Early Swingarm Seat Pan Restoration Project.

[RichardL]

Oxy is good for many things, but these days, gasless MIG's are fairly cheap(and cheap), but still well worth the investment, and much better for sheet work

Hmm. I have a gasless MIG and think I'm worse with that than oxy. I did use it for the tack welds. It's all very embarrassing because I spent a lot of my youth as a helper (not really apprentice)  to some really good pipe fitters, my dad being a mechanical and HVAC contractor and a
pretty good fitter himself. I need to practice  both.

Richard L.

[RDfella]

Nice job. Richard. Nothing wrong with that. Had to do the same with mine.
BTW, I agree re oxy / mig. I'll put my arc / oxy welding against most people, but my mig is rubbish. Trouble is, when working with old material, the section / thickness varies and so therefore does the heat required. Easy to control with a flame, but a mig stays the same and the wire just keeps pouring out regardless..... I can do a neat mig job on new material (provided it's not intricate, where TIG would be required) but but otherwise I leave it alone. And don't ask about my TIG 'expertise'....

[MartinK]

Thats what I did with one of my seats. New metal around the front sides and the same again at th rear of the seat. Looks ok now painted.

[BSA_54A10]

Been gas welding for decades and now days specalize in building up rust.
It is all about control and there is far more control with gas than any electric system ever made.
Gasless MIG ( which is a contradictions of terms ) is the hardest welding proceedure to master.
This has been told to me by so many professional welders it is not funny. Yet it is marketed to the inexperienced handyman.
Electric welding was invented as a production line tool and for use on VIRGIN material where the joint has been properly preparred it can not be beaten.
For doing repairs it is a different story, oxy is king, particularly when you understand how the different heats affect the microstructure of the joints.

[kiwipom]

hi guys, yes Trev same here even back in the day `lead burning`with oxy/acet was a specialty when making lead flashing's. Acetylene has the ability to create its own barrier against oxidation while gas welding sheet metal and gas welding can be controlled to the speed of the welder. I now use oxy/l.p.g. but not any good for sheet metal but great for brazing and cutting, cheers

[Swarfcut]

  For sheet metal repairs, Oxy Acetylene is by far the most versatile. I have stuck with it and my original supplier for a very long time, despite ever rising costs. There is very little price competition between national suppliers. Tried Mig, but this will only give good results on nice new clean metal, if you are just a casual user.  It requires more skill and practice than the adverts would have you believe.

 Most MIG Welds on vehicle body repairs I have seen are of the chicken shit surface finish, even from so called professionals, who cover their artwork with body filler. TIG seems to be halfway between, giving the convenience of electric welding with a much more controllable arc.  I was fascinated to watch guys TIG weld stainless tubing, the arc was just like a candle flame, nice and soft with the metal pooling and moving easily into the joint. Very smooth welds, very little surface finishing required, but welding equipment relatively expensive for top brands.

   Here in the UK, one downside to OxyAcetylene is that supply is in the hands of a few major players who make their money on gas bottle rental and fixed charges getting the bottles from the store. Also both bottles never run dry at the same time, so it is cheaper to swap both even though one still contains gas you have paid for. Meaning one service charge for two bottles, and a single journey to the depot. Oh yes, they will also charge you for an invoice, but crazily give you credit. In effect I am paying for the bad payers and the company's accounts department.  Direct debit payments will avoid the invoice charge. I would always go for a cheaper cash on the nail deal, but there is no discount for prompt payment. With high charges I never have it delivered, for a couple of bottles it makes no economic sense for a small scale user like me. It really feels like money for nothing. Despite the well established  British trading title, the company now has a strong European connection.

  There are other suppliers for gases, with a business model without continuous bottle rental, but none of them seem to be able to supply acetylene.

 Swarfy

 

[RichardL]

I bought my bottles new so that I wouldn't be in a rental agreement. Took the brand new bottles to the depot and swapped straight across for used bottles full of gas at the gas cost, only. I think this actually means I will never need to pay for recertification of the bottles.

Richard L.

[Greybeard]

Here in the UK, one downside to OxyAcetylene is that supply is in the hands of a few major players who make their money on gas bottle rental and fixed charges getting the bottles from the store. Also both bottles never run dry at the same time, so it is cheaper to swap both even though one still contains gas you have paid for. Meaning one service charge for two bottles, and a single journey to the depot. Oh yes, they will also charge you for an invoice, but crazily give you credit. In effect I am paying for the bad payers and the company's accounts department.  Direct debit payments will avoid the invoice charge. I would always go for a cheaper cash on the nail deal, but there is no discount for prompt payment. With high charges I never have it delivered, for a couple of bottles it makes no economic sense for a small scale user like me. It really feels like money for nothing. Despite the well established  British trading title, the company now has a strong European connection.

BOC, British Oxygen Company. It's not bad is it, to mine your raw materials from the atmosphere and extortionately flog it back to your customers!

I had a lovely little BOC Portapack in the 1970's. It became unreasonable to pay the rent and cylinder charges just for the occasional hobby job. The kit is at my sisters but there are currently no gas cylinders for it. My best welding and brazing, (and cutting) was with OxyAcetylene. I have a cheap MIG now. I've never tried stick or TIG welding.

[kiwipom]

hi guys, B.O.C. here too they took over N.Z.I.G. a few years back and announced that as from `blah/blah`year all oxy/acet bottles that we had purchased previously would no longer be filled but you could rent their new ones on a monthly basis and would be charged for refills every month whether you were empty or not!!!
 I now get my refills from an independent supplier after buying their bottles, i m told that all acetylene bottles in N.Z. are filled in Indonesia somewhere, cheers   

[Slymo]

Yes its a real shame that you can no longer get owner acetyline bottles filled in NZ but the Bunnings swap system seems ok on the face of it. Certainly better than going without!

[RichardL]

Finally done! Already lost a long story when a7a10.net stopped responding. So , just posting pictures now and may rewrite the story or put the picture in order later, if I find the will.

One thing I will say now. The blue upholstery foam was good quality but too soft for the whole seat. The gray/green foam is stiffer closed-cell type and is, literally, garden-variety kneeling cushions.

Richard L.

[RichardL]

More pictures of upholstery process.

[RichardL]

More photos.

[RichardL]

Of course, these posts are in the wrong order. See the oldest one in this string first.

[BigJim]

Great work Richard. Makes me wish i hadn't thrown away my rotten old base when i bought a pattern replacement. Of course i would not have been able to create anything as complete as yours. Maybe i could have given it to someone like yourself who could have given it a new life'