Dear Bob,
You can certainly learn to do it, unless you are one of those all thumbs
people. I took a high school adult ed course in welding, long ago, during
which I concentrated on gas welding. Mig welding wasn't done much, then.
When I bought my Bugeye, I tried to gas weld one panel, then gave that up.
If I had to gas weld all of the repairs it needed, I would be forever and
it would look like a pretzel. I bought a decent MIG welder, read all the
books I could find, and started welding. When it did not look right, I'd
grind it off and try again. The only thing holding the front and rear
halves together are welds I did, and I'm willing to bet my life it won't
come apart. You can do it. And painting is easier than welding.
BUT---you can buy a whole new body for around $4K (I assume that is true
of early B's as well as later ones). That would be easier, by far, I
should think, and certainly not a lot more expensive than having someone
else rebuild the body of your car.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
On Wed, 12 Oct 1994 RobertS355@aol.com wrote:
>
> The car it TOTALLY disassembled and awaiting some attention. Typical rust
> problems: floor boards are gone as are the rocker panels, front and rear
> quarter panels on both sides. Major work needed but the car is #4754 and I
> can't bear to see it become part of the earth. I've done the mechanical work
> but have absolutely no experience in body restoration/welding/painting and
> can't afford to have someone else do it. Of course I didn't know anything
> about the mechanics until I just jumped in and did it. I've gone back and
> forth between trying to find another one (I really want one to drive) and
> teaching myself how to restore the one I've got. My oldest son wants to
> drive to his senior prom in an MG (is this thing hereditary?). I could come
> up with $3-3500 to either put into the body work of find another B. Any
> suggestions? Has anyone successfully learned welding etc. on such a major
> project? Is this doable?
>
> Bob Scardamalia
> RobertS355@AOL.COM
> Albany, NY
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