my big(and first) project

[pophead]

I posted some pics of my cars damage on this thread:http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=27511 but now I have started working on the car! fortunately the rust on the door didn't go through, so it won't be as hard to fix. Most of the work I will be doing is around the rear fenders and in the wheel wells.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix007.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix006.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix004.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix003.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix001-1.jpg

the black "paint" on the back left fender right behind the wheel I don't think is even paint, I tryed to grind some off and it feels more like a tar or something.

but there is also a lot of rust around the front fender and under the doors(mostly surface rust or just starting)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix008.jpg

as I look over the car I can see that somebody else did a crappy job of trying to restore it, I'm gonna try to do it right. So if you guys have any advice or hints it would be great!
I am going to form some steel sheets around the major rust holes and weld it there(I'll have to learn to weld) and smooth it out with either bondo or fibreglass, not sure yet.
I will hopefully keep the colours as they are, if I can find the same silver colour.:ugh:

[jefe_not]

Yep, that looks like a project. Good luck with it - we want the car to live and live well! Think the black stuff might be some kind of rust proofing?

[Yotaholic]

I know how ya feel !! So lets see under that wooden deck :D

20 gauge sheetmetal for the body forms nice ............... .20 wire for the mig and co2

18 gauge for the floor and .30 wire and the gas ( co2 much cheaper )

I keep sayin Happy day when it's done !! Give it a try :woohoo:

[pophead]

it's possible that the stuff was somebody's idea of rustproofing, but couldn't they have used paint? that stuff is horrible to get off!!

sometimes I wish it was wood, I could just stick a nail here and a screw there...
I really can't wait till it's done, but I'm gonna have to put in sooo much time, I'm adding a sterio system at the same time, and that is a headache in itself!
I'm putting about 4 hours a week into the car, I'll probably be done by mid-summer.
I'm gonna be putting these rims(the front ones) on it when it's done...
I've got winter tires I'm gonna put on the rims that are on the back.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/car%20stuff/mkiisuprarims002.jpg

[TurboMini]

I remember when I started working on cars that wood would be easier. Once I got more into metal working and welding I definitely prefer metal. What type of welding are you planning on learning to fix your car?

[pophead]

I'm not sure what kind of welding I'm gonna use. any suggestions for types that are easier to learn?

[TurboMini]

MIG is probably your easiest to learn and have around the shop. I started with a little 110V that can be used with inert gas or with flux core. The flux core is really handy because you don't have to ever deal with getting your gas refilled and setting up the regulator, but the wire is more expensive. The other down side to flux core is that the welds you do with it are more likely to rust no matter how much prevention you try to do with it. A MIG with small wire and low settings is pretty good for body work, but when it's turned up with thicker wire you can do thick stuff as well. It can be used on a few types of metals with the proper shielding gases and wire.
Oxygen - Acetylene welding is great, but you are more likely to warp sheet metal. But it is also handy to use as a cutting torch, heating metal to form it, bend it or loosen it and even can be used to heat shrink metal. It's trickier to learn how to use but is a great skill to have. I have only used it on mild steel but is so handy for so many things with mild steel, however it can be used on some other metals with enough skill.
TIG, my favourite. This type of welding can be used on any type of metal that can be welded, I think it takes the most skill and is slower than other types of welding. But it can be used on very very thin materials with very minimal warping if you are careful It has the most variable control of heat and is very concentrated to the small area that you are welding on. You can weld thick material as well. But best of all you can get some sexy looking welds and it allows you to modify pretty much anything on your car that is metal. The downside is that the equipment is more expensive than the other types. I've heard that it has the biggest learning curve, but I have lots of experience with oxy-acetylene and MIG welding so I laid down a decent bead right away. But I still have some practice to do before I get the super sexy looking welds.
Then of course there is Arc/Stick welding. But that is probably not going to be much help doing body work.
Do some more reading on the different types of welding and figure out what you would use it for. But I think that once most people have a welder they find more uses than they originally thought.
So I would recommend that you get yourself the nicest MIG welder that you can afford. I started out with a reasonably priced small MIG because I didn't realize how much I would use it. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought a real serious MIG or the TIG from the beginning. It's also more of an enjoyable experience with a nice machine. Also if you buy a nice brand name welder and you end up not using it for some reason it will be easy to sell and you will actually get a decent amount of money for it. I loved my little MIG but my Miller Synchrowave 200 is just a dream. Welding sure changed my life, I've built many cool things and saved more than enough money by doing my own welding that the machines have more than paid for themselves.

Let us know what you end up doing.

[pophead]

wow thanks for the info!
I was considering renting a welding machine(if possible), but if I can get a decent one for a few hundred dollars I'll go that way.
TIG will probably be my best bet, but I'll first get some good DIY books from the library and see what's best for what. I probably won't do MIG if it is as you say and rusts pretty easily, since I'll be doing quite a bit of welding around the wheel wells I don't want to have to go back and do it again in a couple years.

[pophead]

here's an update of the progress on my car. haven't been able to do too much lately... been busy.
here's the rims I've cleaned up. as you can see the black insets still need to be touched up. I also need to get some different rubber on them, possibly yokohama AVS ES100(205/60 HR-14), or yokohama Avid S/T (P225/60 TR-14).
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix009.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix010.jpg

here's the system I'm putting in the car...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix012.jpg

evidence of previous patchwork...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix013.jpg

and some cancer on the sunroof, fortunately didn't get too deep.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/apophead/carpix011.jpg

that's all for now. Next month I will have more time on my hands so I'll probably be able to get most of the work done.