Hi all,

I'm quite happy at welding, But I'm going round to do a mates road car tonight, are there anythings I should be aware of that are different to working on my chassis.

I know I'll be disconnecting the battery, but do you need to protect the ECU or anything?

Many thanks

Iv heard of people unplugging the ECU just incase.

The main thing is to remove panels behind your welding area. They stuff insulation into the weirdest of places and the car owners sometimes do dodgy things.
I once set fire to an XR3i because the owner had a faulty seatbelt and had unravelled it and tied it inside the rear side panel.
I was welding seals on!

[Edited on 1/2/2008 by nitram38]

I was welding a car once and the owners kids had stuffed opal fruit papers under the back seat, lots of them. It went up like one oh! I had to rip the seat out and throw it across the yard and hose the interior, not too much damage but lots of smoke and stink.

Find the location of fuel, brake lines etc, hidden wires under carpets. If welding near the tank drape a rubber car mat over it to stop sparks. Do make sure it’s well supported if going under, I still see people using just a jack and make sure to disconnect the alternator.

Have powder fire extinguisher next to you 1kg min.

Arph Arph - (Crap seal impression)

Did the Seals object and how did you get them to sit still long enough.


"don;t you mean sills."

Once welded a chassis on a car, unaware that those plastic lines were fuel lines. Reaslised what they were when I noticed they were close enough to the welding to melt.

When it had solidified i touched the line to discover it broke and squirted a good few cc of fuel. A few more seconds of weldingr and I could have been very badly burnt.

Always check what is near to the weld.

Darren