I wouldn't go as far as saying I know what I'm doing with it but thanks

I had never even touched a welder before this so I'm sure you could pick it up if you really wanted to. I just practiced for a bit on some random sheets of steel before actually attacking the car. You can definitely tell which are my earlier welds now I've been getting more experienced which is why I did the inside first as it'll all be covered up by carpet and trim.

I'm considering a half cage in the rear but I'm not confident enough in my welding for a purely safety related piece. I'd rather get a pro who knows what they're doing but trying to find one for a Wagon is proving difficult. I still want the full length of the boot to be useable to shove a bike in there but the only designs I've seen would interfere with that. I've seen full cages that would work but I definitely don't want a full cage in this car.

 

Hope you take this the way its intended . the first photos of the floor pan looked like you had too much wire speed and not enough power , but your latest pics look like your getting the hang of it as you probably know by now preparation is king , the sound should be like fast frying eggs and bacon .
Also as you probably know every weld has a top and a bottom that needs protecting from the infernal flash rust .
Just one other thing that im sure your aware of is that when you strengthen a car in this way it negates the protection to the passenger cell via the crumple zone (ie transfer impact to the driver )

As i say say at the top im not a nay sayer i think this a great project for a good handling car and im subscribed for what its worth

 

Yep definitely wasn’t putting enough power into those first welds. They have penetrated but they are ugly as sin. Partly from having the welder on too low a setting (following the included chart is useless) and not recognising when the welder was getting too hot to properly penetrate. I’m giving both sides a coat of primer where I can but I’m also going to use an anti corrosive cavity wax everywhere so that should hopefully take care of those bits I can’t get to with the primer by taking care of the rust that has formed then hopefully stopping any more coming back.

I knew it was going to be a learning curve which is why I started on the inside so the ugliest stuff is covered up.

It’s a good point you make about the crumple zone thing. It’s a sacrifice I was happy to make given I could be on track at much higher speeds than on the road. I’ve already decided I’ll be fitting a proper bucket seat which will aid a little in the protection department I feel and if I fit a half cage I’ll also fit a full 6 point harness. Yes the car will be worse in a slower accident but it should hopefully stand up better to track speeds which is what I’d be really worried about even if I don’t go on the track very often. It only takes that one mistake. Plus all the Chelsea tractors about nowadays kind of negates crumple zones a bit when they just plough right over normal sized cars.

 

What gas are you using Bud an argon mix can help with the thicker stuff ? .

 

Hobbyweld 5 so it is an argon mix. It's only a Clarke Mig 90 Pro so it's right at its limits doing the 3mm plates but I don't plan to do anything thicker at the moment so that's all good. Complete nonsense that it can do the 4 or 5mm it claims though.

 

It might be worth getting a gas flow meter (the pea in a tube type) to see how much gas is flowing, and also to see if you have any leaks.

I know you're welding outside, which usually means you have to use a bit more gas, but it does sound excessive! I use about 7 litres / minute, which gives me almost two hours of continous flow from the 10litres@130bar that the hobbyweld gas comes in (assuming you're using the small 10l bottles).

 

I’m using a decent reg (can’t remember the brand off the top of my head but it’s not one of the Chinese ones) with a flow rate dial. To start with I had the flow set to about 15l/min but I’ve since turned it down to 10l/min. I wasn’t actually looking at the numbers until my last bottle as the gauge also has tig and mig markings so I was just using those rather than read the actual numbers. No leaks as far as I can tell and I always close the bottle every time I stop welding even for a few minutes.

 

i also have a decent reg, but i think the flow rate markings aren't very accurate... I'd still say get a flow meter - they're only a couple of quid, and even if it saves 10% gas you'll recouperate the outlay with one bottle

 

I may need to look into one of those then. Got any recommendations?

 

also worth experimenting to see how far you can turn down the flow without making the weld porous... if it's too low, obviously you get the crusty stuff instead of clean weld, but no point in using more gas than what is required.

 

i'd probably get something like this: https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/argon-flow-meter/ - check that you have the same threads on the reg, though

 

Cheers I may need to get myself one of them. Not sure what threads are on the reg so I’ll need to check that out. I’ll try turning down the gas a bit more too. I knew my use was excessive but I wasn’t that worried since I’m still learning but i probably should start to try actually only use the amount I need to use.

