rusttt

hey everyone i am now on the brink of deciding whether or not to keep my car and i just wanted to ask you all a question. welll the thing is i need quite alot of weldin done and as i cannot do it myself im having to pay for it.
the things i need done are a new roof, new rear arch, area around fuel cap, rear valance, 1 maybe 2 sills.  
I was wondering if anyone could tell me ruffly how much this would cost to get done?
also one last thing i would really like to learn how to weld on cars and i wondered if anyone knew anywhere in devon where i could be taught or if there is anyone in devon that would teach me in return for money or i could help them out with things like manual labour. :dontknow:

cheers for your help everyone. Juan…

Whatever you do, take it to someone with a passion for these cars that knows what they are doing or they will cut corners and you will find the rust coming back later down the line

or buy a welder
be suprised how easy it is to learn to weld and alot cheaper in long run. other than that take it to someone who knows what there talking about

best thing is to buy a MIG welder and give it a go, I did and it was really easy

brought a couple of books which helped (if I remember I'll dig them out and let you know which ones they are)

then just test away on some spare metal (same thickness as the car) and once your happy with it start on the car

MIG Welding forum will help with any advice you'd need too  :y:

I'd guess here, doing it yourself would cost roughly ?400-?500 (that's including welder and new panels) but getting a garage willing to do the work I'd expect it'd be alot more

Ok to get a factory finish you realy want a spot welder for the spots and a mig for the seams, there goes ?500 on those two and you havent even started welding yet   i would also suggest you get in a lot of practice before tackling something on this scale, welding a patch on for mot is one thing but getting sills, arches and roof skins on right and to look neat is another, if you dont mind bringing it to me i would be happy to do the welding for you and it wont be that expensive, if you cant physicaly transport it im sure i can trailer it down  

You can spot with a MIG and you can seam with a mig, you can pick up a new welder for under ?200 or a better second hand one for similar or less.

I had my first welder for my 13th birthday, (no other technical/mechanical people in family) and taught myself to weld.

It really isn't difficult to weld metal together - If you're close to north devon I may be able to give you some help/pointers

hi everyone,
thank you all so much for the replys its been really helpfull.
i have decided to get some quotes from various people to get the welding done. but i do plan to learn how to weld as i feel this will be a necessary skill if i am going to carry on owning a mk1 golf.

regcheeseman-i am in south devon near torquay would it be possible to get some welding lessons off you if i travelled up to north devon(ive got my bike licence and a bike so transportation is no problem, i would be prepared to pay you a reasonable amount for the lessons. one more thing regcheeseman how long do you think it would take me to get up to speed with welding so i could do it on my car as i would much rather prefer to do it myself than to have to pay someone else to do it?

storm81-hi there i may be interested in getting you to do some welding for me but it depends on the price and the quality i was wondering if you could pm a rough price for the welding work i need doing(inner front drivers wing, drivers side sill, area around fuel cap, drivers side rear arch, rear valance, a small hole in the spare wheel area and a new roof welding on.

cheers everyone for the help Juan…  

too far away, sure someone local could help….

An hour playing and then you could be splattering and burning holes like a goodun.

Ideally you need someone there to guide on setting up, and correct/guide you as you progress.

Getting heat setting and wire feed right until you know yourself why it isn't welding very well

There are quite often adult education classes locally that may help?

Don't be scared, dive in, it's really not tricky, but thin work on rusty cars isn't the easiest place to start.