Hi guys I'm hoping to get on with a mini resto on my bus in the new year. My bus is going to need some welding ( rear corners, offside door skin and offside wheel arch). Now not being a welder myself I'm going to have to pay someone to do it. I know welders don't come cheap, but I've no idea how long it would take someone to complete the above work. As part of the above would it work out cheaper for me to buy a new door skin and have a pro fit( which would included him doing the prep work before fitting it) or buy a dry state import door from FBI ? I do know of a local mobile welding company that charge a £30 initial call out and then £30 per hour, I thought this was reasonable for welding but correct me if I'm wrong Any advice
Chris i think £30 is fair if you can't do it yourself , as you know i couldn't weld and paid someone £20 per hour but i did the cutting out , supplied the panels and cleaned the job up , believe me mate if he wants a extra tenner a hour for that i'd say take it all the work was in the prep no doubt about that i would spend two days doing the prep and he would weld it up in 4 hours . People will tell you to have a go yourself , i tried but i couldn't get it right maybe you can .
Cheers mate, I'm not quibbling his fees I think they are reasonable, I'm a bit nervous about attempting to cut the metal out and prep it for welding for two reasons, the main reason is its my daily and I can't have it off the road for long and secondly I've never attempted stuff like that before and wouldn't want to shag it up prior to the welder doing his thing. The welder will cut the the old metal out and prep it if I want him to. My dilemma is I don't know how many hrs it would take to take the door skin off and prep for welding against buying a rust free import. Malc how long did take you to get your door ready for re-skinning?
Took me about 5 hours to do this -- Now i am going to tell you a secret , Bryan let me loose on the welder and i welded it under his supervision , i would never have attempted it on my own , no way jose ! The welding took me about 4 hours stopping , starting drinking tea and chatting ! How i did the slider repair took it off again and did this -- tartan i have no taste , i know
You need someone really that knows vw's .plus a mobile welder isn't going to make as good a job as someone that has a workshop/garage ,lifts ramps etc. I would advise finding more of a vw specialist and also a rust free door as opposed to reskining ...
I'd go for the rust free door too. It works out same-ish as fixing but you end up with unrepaired door which has got to be better? Plus you can prep and paint while using your bus
Welding is`nt difficult ,setting up the machine and knowing what speed to go requires experience... Get a welder and have a play ,what have you got to lose... 8)
cost me about £100 parts and my labour , i just wish i was more practised at welding and had the ability to put my mind to it !
