Old welding and patch ups

[olderisbetter]

From the top my car seems ok looking but underneath i have areas i have posted pics of, they look quite old repairs and i would expect a few on a 1958 car, are they what you normally see or should i start thinking about chassis rails

[bmcecosse]

I think that's pretty much 'to be expected' - the first picture - front edge of patch weld should be investigated. Has it cracked ? Or just the u/seal peeling away ?

[olderisbetter]

Nice spot, i just help the camera at floor level and pointed it up, i will have closer look as soon as i can..

[chuffit]

On the second picture patch is clearly not seam welded so should be an mot failure, so would suggest a clean up and weld.
My car was supposedly restored professionally long before I bought it, used for a year and then stored for another nine years, and the repairs look much like yours. Luckily I want a useable classic I wont be afraid to use in all weathers so it fits the bill

[kennatt]

Its typical of a lap welded repair,where the welds havn't been ground flat, nothing wrong with that and does keep the mot er happy that he can see the full seam weld,But without grinding flat you can't see if the weld has penetrated into the original meter as well as the patch,it could be just stuck on here and there. When done properly and ground flat you cant see the join (if you see what I mean) except for a slight raised section all the way round.If It was mine I would be grinding the weld and making sure it was actually joined properly, looking at the photos I would say its poorly welded joint. It looks ,to me like its been done with an arc welded(Stick ) when done properly the weld should be concave not sticking up like that,with a distinct uniform curved pattern. I bet if you ground a section down yoy would see that its hardly penetrated into the original steel.Have a look on the MIG forum and you will see what a proper weld should look like and you will see the difference and what I mean.

[olderisbetter]

From what i know of the car these welds are at least 25 years old, so arc welding is more likely to be right, I think a grind down would be a good test, Kennat i am in the process of learning as i go with welding but bench work and under a car is very different lol, chuffit, i have a friend who owns a nice looking restored vw and you can already see after 5 years it had filler popping and panels welded in over rusty floor sections under the carpets, i guess some restorations are all about smoke and mirrors and not safety.

[bmcecosse]

I agree some of the welds look better than others. But overall - they are doing the job at the moment, so don't panic into anything too drastic till you 'perfect' your own welding skills..

[olderisbetter]

Yes the welding is coming along fine i did a few bits again today and it felt easy compared to last week, but i am in no rush