Where To Seam Weld

[Rik 0]

Most of the 205s panels are joined together with the formation of a lip with a few spot welds holding them together.

Im a little boggled as to which side to actually seam weld the lip on? For example the bulkhead can be accessed or seam welded at both sides but which is the correct side to actually put the weld down.

 

See my picky below and can someone comment on what is the actual side to put the weld on.

 

Side A or Side B????

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j104/P4RCX/SeamWelding.gif

You decide!!!!!!

 

Cheers

 

Rik

Edited January 17, 2007 by Rik

[Batfink 201]

I would go with side A

[Beastie 1]

I would go with side A

 

Side A is easier but Side B adds much more stiffness (neither of them add much if any more strength to the shell though). Before doing either be sure that you really need the extra stiffness because either method will make the shell rot away quicker and also make future repairs more time consuming.

[Emmy Seize 8]

Take the seam sealer away with an anglegrinder equipped with a wire brush.

 

And then weld side B of course.

 

If care is taken with the preparation and rust prevention, the shell should last as well as before.

 

Just don´t be tempted to reweld the complete seam. To prevent stress-cracks, it is sensible to only stitch-

 

weld steps of about 3 cm and then leave a gap of 2 cm.

 

For zinc coated panels like Peugeot´s, MIG soldering would be interesting, as it doesn´t hurt the plating.

Edited January 17, 2007 by Emmy Seize

[Beastie 1]

If care is taken with the preparation and rust prevention, the shell should last as well as before.

 

 

In my experience (it's been my job for over 20 years now) continous welding shortens the life of a shell noticeable no matter how carefully people have prepared and rust prevented. The heat of the welding destroys the rust protection between the flanges and leaves them rotting away merrily where you can't see them.

 

 

For zinc coated panels like Peugeot´s, MIG soldering would be interesting, as it doesn´t hurt the plating.

 

That sounds interesting for any type of panels actually because it makes my first point above less of an issue.

 

 

The fact remains that seam welding a shell makes future good quality repairs more expensive. I'd never recommend doing this to a shell for road use because it just isn't worth it. For a car modified for competition use it's not such of a problem.