Help! Good welder near Newport?

[davejh]

I'm looking to have some welding repairs done to my car before christmas. He's off the road at the moment so I don't mind if it's done in a proper garage or somebodies personal garage around a day job. All I want is for my mini to be welded properly and at a good price!

I'm afraid I've lost £250 to a cowboy welder who made a mess of my car and didn't even do enough to get it though the MOT


Let me know who I could take it to, I'd love it for one of this forum's members to do the work as I'd be happy knowing a mini enthusiast is taking good care of my Barney. I've had one offer from a guy in Shropshire but it's going to cost £150 just to get there and back on a trailer so if there's a local option I'd like to take it!

[phill54]

What part of the car needs welding pal.

[davejh]

Quite a list, the holes themselves aren't too big but there are a few. If you don't mind, have a look at my diary on TMF as it details the damage with pictures. Here's the link:
www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=166451

In short, here is a list of what I'd like to get sorted:


Work done by previous welder that I'd like redone:
Hole in passenger side rear arch (pretty damned big one too!)
Hole under fuel tank bracket in the boot
Small patch to boot floor
Hole on driver's side floor/sill (under door)
Hole on passenger side floor/sill (under door)
Hole in driver's side rear bin(?) that was FILLERED by the 'welder'

All the above has had plates slapped over the rust, the rust hasn't been removed and the plating looks horrible!

There is also the following list required for MOT that was completely missed by the 'welder':
Hole in driver's side rear arch (smaller than the passenger side one)
Hole in rear of floor (where it meets the rear seat) on driver's side
Hole in rear of floor (where it meets the rear seat) on passenger side
Hole in passenger side rear bin/sill

Work I'd ideally like done:
Oversills chopped off and good proper sills welded 'in' not 'on'
Any other rust found from the bulkhead back chopped and sorted - again I mean a plate in, not on. (I don't think there's much/any more, just the inevitable bit here and there you always come across when working on a mini!)
Rear boot valance replaced (it's very rusty, while not being MOT failable I think it makes sense to sort it now as there'll be work done in the boot anyway)

Can you help? Or do you know someone who can?

[danielc]

Just looked at some of the pictures of the welding ffs I genuinely think I could have done better than that and I have never welded in my life. It doesn't even look nearly right. If I had a garage I'd make space in it for your mini, you deserve a bit of good luck for a change!

[davejh]

Thanks, I appreciate your comment Daniel. Maybe someone with welding skills or a spare garage will feel the same! The worst part is, I have my own welder. I could have a done a better job myself but I used this guy because he was suggested to me by a guy who did some work on my engine and someone who would 'do a proper job'. Unbelievable.

[danielc]

Go and show the welding to the guy who did the engine work, at least he won't recommend him to anyone else. It's even worse that he was recommended to you!

[davejh]

It's even worse than that actually, the welder threatened me and my car until I paid up, enough to really frighten my Mum - that's why I ended up paying up, just to get rid of him. And guess who backed him up when he went around to my mate's shop to try and pressure him into asking me to pay up - the guy who did my engine work. Needless to say, I'll never go back to either of them again! Well and truly shafted.

[phill54]

hey dave i could of helped but your abit far away in newport sorry
do u just wanna patch her up or put new panels into the car
i do now a really good garage that does good welding work