Tool and kit essentials for getting started: Automotive welding

Spoke to Weld Equip today and the lead time on Portamigs is about 4 weeks at the moment so I'm hoping to get mine ordered in the next fortnight. I've been lurking on here for a while and doing research elsewhere into buying a Argon Mix bottle I can get refilled locally - I hoped that some of the more experience members might make some recommendations for tool essentials needed to get started.

I am going to be doing automotive welding on a Peugeot similar to Davenport's French Car in the projects section. There's some rotten sections that need replacing and having paid for welding to be done in the past, I've decided that DIY is the way forward for results I'll be 100% happy with.

I have an angle grinder, drill vice and a good work bench, but I am interested to know what clamps/mole grips/etc I'll need for butt welding in sections and what cutters/shears I'll need shaping thin 1mm plate steel. I had a brief look on tooled-up but didn't seem to be able to find the right thing.

I've no welding safety gear yet either so could do with some grounding in what are the essentials. Are welding gauntlets and a thick long sleeved cotton jacket enough to start with? Do I need a welding apron too? What's a reasonable amount to pay for a good welding mask? For example is there a £100 worth of difference between an ESAB Eyetech II and an Origo?

I'm looking forward to sharing my progress in the projects section!

Definitely recommend a leather apron,particularly for use when grinding,As for clamps you can never have too many,all shapes,all sizes. There are some nice little clamps that can easily be homemade for holding panels ready to but weld, I'm sure if you do a search on this forum they will appear, or someone will come along shortly and point you in the right direction,

hahaha cris!! good luck with the pug build!! i hope you don`t have as many hideous discoveries as i did with mine...

i`ll keep this brief and if you have any queries just ask..

MASK- being a full time welder i opted to get something decent (miller elite) a few lads at work had the parweld auto dark screen (about £50 if you shop around) but noticed eye strain after a full day of welding ally.. now i`m not sure if that was the screen being poor or simply asking too much of it but for what you`ll be doing i`d be confident in reccomending one..

GLOVES- when MIG`n i use a thick gaunlet on the hand near the tip and a thin tig glove on the trigger finger..

PROTECTIVE CLOTHES- 99% of the time at home i rely on jeans, vans trainers and tshirt! health and safety nightmare but i`m still alive i dont care what protective stuff people advise if your using the tools incorrectly or are just plain incompetant accidents will happen no matter what your wearing!!! for grinding i use a pair of oakley motorcross goggles (or squint if i can`t find them)

TOOLS- a nice flat faced hammer and dolly for getting butted tacked up panels level.. a 1" and 1/2" paint scraper + heat gun for removing underseal, spot weld drill bit.. for cutting i use thin (1mm) discs in my grinder for just about everything.. a wire wheel for the angle grinder is handy (be careful as they do shed strands after a while and your arm ends up looking like a heroin addicts) P60 + P120 flap discs...

erm...


oh yeah.. a spit is quite handy too hahahahaha

at least some HIGH axle stands if your working under the car..

if the cars in a garage treat yourself to something nice and soft (and warm to lay on.. concrete sucks warmth outta your body)

a small well stocked fridge is a luxury item but i assure you now things will get dusty at times and a cold beer really satisfies

er...

if i think of anything else that i`ve found vital during my build i`ll let ya know...

If you want to stay in a long term relationship get an overall.
Always wear eye protectio when grinding, nurses are not very sympathetic to angle grinder casualties.
CD player for the workshop.
Lots of clamps and mole grips
If you are feeling flush I can reccomend Bosch power sheers (GSC16) if not flush a drill powered nibbler for cutting small patches,
A bright LED head torch fixed on the front of your welding hat is a great help when working in dark corners.
Cider for afterwards. Dehydration is a killer

Chunko'.

