Technical Should I try save one

[Backwards]

Hi there,

I am a little bit of a midship enthusiast weather it's an MR2,mg t/f or a X1/9 but I have very little experience working on cars. I have always wanted a midengine track toy and a cheap X1/9 has come up but it hasn't moved in years and it's rusted af. Floor pan rusted, gearbox is gone, fuel pump gone, sills are rusted, rear arches are rusty but not as bad as sills but the inside isn't too bad as it's been gutted for racing already with racing seats. Seller will probably take about £250 for the car.

Is it worth it to save the car and learn to weld/repair it or should I just spend more and get something else. Completely open but idk this platform and I have never dealt with rust before, is this a good way to learn?

 

[Backwards]

Hi there,

I am a little bit of a midship enthusiast weather it's an MR2,mg t/f or a X1/9 but I have very little experience working on cars. I have always wanted a midengine track toy and a cheap X1/9 has come up but it hasn't moved in years and it's rusted af. Floor pan rusted, gearbox is gone, fuel pump gone, sills are rusted, rear arches are rusty but not as bad as sills but the inside isn't too bad as it's been gutted for racing already with racing seats. Seller will probably take about £250 for the car.

Is it worth it to save the car and learn to weld/repair it or should I just spend more and get something else. Completely open but idk this platform and I have never dealt with rust before, is this a good way to learn?

 

[rmjbn1]

Hi and welcome

No! Run away and hide until it's dissolved or been dragged away and can't tempt you any more

I'm usually in favour of saving old cars, but this one would be a major challenge for someone who already has all the equipment skills and experience needed. And at the end it would still be a scruffy mess.

should I just spend more and get something else.

Maybe you meant to say 'spend less and get something else'

The money required to save this might surprise you.

Ultimately it depends on you.

If you were looking to learn welding and car mechanics anyway, invest in equipment and time to do a welding course, practice, countless hours under the car cutting, grinding, welding, filling etc as a fun project then maybe?

 

[Backwards]

Hi and welcome

No! Run away and hide until it's dissolved or been dragged away and can't tempt you any more

I'm usually in favour of saving old cars, but this one would be a major challenge for someone who already has all the equipment skills and experience needed. And at the end it would still be a scruffy mess.

Maybe you meant to say 'spend less and get something else'

The money required to save this might surprise you.

Ultimately it depends on you.

If you were looking to learn welding and car mechanics anyway, invest in equipment and time to do a welding course, practice, countless hours under the car cutting, grinding, welding, filling etc as a fun project then maybe?

Hi and thank you,

I have been on the fence for a while, but considering how strongly you feel against that, I will have to shield my eyes while I drive past it 4 times a day. I was wondering if it wouldn't be that bad, but spending less on something else does sound more appealing. After some googling, there is a local college nearby that runs a quarterly welding/metal working course that is only 600 for the full course of 6 months. I think of weekly training, which isn't bad. I might invest in that instead. Thank you

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Hi and welcome

No! Run away and hide until it's dissolved or been dragged away and can't tempt you any more

I'm usually in favour of saving old cars, but this one would be a major challenge for someone who already has all the equipment skills and experience needed. And at the end it would still be a scruffy mess.

If you were looking to learn welding and car mechanics anyway, invest in equipment and time to do a welding course, practice, countless hours under the car cutting, grinding, welding, filling etc as a fun project then maybe?

Definitely doesn't look like a project for someone who has little welding/fabrication skills.

Hi and thank you,

I have been on the fence for a while, but considering how strongly you feel against that, I will have to shield my eyes while I drive past it 4 times a day.

I "messed about" with Hillman Imps for a number of years and, although I sold my last one some years ago, I'd quite like another. From time to time I've seen them for sale - they were made just "down the road" from us up here in Scotland - but I've always managed to overcome the temptation after taking a close look at the amount of body/chassis repairs that would be needed, and, without sounding a bit big headed I hope, I can honestly say I'm quite handy with Gas. MIG/MAG and "stick" welders.

there is a local college nearby that runs a quarterly welding/metal working course that is only 600 for the full course of 6 months. I think of weekly training, which isn't bad. I might invest in that instead. Thank you

If you're serious about taking up welding - and I can tell you it's great fun once you learn properly and have some supervised practice under your belt - then doing a course is definitely the way to go (unless you have a welder friend who's prepared to teach you. For welding vehicles at home on a "hobby" basis you really can't beat MIG welding so ask the trainer how much of the course is devoted to MIG welding (MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas). You'll sometimes hear them referred to as MIG/MAG The MAG stands for Metal Active Gas where a shielding gas which reacts with the weld is used. Most machines will handle either but it's MIG we are interested in.

The other two common methods of welding are, Gas welding with oxy-acetylene which is wonderful for thin metals like car bodywork but there's a greater heat input so more risk of panel warping and, because there's a naked flame, much more of a fire risk - Anyway, your home insurance won't cover you to keep the bottles, especially the Acetylene bottle, at home! My insurance company had a heart attack just because I asked! It's also a fair bit more difficult to learn. MMA (Manual Metal Arc) is the old traditional way which you'll often see on old films of ship building etc. The equipment is very cheap to buy but you're definitely not going to weld the thin metal used in cars with it, unless you are very skilled and experienced. I have one - first machine I ever bought - and use it for welding chassis cracks on my old horticultural machines and I made a trailer with it many years ago.

So, you need to learn how to MIG weld. I can also recommend using a gas shielded machine - there are two types. One uses a shielding gas to keep oxygen away from the weld and the other uses flux cored welding wire where the flux becomes the shielding gas due to the heat of welding. Gas shielding gives a neater weld and, in my opinion, is slightly easier to use on very thin metal. You do need a bottle of the gas but it's completely non flammable so my insurer didn't raise any objection.

I taught welding classes for home enthusiasts for our local council community education department (evening classes to you and me) for some ten years No one wanted to do the gas, except for one or two who wanted to learn because they wanted to make works of art out of metal. Mostly they found brazing was better or learning the MIG. There was considerable demand for both the MMA and MIG with many taking one complete class for the MIG and returning for the next season to do the MMA. I think being able to do both is great if you're working on machinery/cars/etc but for cars MIG rules!

Two of my most enjoyable car related activities are welding (although the prep work can be pretty boring) and making up metal brake pipes. So do consider a welding class, I bet you love it!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Break it before it breaks you.

 

[rmjbn1]

I will have to shield my eyes while I drive past it 4 times a day

Yeah that's going to be tough

 

[jackwhoo]

As already said run away ....very fast its too far gone