 

It's a Wescol regulator I have it turns out. Ordered up one of those flow meters, cheers Henrik. Hopefully it'll save me a little bit of money on gas.

 

Been working on this for the last week or so. Would have got it finished a while ago but was waiting on the correct hardware arriving.









Originally I had planned just to buy the Tegiwa brace like I have on my Hawk but I wanted to try making something better.

 

Haven't had a chance to do much recently as the Hawk has needed a little attention and mum bought a Forester that needed a few bits and pieces sorted.

I got the gear stick surround all finished up and rebuilt the alternator with fresh bearings, brushes and stainless bolts. I've misplaced the pulley somewhere but I'm sure it'll turn up in one of the many boxes of parts.



I've made a start spraying a few of the body panels. I did do the side skirts but wasn't happy with how they've turned out so I've got to redo them. I did also do the bonnet scoop but dad decided to attack it with some wet and dry while I was asleep thinking he was being helpful polishing it up but I have to redo that too now At least the wing looks ok in primer.



That sunroof is one of the things that needed doing on the Forester. We weren't a big fan of the massive crack.

And lastly I got myself a little treat from Bazil.



Yes I know it's not an STI and never will be but who cares.

 

Hi mate, i wondered what had happened to you lol, nice to see you are getting on with it now, is that a petrol cap holder? could do with one of them myself

 

It sure is. Got myself one for each of the Wagon's and my mum one for her Forester. Hers is a little different:

 

Finally got to sit in the drivers seat for the first time in months.







It's only a temporary seat that normally lives in my living room but it was the right dimensions and mounting for mocking up. I can move it forwards one hole on the rails which will hopefully be enough for my dad to reach the pedals so he can drive it at least once.

 

good progress!

Just one note about the seat mountings - it's an MOT fail to have a fixed seat nowadays (ask me how I know...), so might make sense to get something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sparco-00...sAAOSw3zRdcjzJ Maybe not that particular set, but something that you can at least have fitted for MOT purposes.

 

Seriously?! I was trying to avoid fitting sliders. What possible reason could there be to fail a car for having a fixed seat position. The other car is due its MOT in a few weeks so I'll need to try and remember to ask them about it and if there's any way around it.

I mean, surely I could argue the seat can move, you just need a spanner to do it

 

section 6.2.5bi:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...#section-6-2-5

{quote}
(b) A driver’s seat:

(i) fore and aft adjustment mechanism not working as intended
(ii) seat moving inadvertently or backrest cannot be retained in the upright position
{quote}

 

See, I’d argue the adjustment is working as intended. You can adjust the seat by undoing the bolts which is how the mount is intended to work. Aren’t there cars/vans out there that don’t have adjustable seats as standard? I’d be challenging whoever failed the MOT on the seat.

 

Can I just say it's so nice to find a paint stripper that actually, you know, strips paint. After just a few minutes the new Spec C manifold looked like this:




Then after a quick jet washing:



So much less effort than sand blasting it and no risk of leaving grit inside to find its way inside the engine.

 

Funny thing is I was talking about paint stripper the other day lol.

Was thinking, you aren't in the States so how have you got a paint stripper that works

You need to spill the beans, what is it and where is it from

 

Oops, totally forgot to say what the stuff was. It's called Power Strip from Maxolen - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Power-Str...53.m2749.l2649

Really wish I had found this stuff months ago for doing the wings. I had been trying with the crappy B&Q stuff but that barely touched the surface. Had a little of that left over after giving up with it so tried it on the underside of the manifold but, again, it barely did anything.

 

That stuff looks mental lol

Reading through the health and safety. How did you find it

Thanks mate

 

I think I just searched for industrial paint stripper on a whim. I feel like I should be stocking up on it before it gets banned or goes the way of Nitromors.

 

Thanks mate, what I meant though was how did you find using it, was it really smelly, did you have to use loads and loads of protective equipment etc.

 

Ah well I was using it outside so I hardly noticed a smell however if I was doing lots of it I'd probably still be reaching for a respirator just because I know it could be harmful. I didn't bother with any protective equipment because I was only doing small things with a small brush but I did get one or two small splashes that got a little stingy after a few minutes but fine after I washed my hands. Pure laziness on my part not to bother with the respirator or gloves as they were both easily reachable in the shed/workshop.

 

Thanks mate

Might also be worth reaching for the googles too.

Sorry another question how thick did you have to put it on.