When It All Goes WRONG - How not to Weld - Rusty Van Conversion. 

Please put a guard on that grinder. Some of the worst injuries I’ve seen in the workplace have been with abrasive wheels. Good work with the old mig. All the best mate. Bill.

Hi Joe, I see so many youtubers using angle grinders without the guard fitted, please do not risk it, one slip and one or two finders could be gone forever in the blink of an eye. It is very dangerous, you were lucky. (retired engineer and safety advisor)

Lovely Jubbly on trying to weld Joe, it's definitely a skill you have or can be taught to a satisfactory level. Good on you for having a go at it though, just shows we aren't all perfect unlike some RU-vidrs.

Plenty of goose honks this week! I am full of admiration for your persistence and boldness in tackling difficult jobs Joe. The Practical Classics Skillshack videos on welding are great. Mikey Coman is a very good instructor. You should pulse weld on thin material. Tack the patch around the edges, then tack in between the tacks until you have them about 1 inch apart. Then pulse weld in short bursts of a couple of seconds letting the metal cool between welds.

Hint for Mig Welding, disconnect the battery and the alternator, the Mig can destroy them. I've done a lot of welding on my Classic mini, I'd say the feed is still not smooth enough which was making life hard for you too. Still think you've done well to get a T25 that isn't that rusty... I'd love to find one needing that little work. Last hint, if it sounds like sizzling bacon when welding then your doing a good job.

My Mate Vince (channel) had the same problem with a SIP welder. I own an older SIP welder and always have struggled. Vince drills holes though the new metal, overlaps, and then fills them with weld. Once grounded they look like a spot weld. Keep going. Love the support Danni gives you at the end. Bless.

weld through primer is what you need :) good you are giving it a go, live is all about learning from our mistakes, the person who never made a mistake, never made anything, try not to let it get you down.

Joe I respect your enthusiasm, It takes a long while to get good at welding thin steel bodywork

I Applaud you guys for going for this its a great build .i remember watching Guy Martin building a narrow boat him. & mate mark ( Mavis ) Davis.working on the boat im not sure you can get it on RU-vid it was called the boat that Guy built. Im so happy to seeguys like you taking on the channel. Im a massive bike fan so could watch him ride to.take care Dannii & Joe much love ♥️

You two are amazing, good to see Danni back, baking and cooking chips! You will sort it, you always do.

Another brilliant video guys ❤️❤️🚐🚐 xx

Oh Joe you are a sweetheart and always give anything a go. You two make a great team! Nothing seems to faze you x

Well I agree with danni, well done you always try... well done on the jobs so far... thank you both for your videos...

Hi Danni & Joe. Nice to see you doing your own work on your van. I'm at the moment replacing the old interior of my mgf. And putting in new colour in to upgrade it. I've had the exterior of the bodywork done and wheels. It looks awesome now. I'm so proud of it drives like a dream. I love watching your videos they are amazing. 👍🚙

Warts and all Joe. Keep on going, I'mwith Danni, you always get there in the end. Best wishes to you both, great videos! Xx

It's a skill that's worth learning when you own a T25 will save yourself thousands.. but maybe not your sanity!

You’ll get the hang of it mate. Good old RU-vid videos are always there to help. You can get weld through primers. Sounds like the wire speed was to high in my opinion but I’m still learning the same way you are just by giving it a go. I managed to get our lorry, van and Land Rover welded up so keep trying. But getting the welder set right is one of the biggest helps and get the metals as clean as you possibly can.

Hi Danni, Joe. Joe, you are amazing learning welding. You are doing a great job. Take Care.

Apart from the lack of guard , bloody brilliant entertainment. Keep up the good work 😂👍

Really enjoyed this video As a hobby welder of some (cough) 20+ years, I felt your pain. Your very lucky as T25s can be welded without catching fire, but some vehicles love to burn 😅. Practice builds experience. It was a first good attempt. I cringed watching the practice on galvanized, that creates arsenic vapour.

Well Jo give you ten out of ten for effort. What Danni said was true,you figure it out well done. Have a great week 😮

Joe, you looked absolutely exhausted at the end of the video. I know you have a schedule to meet but, set limits as to how hard you work yourself so you don't burn out. Danni, it was good to see you in the video again. Yes, as you found out the hard way, sheet metal is very difficult to weld, especially on a car where you have to work around the interference of body panels. Having to fix the welder first is no fun. If possible, if you have a friend that is an experienced welder and could come over and oversee things for an hour, that would be better than a RU-vid video. With those steps you are repairing, you need to make sure the underside of those areas will drain water that splashes up, otherwise it will rust out, no matter how well it is rust proofed. I highly recommend not traveling to Greece with the camper van this year unless you also bring a flatbed lorry along. Instead, go on some shorter trips first to prove the reliability of the van. When a car is over 10 years old and not driven regularly, it develops problems that you don't commonly see on fairly new cars. Such as: wheel bearing or constant velocity joint failure, various hydraulic leaks in the brake system, brake material delamination, rusted out cables and/or cable guides for the emergency brake, throttle, heater, and clutch, a seal abruptly going bad in the engine or transaxle, the engine abruptly starts consuming huge amounts of motor oil and smoking, wiring, light bulb sockets, and switches opening up, and then some. I am not trying to use scare tactics, it is just that I have learned these things the hard way and wanted to spare you some of the ways old cars can strand you. Otherwise, keep up the good work Joe. Although repairs haven't gone exactly according to plan, you get an A+ for effort!

