you must have the car MOT'd before the VIC test, there is a form you can download but they want you to fax it to them or go in person. the main problem is that the VOSA stations are quite widely spread out.

"if over 3 years old, the car must be covered by a valid MOT if it is to be driven to the VIC "

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motorin...e/AdviceOnBuyingAndSellingAVehicle/DG_4022107

the good thing is that the car can legally be driven to the VIC with no current tax as they have a special dispensation for cars that are being taken to the VOSA site.
the VIC test takes literally 5 minutes (well it does at leighton buzzard).
the usual fee of £25 for a new V5 is waived, there is a box to tick on the bottom of the V62 that says the car has been VIC tested.

the joy of spot welding is that after a quick spray with a can of paint the repair looks like it was done in the factory, plug welding can be tricky, you are right to practice.
one thing to remember is that cat C cars will have the V5 marked that the car has been damaged and 'substantially repaired'

Thanks for the info.

Nice little project, cheap and cheerful! One thing to note is you wont be welding on a very huge service that is galvanised on this car so you'e ok, but if you were then you'd have to remove all the galvo within about 5cm radius of where you're welding as when the zinc burns and gets airborn it can make you fairly ill, i leanrt the hard way at 14. It used to be said that a decent glass of milk used to help prevent this as it lined your stomach or the calcium content helped neutralise the zinc? Cant remember which is exactly right maybe they both are. When you're plug welding, aim for the inside of a hole wall at an angle that means the nozzle of the Mig covers the hole and just put some light tacks down at every 90degrees then push the setting up as far you feel safe it won't hole te metal and tack to the centre of the small tacks. If you've done it right the new weld should displace and melt the smaller tacks and run into all the surrounding metal filling the hole.

Hope to see some more progress soon!

Jordan

T.E.D. Jordan said:

It used to be said that a decent glass of milk used to help prevent this as it lined your stomach or the calcium content helped neutralise the zinc?

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How many cups of tea that equate to

Im welding tomorrow...hope i dont die

Brooky said:

How many cups of tea that equate to

Im welding tomorrow...hope i dont die

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it just makes you feel really ill for a few hours

Munkul said:

it just makes you feel really ill for a few hours

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Taught him everything i know

Jordan

Wish the engine in my 85 was in such good nick mine drops oil down its front! should be a good and surprisingly rapid motor when you get it sorted.

T.E.D. Jordan said:

Taught him everything i know

Jordan

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you are older than me, and yet i was still the first one to start welding, admit it! haha, owned

incase you cant remember, i started with welding silage barriers back together (utterly crap, they came apart again after a few weeks )


anyways, back on topic....

Munkul said:

you are older than me, and yet i was still the first one to start welding, admit it! haha, owned

incase you cant remember, i started with welding silage barriers back together (utterly crap, they came apart again after a few weeks )


anyways, back on topic....

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I wouldnt class what you did as welding . If you have to try and prove you owned me, i have pictures of me welding when i was 11 at my old house OWNED

Jordan

Munkul said:

it just makes you feel really ill for a few hours

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Well im not ill, just me eyes are sore too many fumes

T.E.D. Jordan said:

I wouldnt class what you did as welding . If you have to try and prove you owned me, i have pictures of me welding when i was 11 at my old house OWNED

Jordan

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lol you know im kidding

Brooky said:

Well im not ill, just me eyes are sore too many fumes

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were you trying to weld without the mask on? if you have for any length of time, your eyes will kill you all night, and you may have sunburn.....

Like munkul says, sunburn wrecks, you will burn the cornea out of your eyes if you do it without a mask too long or just screw your eyes up, its bright enough to flash thrugh your eyelids too sometimes. You should weld in an area ventilated enough to extract the fumes, but not too breezy as the gas will not reach the metal and slag will form, making the weld impure and brittle wear protection

Jordan

of course you don't have these problems with a spot welder, no arc eye and very few noxious fumes.

Ok! Crossmember arrived today so I cracked on! With this being the first time I've ever done this I was amazed how long it took me to prep the old and new metal! C/member on, c/member off! about a thousand times! Eventually I was happy so cranked up the MIG!

close up of one of the plug welds that was really nice, the rest werent as nice but they'll hold!

new bonnet on with the c/member. It nearly looks like a car!

Coz I didn't know if it was gonna rain, things moved on quickly!

Paint! Some Vauxhall colour! Halfords didn't have any metallic Fiat blue!

The seamsealer is a bit old so it was a bugger to spread!