Leather apron was suggested, but rather get one with sleeves as well. If you weld under a car and hot metal falls on you, you'll be buying one anyways, so might as well buy it before it happens. Secondly I recommend a good set of ear plugs or ear muffs. Just like the eye protection mentioned, ear protection is vital. Rather mess up your ears with good loud music than hammering and angle grinders. If you can afford it ( and after buying a pair, I can assure you they are worth their money) get a pair of molded earplugs. They fit better and make it easier to hear if someone is trying to warn you.

It’s comforting to know there are a few of us French car lovers on here - must be something to with the speed at which French metal retreats that we find ourselves meeting on a welding forum…

Anyway, a few bits I couldn't do without when I'm working on the beloved as well as a few workshop essentials that you'll probably have already:

Tools:
If you’ve not already got one get a decent bench vice.

Ball pein and cross pein hammers both are particularly handy for making small patches and making that final ‘adjustment’ in situ.

I’ve got various sizes of G clamp from 2” up to 8” as well a pair of long jaw F clamps. I also have a few different welding clamps like the ones you'll find in Machine Mart, Screwfix etc. Not everyone on here gets on with them but I find magnetic angle plates can be handy if you have no alternative.

I tend to reach for the jigsaw when cutting sheet metal ready for making a patch as its fast and quieter than an angle grinder; if I'm cutting rot out of the car I will either use an air cut off grinder or air body saw (both Aldi specials) depending on how easy it is to get to.

Cold Chisels - good for hammering thru those barely there spot welds found on French motors as well as shaping small details in patch repairs.

French Specific Tools:
A decent set of Torx head bits either for a socket wrench or a changeable tip screwdriver.
Odd sized sockets or spanners – for me an 18mm socket and 22mm deep offset ring spanner spring to mind.

Safety:
Fire extinguishers powder or CO2 just in case it goes a bit wrong.

Welding under a car is an a**e, I have the burns in my overalls to prove it; a pair of welding gauntlets and leather apron with save you from the worst.

Having had a trip to casualty to have a metal filing removed from my eye despite wearing safety goggles at the time make sure you have a decent pair of safety goggles that fit properly. If I’m grinding under the car I tend to wear an old welding helmet and wrap round goggles for good measure.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Cheers reno

NTwoO said:

Leather apron was suggested, but rather get one with sleeves as well. If you weld under a car and hot metal falls on you, you'll be buying one anyways, so might as well buy it before it happens. Secondly I recommend a good set of ear plugs or ear muffs. Just like the eye protection mentioned, ear protection is vital. Rather mess up your ears with good loud music than hammering and angle grinders. If you can afford it ( and after buying a pair, I can assure you they are worth their money) get a pair of molded earplugs. They fit better and make it easier to hear if someone is trying to warn you.

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...and there's something rather wierd about listening to your ear sizzling when you get some hot clart in there...

Wedg1e said:

...and there's something rather wierd about listening to your ear sizzling when you get some hot clart in there...

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yeah and you get a dull sort of a pain if you know what i mean very painful if you are unfortunate enough to have some land on a tooth

reno said:

Safety:
Fire extinguishers powder or CO2 just in case it goes a bit wrong.
....

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I thought a FOAM type fire extinguisher would be better,
the wetness of it helps cool any workpiece down to stop it re-igniting...

Coo said:

I thought a FOAM type fire extinguisher would be better,
the wetness of it helps cool any workpiece down to stop it re-igniting...

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You could well be right, thankfully I've never had to use it. In fact I wouldn't mind it if someone clarified what is the best type of fire extinguisher to use for welding.

I don't like goggles, never found some that didn't steam + hot sparks up the nose aren't much fun. A clear face mask/visor works well when grinding (for me) - you can get right on a cut at almost any angle. Summat like this; no connection to that seller, just picked them at random.

A welding cap & good set of ear muffs and you can grind what ever you want

Good point Redorzed.
I wear a face mask similar to that, I found goggles wont fit over my poxy reading glasses, and I have had dust/sparks go up the back of safety glasses.