For thin metal i have always turned the power up. Ie if im welding 1.5mm steel i will put it on a 3mm setting (look at the sheet with the welder) You then put a series of tacks along the length of the join. That way you have enough heat for the tacks to penetrate. Literally tack and move tack and move. You end up stitch welding it which reduces heat in the panel and chance of burn through.

Glad to see you gave it a go! Don’t give up, thin ass sheet metal can be a right pain, keep at it 🤟

You pair really made me giggle. Fair play for tackling all that you have with the boat and the van. Welding is hard on old rusty metal and butt joining with a few mm gap is quite an achievement. Probably best to just spot weld the entire way around in that situation. Danni made me crack up when she asked if the van is going to make it to greece when you were trying to start it. My thoughts exactly. Keep on doing what you are doing and keep having fun :)

if you do any more welding on your van disconect the battery first or you will fry the electrics,well done for having a go and keep practicing.

Look forward to next week's shenanigans if this week was anything to go by! Listen to all the safety advice you're getting on here so we can continue to enjoy your exploits 😊& we'll be watching the pair of you trundling off to Greece eventually in your renovated trusty steed. 😁

yea, you have to start somewhere, a good fitting patch is a good start . set your welder settings first on a similar test piece . turn your wire speed up or down while welding the test piece until its in the goldilocks zone . A lovely crackling sound.

Fair play bro, jumping into welding like that, abit more practice in the garage first i think then it'll just click, when i was learning to lead weld i had to practice every night after work for about 2 weeks before i got the hang of it. If it was easy everyone would do it, keep going it sucks to suck but that's the only way to get better at something.

10/10 for patience and problem solving -I would have given up 30 seconds in and commiserated with a double !!🍷

Just remember Joe a grinder and paint make you the welder you ain't love your enthusiasm and your videos

For a first attempt I think you did very well 👌

Good for trying its not easy especially on cars ive been doing it for several years now and the cleaner the area is the better it welds dont give up From andy in devon

Well, what can i say to motivate you. Being a member of the "stay at home dads welder-enthousiasts" We are going to watch this video again with a therapist. Being serious, I understand your frustration, but you'll get there. Soldier on, even if its not perfect. It has to be functional, thats important. Remeber that please when the perfectionist you are, takes over. You are doing just fine!

Nice one joe welding is one of them jobs you will pick it up as you go I did and I am pritty good now you will defo work it out Have a Top week 🙂🔧🦆✌️

Sometimes when you're wire burns right back to ya nossle screw the nossle off clean with nossle cleaners. It can make it tight for the wire to bass through. Always look forward to you're vlogs.

Well done Joe for having a go and it's not to bad for your first attempted :-) keep up the good work.

If you can't weld, put small dots instead. Press the button for 2 seconds and change the location and use a little more heat. Practice first.

Am loving the build am so same as you determined to get things done ect but looking outside in am doubting it's going to make it to Greece am hoping am wrong id love to see the journey good luck

Typically older cars have thicker sheet metal on non structural panels than modern cars due to advancements in materials and production processes to save weight. And a steel car structure is welded together using resistance welding and not MIG for the exact reason you just showed us 😅. Congrats on your first body repair, it looked mighty good with the tools you had!

Good video thanks lee

Well done doing the welding, i am not great at welding but i try too, i paid someone to repair the steps on mine as it was cheap but doing a lot more work myself with some help hopefully ! still think your van is in good nick, they all have some rust / character !

Zorba would have done the same! Cakes and good music pulled this vid thru, and a few geese bleeps ;-)

Hi Danni and Joe, I know why you are struggling Joe ,not enough cups of tea😉. I think you are doing great for a first try. After you paint it no one else will see any mistakes. Danni you have every reason to be proud .

On the roller, there is two grooves one is 6 mil and the other is eight mil make sure you’ve got the right one for the wire take the roller off turn it over to the right size it looks like you’ve got a mig Matic, 150

I am sure you will make it good 😊nice video thank you

Lol at the camera fails.

Mate….. using a Angle Grinder without the guard is stupidly!

