Mk 6 Jumbo welding advice

[madmart132]

Hi hoping for some advice my mk6 jumbo petrol is in need of quite a lot of welding i have bought a mig welder and have been waiting patiently for the rain to stop now I have my chance .
Anybody else had to do welding on a jumbo ? I can see that there is a lot of rot at the back end of the van where the floor is and also where the towbar sits etc and where the wheel arches join the floor
Any tips for a novice welder ie thickness of the steel , should i use galvinised metal ? weld inside ? or from underneath ? should i fabricate a complete floor .
Photos to come soon

[andz327]

Aye DON'T DO IT ...
use same thickness metal as the section your attempting to replace...
Some areas youll be able to do
From above some you wont...
welding a patch requires patch to be completely welded and not just spot welded (blobbing , pidgeon sh!t etc dont count)...
get some old rusty car panels from scrappy to practice on first ( using new metal doesn't count) before attempting going under vehicle....
The better you prep the area the easier it will be....
The more comfortable the position the easier it will be....
The better the equipment the easier it will be....
Always use protection ....
Gauntlets , thick overalls or welders apron and some ear plugs not just for noise like hammering in confined space but actually stops RED HOT BLOBS OF MOLTEN JUMBO SIZZLING AND MELTING INTO YOUR EAR DRUM


ANDZ

[ned]

Have you got a gas or gasless mig?

Watch some YouTube videos for tips and advice and join the welding forum, lots of good advice on there as well as on here, but mostly as Mr Andz says practice in some scrap first, the weld needs to penetrate the metal not just sit on top.

Good luck and God speed sir.

[madmart132]

Its a Gas mig and i have been saving bits of metal for last 6 months to practice with !
I heard its a lot easier using gas is that right ?

[colingo]

Disconnect the Battery, the Drain and remove the fuel tank. I wont consider any welding on petrol vehicles without the fuel tank removed. Its basically a Bomb in waiting. I use 1.6 and 2.0mm sheet with 0.6 wire and Gas, i wouldnt even bother with no gas wire. I never use galvanised, Galvanised will make you feel ill very quickly when welding it, you can drink a pint of milk prior to welding to prevent the effects but id rather just not. Welding to MOT standard is very much a joke, seeing as theyve failed it means its structural unyet the repairer doesnt need any structural welding qualifications. Like wise the Tester more than likely could not assess if a weld is good. The set up of the weld set is key as is the surface prep, the set up needs to be done in the same orientation as the repair ie set up and practice flat on bench will be very different to vertical and overhead due to the way the weld puddle reacts to gravity. To make things easy for yourself all you need to try to acheive is a series of tacks one after the other just touching each other this way you prevent heat build up and burn through. you will know when the setting is correct when the weld is slighly raised on both sides of the material, if it looks like squirel $hit it will still pass but you wont have the satisfacation of learning a new skill. Colin.

[madmart132]

It has not failed an MOT yet but will fail there is just to much rust .
Re petrol van the tank will be drained and lpg tanks removed from van totally if it was a diesel it would not be worth doing

[pmelec]

have you had much luck finding panels for your jumbo?

Ive just picked up an 04 plate jumbo needing a few bits but mostly bits I cant find repair panels for. so looks like il have to get creative with some other LWB panel parts