1968 MG Midget

[SiC]

It is very satisfying polishing and waxing cellulose paint. My MGB still looks shiny and washes easily after the mammoth clean and wax I gave it in late 2021.

[SiC]

I had grandiose plans to get loads done the last two days. A combination of getting up late and having to sort out life's paperwork has meant only this afternoon/evening have I had time.

While I had decent access, I decided to weld up the footwell. I should have done this when the inner sill was off. Instead it just made it more difficult for access. At least I wasn't trying to do it with the side panel on.

Cleaned up the existing join as best as I could with the wire wheel.


Then welded. Welds look shit because of the shielding gas being mess up with the filler/paint/underseal flames and fumes. Also I'm well out of practice.


They look even shitter when cleaned off with the wire wheel.


Passable after grinding through. This will be under carpet/rubber mat and so shouldn't be visible usually anyway. At least these hold unlike the original. Panel is slightly warped from the heat but I don't care too much about that on a footwell.


As a brief interlude and for shits & giggles, I put the panels on the car to figure how it'll look and check for alignment.
Generally looks okay but might need the outer sill a tad higher. Also some cutting down of the footwell side panel.



Panels removed and set to work welding this inner sill on.


Managed to burn a hole through my air hose FFS. It touched the body and melted it. The ends are crimped on so not easily fixable. It's part of a retractable unit too and I'm not sure if that pipe is user replaceable. Irritating.

The air line is an essential part of my work flow. When you either get too much smoke or the flame won't go out, it's useful to blow it out. Also cool panels to not have them warp too badly.


Welds didn't turn out too terrible. Actually these are some of the best I've done for a while.


Penetration isn't bad either.


As a quick job before I closed down for the night, I welded up the jack mount.


Which I should have done tomorrow as I rushed and made a mess of it.


Grinder session should fix/improve it though.


The front floor pan is going to need a repair section to fill the gap between the inner sill and floor as the right angle is gone. However I need the outer sill on first as a straight edge to clamp the inner sill too. Will make welding in the floor pan more tricky.

There might need to be a bit of fiddling/cutting of the body to get the outer sill on properly at the ends but it doesn't look too bad. I'll plug weld the bottom and tops. Which means a good hour drilling holes all the way along! I think the closing panels will need welding into place first as I don't think it's possible to get them in once the sill is on. Dunno, just need a fiddle to figure.

Hopefully tomorrow's job if I get a chance.

[angrydicky]

On the advice of a professional welder friend I've started drilling and plug welding bits like floorpans and inner sills. Looks more factory and you simply don't get the distortion you get when doing a seam weld. I got the same distortion when I replaced the whole floorpans in my A55 and wish I'd drilled and plug welded.
A spot welder would be nice but I've never bothered buying one because half the time you just can't get in there with it. However, you could make a seriously nice job of bits that would be seen, like inner to outer sill flanges, with one.

[DodgeRover]

My dad has a spot welder, it's lovely to use when:
You can get the sodding thing in position
You aren't knackered from holding it there
Everything is lovely and clean and the metal is consistent thicknesses,
Will do a lovely weld under those circumstances
The rest of the time it's bloody awkward and you are left thinking is that weld strong enough.....

[SiC]

The biggest issue is lack of power into the garage. I have a 16A feed to the garage on a type B RCBO. It's enough to run the lights, computer, chargers, a welder and my small compressor. My large compressor blows the trip even with everything else off. A spot-welder would be far too much and would just blow the RCBO everytime.

I do plan to get an extra feed into the garage so I can run stuff like that. However the simple problem is actually where the feed needs to come in, there is a Dolomite in the way with an ever increasing amount of parts and stuff being put on it.

The outer sill against the inner sill are both fresh new metal, so a spot welder should be alright.

[Scruffy Bodger]

The biggest issue is lack of power into the garage. I have a 16A feed to the garage on a type B RCBO. It's enough to run the lights, computer, chargers, a welder and my small compressor. My large compressor blows the trip even with everything else off. A spot-welder would be far too much and would just blow the RCBO everytime.

I do plan to get an extra feed into the garage so I can run stuff like that. However the simple problem is actually where the feed needs to come in, there is a Dolomite in the way with an ever increasing amount of parts and stuff being put on it.

The outer sill against the inner sill are both fresh new metal, so a spot welder should be alright.

