an master welder after fixing that !

 

All the areas seem pretty common sense and i dare to say not hard to fix up .. of course , once you start poking up the rusty areas you'll find more stuff to do , but this can certainly be done no need to re-shell .

 

I did some mega crappy stuff on mine back in the days , it can hardly be worse than this :ph34r: :

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=97351

 

 

D

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Telf

Right today I'm taking the tank out- Haven't done this before.

 

Any tips ? as far as I can tell its a couple of bolts and disconnect the fuel lines and filler + remove the exhaust/unhook the brake cables?

 

I see in the manual it talks about some straps but I don't see these?!?

 

Then tilt the tank towards the back?

 

This sound about right?

 

As I want to keep the engine in reasonable health during this repair period is it possible to start it if the fuel lines are submerged in a can of fuel - ie will the engine suck fuel up or does it need the pump?

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Anthony

Make sure the tank is low on fuel before removing otherwise you'll spill it everywhere and it'll be heavy.

 

If it's still present there's a strap under the heatshield that's attached at one end to the beam.

 

You'll need the fuel pump to run the engine, it won't syphon fuel by itself as it needs to be pumped and pressurised.

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Telf

ok well I can probably rig the pump to run I guess if it turns into a months long effort.. thanks anthony

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Tom Fenton

I wouldn't waste your time trying to rig the fuel system up. If you are that worried put a small amount of oil down each plug hole and turn the engine over on the starter once a month.

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Telf

that's not a bad idea tom- I'm only bothered as it will be outside - I've no garage. I suppose if its got oil and coolant it will probably be ok.

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Telf

Does anybody have any recommendations for a Mig welder? I've been told not to get a gasless one but apart from that I don't know a lot about them. Having read up online I'm still none the wiser with regard to the quality I would need to repair a Pug.

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steve@cornwall

The gut who use to weld my old Ford's and minis always favoured gas for welding (I've spent many hours on "fire watch"...lol) ans was always useful too for heat to shape fabricated patches. I've always fancied learning gas welding but cost has stuck me with a second hand gassless mig. Don't know how feasible that option is.

 

 

Damir, wow! My first read of your rebuild topic and I think I will always be a little afraid to lift a 205 carpet from now on. If that was your learning experience I'm inspired.

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Tom Fenton

Gas welding is out with the ark im afraid. No one bothers any more, mig is quicker neater and no risk of distorting everything to hell and/or setting everything on fire.

My advice re: a welder is buy one that you can get all the bits for over and above a cheap unknown.

I've got a Snap on which has served me well for years. It's a re branded Cebora.

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DamirGTI

Damir, wow! My first read of your rebuild topic and I think I will always be a little afraid to lift a 205 carpet from now on. If that was your learning experience I'm inspired.

 

No need to be afraid ! this red one was really an exception , it's impossible to find something similar ... was crashed on the RH side pretty hard and really badly repaired afterwards , suppose that the side of the floor was ripped up apart from the crash hammered out a bit and just bodged up with tons of filler and sold on ..

 

Ditto , get an mig welder it's so much easier to learn how to weld with an mig than any other arc or gas kit and especially tig ! for thin sheet metal bodywork repair even the cheapest bog standard low amp mig welder will do just fine , but do buy an decent one and spend a little bit more cos it'll pay out in the long run .

Also , get an argon/co2 gas mix ("stargon") , it's better than the straight co2 you'll have better weld control on thin metal - less chances of burning up the metal , heat distortion and cleaner welding with less sparking .

 

This site is handy for bodywork repair tools and "how to" :

 

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

 

 

D

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Telf

Thanks for the link Damir. Is that red 205 still alive?

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DamirGTI

Yes ! still here and driving , it's now some odd 14/15 years since i bought it and is my daily drive through all these years .. i have another two an black one and an sorrento which are in much better condition bodywork wise , but for some reason i cannot get rid of this red one and i do not prefer red color ether !

 

 

D

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Telf

right fuel tank removal...

 

ive removed the strap, fuel filler, disconnected the breather and the pump/wiring.

 

Unbolted the 2 stud bolts at the back . the tank has dropped at an angle but wont drop any further- is there something I'm missing??

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commievid

Doesn't one side of the tank have some sort of lip that it sits on? The front I guess? I can't remember but I seem to recall needing to lift a bit and wiggle.

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Telf

Got it thanks! it needed so serious pulling rearwards!

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Telf

so theres a hole as can be seen on the top right picture but most of the tank enclosure seems to be surface rust.

 

Not sure how to proceed! I'd been set on ripping the sills off as I know there is a hole in both. they both have a hole in the space behind the rear side trim(were the seatbelt emerges from). I haven't yet stripped the interior.

 

So do I keep and try and repair the original sills or go for a new set? I've had various advice- some think keep and repair the old based on they are made of better metal?!? Apparently the new pattern ones aren't that great?

 

Any thoughts on this from the various folk that have restored and repaired this area?

 

I'm not wanting to turn this car into a concourse shiny example- I use it daily so just want to keep it in good nick- if I make it too shiny I'll just get precious about it!

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And

Back to be the welding one thing I keep coming across is if the metal is dirty seam sealer pitted rust if it can't be avoided is to use the gasless flux core wire in a gas shielded mig it helps clean as you weld but not all welders can run it as you need to turn the polarity round.

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Telf

hi andy- im actually thinking of letting my local body shop sort the rust-hence my question about replace or repair the sills

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allye

Have you given it a good shove to the rear of the car?

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Miles

I'd repair, main issue with any welding is protection when done, Outside is easy but the inside is another issue

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Gaz205

If you're crapping yourself about that amount of rust I hope to hell I never take a look under mine!!! From those pics and what you have said it sounds like normal age related wear n tear.

Look forward to seeing how you tackle it.

Edited by Gaz205

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murtaghp

That level of rust looks to be near identical to mine when I did the floor pan a couple of years ago and funily enough, I had a holes both side in much the same place (marked with the white circle) which has since been welded.

 

I also had to fabricate and weld in a couple of repair plates as per the 2nd & 4th photos (then the proper repair sections became available)

 

I then used a wire wheel on a grinder to clean up the rest and treated the area with FE123 before spraying with Epoxy Mastic. It still looks good today (although it has not seen much action since)

 

post-3507-0-56645900-1476732665_thumb.jpgpost-3507-0-90443400-1476732674_thumb.jpgpost-3507-0-41757800-1476732685_thumb.jpgpost-3507-0-25954200-1476732692_thumb.jpg

 

 

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