Chunko'.

reno said:

You could well be right, thankfully I've never had to use it. In fact I wouldn't mind it if someone clarified what is the best type of fire extinguisher to use for welding.

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I bought some powder ones at a brgain boot sale, ideal for peace of mind, and the wifes !

She recently went on a fire marshall course and asked about it, and was told foam, as per reasons I stated.

Welcome any other thoughts

When you buy a fire extinguisher get a make sure you have one that is suited for carrying gas too. You may know that carrying any gas in the car you need to carry a 2kg powder by law, even if your carrying an inert gas...

I am not a great eBay user, but sometimes I'll be super patient and keep an eye out for a bargain. This came up for less than a third of the RRP and it's like new - having seemingly only been used 2 or 3 times. It came with a load of spare lenses too.





All I need to do now is get a welding machine...

Thanks for all the posts - I have some safety goggles and a safety face shield. Just keeping a look out for some safety gear now. Seems to me that buying a cheap suede or leather jacket is a lot cheaper than buying sleeves - even if it just gets cut up!

In terms of extinguishers, having been on a training course in the last 2 months where we had hands on use of foam, water, co2 and powder extinguishers to tackle a variety of fires, powder is by far the best performer for most situations.

Cris B said:

In terms of extinguishers, having been on a training course in the last 2 months where we had hands on use of foam, water, co2 and powder extinguishers to tackle a variety of fires, powder is by far the best performer for most situations.

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Powder has very good knock down, but no cooling, best backed up with water or AFFF.

Robotstar5 said:

Powder has very good knock down, but no cooling, best backed up with water or AFFF.

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I've found C02 suprisingly difficult to put a fire out with. The fire looked to be out, then restarted each time the extinuisher was stopped.
It was a full size C02 extinguisher but ran out very quickly.

Welderpaul said:

I've found C02 suprisingly difficult to put a fire out with. The fire looked to be out, then restarted each time the extinuisher was stopped.
It was a full size C02 extinguisher but ran out very quickly.

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I've had CO2 make a fire worse!, 300Amp isolator arcing between phases, everytime I squirted it the arc flared up. Abandoned that and tried AFFF, label said safe to 33kV, nearly filled my pants when it looked like a stream of water onto the arc! did work though.

Works fire brigade turned up and told me CO2 was being broken down by the arc into carbon and oxygen with the O2 feeding the fire.

I second the earplugs. Much less cumbersome than big ear muffs. I find that goggles for grinding get scratched very easily so I have about 5 pairs of them on standby. My favourite ones at the moment are a pair of US army surplus sun wind and dust goggles.
A light of some sort attached to your welding mask would be great, haven't got round to sorting that one out myself yet.
In terms of clamps, I bought the set of 3 in Halfords. Cheaply made, but they do the job ok. A couple of pairs of vice grips come in handy too. I bought some intergrips (butt joint clamps) but to be honest they are more hassle than they are worth in most cases. In my experience they tend to push the two pieces of metal too far apart, leaving a gap thats too big to weld nicely. I would love to have some clecos, but my budget doesn't stretch that far at the moment. A joggler tool comes in handy sometimes as well. A spot weld drill is essential, or you can make your own out of a normal HSS bit by resharpening it with a bench grinder. A grit blaster is handy to clean up metal before welding to it. I use a 20 gallon pot with crushed glass media. I mainly use a 1mm disc on the grinder for cutting out old bodywork and a pair of aviation snips to shape patches, maybe fine-tuning the fit with a grinding wheel on the 115mm grinder.


Not directly related to welding I suppose, but I have recently discovered phosphoric acid.
You can buy it as "descaler" used to descale kettles etc.
Its very handy for treating flash rusted areas etc...it converts rust to an inert black material and etches new metal, leaving a good base for epoxy primer(etch primer not required in this case). Acid has to be rinsed off with water first though. Not a problem if you hit the metal with a heatgun to dry it off immediately.