Why not just replace it with a C or D type or is it a really big compressor? Run the PC thru some sort of protection if you're worried about it. RCBO's are totally unnecessary in that type of setup as far as I'm concerned.

[SiC]

The biggest issue is lack of power into the garage. I have a 16A feed to the garage on a type B RCBO. It's enough to run the lights, computer, chargers, a welder and my small compressor. My large compressor blows the trip even with everything else off. A spot-welder would be far too much and would just blow the RCBO everytime.

I do plan to get an extra feed into the garage so I can run stuff like that. However the simple problem is actually where the feed needs to come in, there is a Dolomite in the way with an ever increasing amount of parts and stuff being put on it.

The outer sill against the inner sill are both fresh new metal, so a spot welder should be alright.

Why not just replace it with a C or D type or is it a really big compressor? Run the PC thru some sort of protection if you're worried about it. RCBO's are totally unnecessary in that type of setup as far as I'm concerned.

My whole consumer unit is setup with RCBOs. Intention was/is to run an additional high current feed to the garage. So 16A and 40 or 50A feed. Low current feed will continue to operate lights/computer/chargers/hand tools. Then if the high current feed blows, I don't loose the whole garage like I did the other day and was plunged into pitch black. It also means I have superior electrical protection on stuff I'm handling with the Type D/whatever for high power.

[Scruffy Bodger]

If there's a D type in there it won't trip tho will it and you'll always have your phone on you or a power tool with a light on close to hand if it ever does. The D type just puts up with a higher initial load. If it's an RCBO the important protection for you is the 30mA bit, nothing to do with the current rating.

If it was mine and I knew the setup/loads and typical usage I'd be upping it to a 20amp, I even came across a 25amp RCBO a few months back... That cable rating will be at 70 C and the short bursts a compressor and welder run at you'll never be seeing anything like a sustained draw. You already know it copes with the welder as it's got inverter tech in it.

Or stick a 2 or 3 way garage board in there yourself and a standard D type MCB that costs £6 in the house?

[SiC]

Is there such a thing as a Type D RCBO though?

Even upping the RCBO on that circuit may not be enough. I can run the bigger compressor off an extension lead from the house 32A ring main that's on a Type B. I think it's a combination of high initial current load and quick reacting RCBO.

Inverter welder is a lot more efficient, probably will be inrush limited and PF Corrected compared to a traditional transformer based. So easier on the trips. Also probably why it can happily run off a generator.

I could fit my own cable and CU in the garage but doesn't solve the problem that a Dolomite is in the way on where I want to put it

[Scruffy Bodger]

Is there such a thing as a Type D RCBO though?

Even upping the RCBO on that circuit may not be enough. I can run the bigger compressor off an extension lead from the house 32A ring main that's on a Type B. I think it's a combination of high initial current load and quick reacting RCBO.

Inverter welder is a lot more efficient, probably will be inrush limited and PF Corrected compared to a traditional transformer based. So easier on the trips. Also probably why it can happily run off a generator.

I could fit my own cable and CU in the garage but doesn't solve the problem that a Dolomite is in the way on where I want to put it

An RCBO is just an MCB and RCD combined into one unit. To protect you from electrocution when working with power tools outside etc it's the 30mA rcd bit that's important. They are really being pushed now on every circuit in a property because of the internet of things, smart* devices in things like lightbulbs and the fact that cotton wool wrapped muppets that now exist can't seem to get their head around turning an RCD back on. They get flummoxed that the breaker says it's on but it still doesn't work. Plus the fact of course RCBO's are much more expensive and it'll give the manufacturers a nice little boost.
They type D bit is literally just the MCB side of it that'll not trip out when a high initial startup current is sensed, you don't normally need these in a domestic situation as 99% of people don't have a compressor and welder setup in their garage, you're special.

https://www.elecmagazine.com/selecting- ... A%20device).

Just looked and you're right. They only make them up to a type C so far by the looks of it? You simply don't need one anyway, as long as you have something inline to provide you with that 30mA protection you're covered. Looking at that above you will very probably get away with a Type C tho. I was probably going too belt and braces with a Type D as they are for proper gear with a very high initial surge. My mates single phase 410 amp Oxford welder for example.

For you, safety wise RCBO's in that environment gain you nothing.