Series 2a 35 FG 55

[AR4412]

Hi Dougie,

These five holes were originally for a fire exringuisher bracket I believe. They were mounted there until the Lightweight went all posh and got a heater, when it was evicted to the side of the footwell.

Regards,

[Dougie2a]

Hi,

Excellent, yes that makes sense, I can picture that.

Dougie

[Dougie2a]

Life's a Gas.
Bit of a lull in 2a towers, few domestic things that needed attention .. so today got stuck into the Driver's side A Pillar. Buoyed up after working on Passenger side - how hard was this going to be? Got stuck in with the saw and the grinder and extracted the old pillar. No problem.

New and old

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But as i removed the bolt from the chassis i spied the bolt end.

Pin Sharp

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That bolt was fitted when the chassis was renewed at the end of 2008, and for the last 6 years has been sitting in a dry garage. That was a bit of a surprise to me, it had rotted back to the nut. Anyway got it all lined up and clamped ready to weld.

All clamped up and no gas to weld...

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Life's a Gas - The Point.
And that where the anger built up... No Gas! No Flippin Gas!! I've been using those mini disposable bottles with the rubbish regulator valves which don't work properly - as in turn it up to max before some gas came out. Replaced the regulator with a new mini disposable bottle regulator - much better... except one day realised that when i turned it off the regulator unscrews in the same direction and over one night the bottled vented out. Fitted a new bottle, took great care to close valve and then tighten up regulator... but after sitting for a weekend it must have been knocked as "persons unknown" walked past and vented out the new bottle. I'm off to hobby gas tomorrow!!!

[Loulou]

Hello,
I am impressed by your courage and your welding work, well done!
Do not let go and supply gas; good luck.


Regrds.

Looloo

[AR4412]

Hi Dougie,

I see you have the same welder as me, and have suffered the same problem of it 'self venting' the bottle. I unscrew the regulator from the bottle by a couple of turns between jobs, if there will be a bit of a pause for marking up/alignment clamping etc.... and remove it completely for a lunchbreak, or when finished for the day. I don't think i've adjusted the regulator flow in a while now, just left it on max. But, most of my welding is done outside, or at the front of an open garage. Apart from the regulator, which once the issue was found I can deal with, I think it's a nice little hobby welder.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

[Dougie2a]

Hi Dougie,

I see you have the same welder as me, and have suffered the same problem of it 'self venting' the bottle. I unscrew the regulator from the bottle by a couple of turns between jobs, if there will be a bit of a pause for marking up/alignment clamping etc.... and remove it completely for a lunchbreak, or when finished for the day. I don't think i've adjusted the regulator flow in a while now, just left it on max. But, most of my welding is done outside, or at the front of an open garage. Apart from the regulator, which once the issue was found I can deal with, I think it's a nice little hobby welder.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Hey Neil
You are probably right re the gas regulator but i've lost a few quids worth of gas to the gods including the CO2 bottle that came with it and i had in reserve, i just can't be bothered with the faff any more. Ive got time now to devote to the project, as I'm unable to work due to the Covid situation, so no gas delayed me. The welder its self i am finding a nice little box of tricks, now i am mastering the adjustments.
Dougie

[Dougie2a]

It's a Gas Gas Gas

Gas situation sorted, time to:
Turn Up the Heat
Turn Up the Wire Feed
Prepare to weld... Weld!

Turned out nice

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Time for Beer.

[andrewjsimpson1977]

Dougie, re: the gas and the welding of thin parts like the fascia...a game changer for me was gasless (flux cored) welding wire, and perhaps more importantly - a drop down from 0.9 to 0.8mm wire. No blow throughs and no worries about gas escaping. You will have a bit more grinding / dressing of the weld with your power tool of choice, but it does work.

Thanks for sharing the photos,

All the best,

Andy

[Dougie2a]

Been a bit side tracked on the other 88" 2a, need to get it on the road again before I get the go-ahead to get back to work so i can settle the credit card bill... Mind you, i seem to be spending a lot of time fixing an other guys fixing. - so am now working on the principle of - "The Next Time The Other Guy Will Be Me", I find that works for me!

My "Special Projects Manager" has meanwhile got stuck into the Smiths Heater she oft' complained about in the deepest of Scottish winters - especially in the July of the year. Of course the right angle bend on the feed hose wouldn't have helped.

I am convinced i saw a very detailed post on this forum, re the rebuild of a flat heater. I have searched the forum and have not come up with the article i remembered, and now my Clicky-Mouse-Finger is getting sore from searching page after page.

I've seen the Bob Fell post "Re Smiths 24v heater rebuild" of April 11 '18. Does anybody know of an other post? I just want to check a couple of details from photos on washer/spacer positions etc as Special Projects is of the opinion that its not the first time this heater has been opened.

Thanks in anticipation, Dougie

Pandora's Box

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Pandora's Sink

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Pandora's Washing Line

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[AR4412]

Hi Dougie,

There's a few heater pics on this page and the next in my rebuild thread, don't know if they'll be of any use to you though?

https://forum.militarylightweight.co.uk ... start=1270

Regards,