Ok, sorry not Buggy but I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here  so I and my mate both have Beetles and need I some body panels changing and possibly floorpans (I'll find out when I get the body off!) and he has some bits to weld up and we fancy having a go at the welding. Matt (Speedy) has offered to teach us - if he has time - so if we buy a welder, what do you guys recommend?

We are also thinking of painting the cars ourselves. I have a compressor but it is only for airbrushing! So again, those with painting experience any help appreciated. These seem cheap, is there a good reason for that? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221296868562?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I am sure Mike, Grissley and the rest will be along soon.
In the meantime I bought a Clarkes MIG from Machine Mart, works well although my skills need to improve.

Here is a link to a thread I started that is full of top tips and has details of teh one I bought
http://www.beachbuggy.info/index.php/topic,1118.0.html

All the best
Dave

Never thought of searching! Off for a read

Andrew here is a useful site http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

good run of the mill mig are sealey better than a hobby mig well made but don't buy a gasless mig they are useless if you want cheap then use a pub c02 bottle on your mig you will be fine if your going to spray a whole car most guns req about 3hp compressor and a 150 ltr tank to keep up..... 

as above don't use a gasless they are shocking. pub gas will work but better to have an argon mix.

there are now lots of companies offering non contract welding gasses which might be worth a looksie, also vzi (cough) did have a thing going with boc for really cheap deals, don't know if this is still active.

you should look for a minimum of a 130 amp mig that can be run on 0.8mm wire, stay away from 0.6mm wire as it tends to snag on the spool and doesn't do you any favours when trying to weld with it.

mike

Thanks for all the replies. looking at a Clarke 150/151 as it seems to tick all the boxes people say we need and seem to get ok reviews for the price.

I bought an sswap redline welder 150 gas £150 new I can weld a fair bit now. Bought a air mate who
20 litre compressor 2nd hand off ebay £150 was only just up road wouldn't be without my air now keep looking sure to get a good deal

Well we have a compressor now, 2hp and 50 lt which I think will do for now. I bought some Beetle bits off a guy who had painted his in a single car garage with a 1.5hp 25 lt (with 2 pack ) and it looked pretty good. Think we will be using cellulose. Also got a Clarke 135te on the way and some 0.8 wire. After all the advice about min 130 amp and realising we are almost only ever going to need it for bodywork we thought we might put the difference into the gas. I have seen a place online called Hobbyweld that asks for a £60 deposit but no monthly/yearly rental and then you just pay for refills. Anyone used them or have any better ideas? This will be very infrequently used so don't want to be paying rental!

Don't paint 2K in a single garage. You might not make it out!

That's what I thought when he told me! Paints4u list early VW colours in Celly so I think we will be trying them. Anyone got thoughts on quantities for a Beetle? I have googled and got anything from 1.5 to 4 litres

4 litres will do it all inside and out, but use etching primer as a base then you can put high build primer filler on top or just put the top coats on. the misses beetle has suffered some peeling as I omitted the etch primer bit so the high build did not take 100% and the blue the beetle came in has also lifted in places.

Cheers Keith,

Is it ok to put etch primer over existing paint if spot priming small bare metal areas? We don't know what the current paint is, it's not original

best try some celly on it as you may get a reaction then it will need stripping off, coach enamel is also good for home but it needs a static heat source to speed up the drying and flies- dust etc can settle in it while it dries

gasless migs are just as good as gas ones, they are just slightly different in how you weld with them!