does anyone know of a list of colleges that do bodywork/panel beating courses?

My local college only does basic car maintenance. No welding, no panel beating or body prep/paint, or leaning to form metal.

Closest one Ive found is in bolton, and that starts before I finish work.

Would really love to be able form and join metal into new panels, or learn to wheel sections from sheet.

Reply to
Elder
Loading thread data ...

Several colleges advertise such courses. They never actually run them, 'cos not enough people sign up.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Reply to
SteveH

There used to be plenty of colleges doing evening car resto courses, but in common with most FE these are being cut in favour of things such as IT and hairdressing.

Wheeling is a very satisfying thing to learn, but you must learn to walk before you can run, and probably the best way to do this is to buy yourself an easy project car, and teach yourself.

However dont chose this option is you are not already pretty handy with basic hand tools, as without basic skills its going to take you a very very long time to come to grips with car resto.

Reply to
Ken

Yep. Compressors are mint for running tools. Generally any compressor that big would cost the wrong side of £400 here. Perhaps it's a function of the costs in £s what it costs in US$s thing...

Reply to
Doki

I think things are just more expensive there generally. Except for second hand cars.

Fraser

Reply to
Fraser Johnston

There is a reason it's known as rip off Brittan and that's simply that companies know they can get away with it. (Take Atari for example with there forth coming Test Drive Unlimited game the US RRP is $39.99 the UK price £49.99 that's 232% of the US price (based on the exchange rates of the day after they made the announcements).

Reply to
Depresion

Don't I know it.

Oh agreed, wheeling or mallet forming with a shot bag would be pretty far down the list of things to learn. I want to learn "the trade" though, even ust to a DIY level. I can slap on a bit of bog, get it fairly flat, and rattle can spray it, but I want to learn to weld in new metal, forming repair patches, and learning the shrink and stretch the metal once in, to get it to follow the proper lines.

I would love a project car at home, but I don't have space or a garage to work in. I could gasless mig outside, but they don't give a good enough finish. that is why learning in classroom would be ideal, using their car/panel to work on.

Oh, I've changed the stat on the GT4, which required removing the intercooler, the turbo heatshield, and the dismounting the aircon compressor and auxilliary belt, fitted new discs front and rear, and de- gunked the PCV system.

On the first saab I had, I replaced the brake serveo, new pads all round, front discs, and shocks all round.

On the favorit, I fitted bucket seats, replaced the shocks and brakes.

on the Estelle, it got a new slave cylinder for the clutch, and I crawled arround to replace the car length servo vac hose with a copper pipe to firm up the brakes, and fitted shocks all round, re-bled the brakes all round, replaced the carb (Jikovs wear terribly), fitted a new exhaust, played with the tappets, ignition timing and points gap.

I'm not a mechanic by any means but I love to tinker. Idealy I would have a double garage with a large mig, a small stick arc/buzz box, and a compressor with airtools and spray gun, to go with my angle grinder. Then I would really enjoy working on a project car, even if I made a mess of my first one.

Reply to
Elder

There is no problem with MIG welding outside, as long as its not a windy day. Its not tremendously difficult to weld in simple repair patches, and the main problem faced by beginners is very poor quality of cheap MIG sets, which makes them very difficult to use for a beginner.

If you are looking to have a go at MIG welding, its far better to try and get hold of a used pro set, than a cheap and nasty Clark/Sip type thing. This really does make things a lot easier.

K
Reply to
ken

Agreed. I would be a used Ebay kit with big bottle regulator. The guy who used to do my welding before his workshop caught fire had a Cebora or Sebora I think it was. I would be quite happy to pay over the odds for one of them, that or a decent Lincoln that I've heard good thigns about. I would pair that with one of those low power stick welders that Frost sell. Supposedly enough range to weld body work thickness metal.

Reply to
Elder

You dont need anything other than a MIG for car bodywork welding. Just look for a s/h pro type machine that has a wire feed pulser, then its quite possible to butt weld 1mm sheet. Forget about low power stick welding sets................they are micky mouse rubbish, and not really of any use for anything much.

k
Reply to
ken

But being able to cleanly stick weld is another skill to have, and the one I was looking at is able to cover a very large ampage range.

Would ideally love to handle a tig torch too later.

Reply to
Elder

Stick welding has very limited applications for vehicle work, and is really only of any use in DIY applications for someone who doesnt have a MIG. I have used my stick set once only in the eight years I have had it!

k
Reply to
ken

Bear in mind "ken" is not a coded welder and his welding "business" was mainly concerned with welding up MOT failures and old farm carts. He probably couldn't find the on switch....

Reply to
straggle

->->>If you are looking to have a go at MIG welding, its far better to try and

->>get hold of a used pro set, than a cheap and nasty Clark/Sip type thing.

->>This really does make things a lot easier.

->>

->Agreed. I would be a used Ebay kit with big bottle regulator.

->The guy who used to do my welding before his workshop caught fire had a

->Cebora or Sebora I think it was. I would be quite happy to pay over the

->odds for one of them, that or a decent Lincoln that I've heard good

->thigns about. I would pair that with one of those low power stick

->welders that Frost sell. Supposedly enough range to weld body work

->thickness metal.

I would go for a Cebora over a Lincoln, and rather then buying a project car to weld up get various bits of offcut and weld them back together, the thicker the better to start with as you get better use thinner and thinner steel.

Reply to
Geoff

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.