I've never heard a welder make that noise in my life XD You seemed to have gotten more of a hang of it by the end so its not a critique. From the sounds of it you need a lot more gas and higher wire speed. It should sound like frying bacon rather than a microwave that's about to blow up...If you're blowing holes with the higher wire speed then you just need to move quicker so you're not in one spot and then circle back once you've gotten a liquid pool :)

As your lovely wife says, you can turn your hand to anything……great effort.

Keep going mate best Regards NUNO Portugal

Fiber glasse is sugetion best Regards

You’re doing quite well, I remember it took me a lot longer to get that good at MIG. However, there’s no ifs or buts about it, that MIG is absolute rubbish. Have a look at a cheap one with good reviews, the cheap welders are a lot better these days than 10 years ago, and give flux core wire a try, that way you don’t need to faff about with gas bottles and wind is suddenly not an issue.

Just attempting to weld my camper too, glad it's not just me then swearing and threatening bits of metal with a hammer. Good look with it, be worth it in the end!

Self deprecating fun. Well done for not throwing the welder in the bin! You could just tiger seal those panels in, nobody would know 😜

I would have pop riveted the plates in, and sealed them with silicone. 🤣

Be careful of the Toxic fumes, welding galvanise is a work of art. If you can’t do it, you will never do it.

Just watched. Not bad for a beginner m8

The wire feed is not consistent,it needs to be a very smooth

If you not careful with that grinder you won't have any fingers left to drive to Greece. Pls be careful but you will get the hang of it

I did the exact same shit a year ago 💥✌

Great videos. What camera and mic have you bought in this video. Thanks

Awfully difficult to learn on the thin stuff. What you are showing is the real struggle us do it yourselfers have!

i feel your pain 🤥

👍

Do you want Herb our Talbot Express. MOT next month then possibly for sale etc. Cheers from old George. Ps

Chuck that welder away and buy a £100 Chinese stick welder off eBay! I guarantee you can weld anything with it 🙂

Good job, please don’t weld anything structural but Greece is waiting. Good luck

Across the EU, maybe trust it to the local park...But I'm sure you get it right soon enough, good luck..

You need to add a welder to your circle of friends, those plates would have taken about an hour to weld in, and of course would have stayed there. But still needs to pass the MOT even if not structural and not forgetting cheap plates are cheap for a reason.

If you need a hand with the other side. Let's talk. I'm not far from you at all and I have a slightly better welder than you have. Plus I have some magnetic metal holders to hold the job in place. Fair play on the welding so far. You can always grind it back if it looks like pigeon poo 😀 nice one, keep it up!

Ray Charles school of welding, ony joking, for your first attempt not bad , if you don't try you never get good at anything, keep up the good work, you'll get to where you are going, 😁👍

👍👍👍

Might sound harsh but you shouldn’t wear gloves when using spinning tools.

By all means safety first no shit we all learn by r mistakes by useing grinders I did and with the wire brush to ffs one wee stand off the wire brush came off into my cheek like a needle that could hav been my eye ffs so safety first my friend take it from me😬

I still think that engine sounds a bit rough ☹️

to be fair that welding machine is shit, very hard to get a good weld with such a poor bit of kit

That thing sounds terrible

1💫

Are you insured mate ,you need to be😀

You tries to learn via youtube what others do in 2-3 years at school... Do you think your welding will pass the car test??

Maybe you should give up on the van and go in your £350 Toyota instead? 🤣🤣🤣

Had to stop watching when I noticed there was no guard on the grinder - too much anxiety. I could still hear the wire feed way too high (or slipping) though. 😄 Still, gotta start somewhere 👍 Don't fanny about cutting out the crud. It'll always be worse than it appears and trying to weld rust will be the cause of half of your blow throughs. Fit up the work firmly, get some clamps, magnets, put in a few pop rivets or self tappers or at least push 'em together with an old screwdriver, hammer... You can use your pushing stick to steady & guide your torch too, while you get it tacked in. Test the fit at the earliest opportunity - makes sure you can still close the door! There's no need to run beads on thin sheet, especially as a novice. You'll get full penetration (oerr), fewer holes, by stitching on to your previous stitch - should look a bit like the TIG joints on ally bike frames. It's all in the wrist action, whether you pretend you are literally sewing, make little circles...with practice you'll find what works for you and start to string 'em together like Jacko moonwalking. If they're different thicknesses aim the torch at the thicker side and bridge across the join. You need to melt both parts & the thinner side will melt away before the other even gets warm if that's what your arc is on. A bit of copper behind holes can help to fill them in. It can be a right faff keeping it in place though & remember it's hot! I prefer flux core wire to piddly little disposable bottles, but I'm odd. Guessing the discs are too big for the grinder guard? You can buy replacements they tend to be fairly standard fit - at least fit the guard once you've worn the disc down enough, or wear down your discs in the safest way possible, like on a bench with screw in handle on & not where it's likely to kick back off an edge.

Please wear a mask when welding galvanised metal buddy

I'm crap at welding but I'm really good at grinding