Classic Mini Restoration Episode 7 - Clarke 135 TE Turbo Mig Welder from Machine Mart

In Episode 7 of restoring my classic mini, I source a suitable welder and opt for the Clarke 135 te turbo mig welder from Machine Mart. It was either the Rtech 180 or the Clarke 135 te turbo but in the end, budget decided.
The Clarke 135 TE Turbo from Machine Mart is a lot better than I'd expected and although I don't have much welding experience, I'm quite hopeful this welder will be more than capable.
I know there seems to be many people with regulator issues so thats something I may look at changing in the future but so far so good.
In this video I do an unboxing of the welder and give a quick demonstration although at this point, i'm still just a complete beginner.

[@shaineriches4369]

The welder is on the wrong setting. You can hear it popping. The best way to dial it in is too run a bead an when your running a bead with the other hand alter the wire speed and listen to the sound of frying bacon. Your just know when you have it on the right setting because your have less spatter and itll sound more crisp and no popping. Itll sound consistent 🙂

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks. Ive spent many hours practicing and its literally beat me. Ive decided to fall back on the original plan of getting it welded professionally and making sure its done correctly and to a safe standard. :-)

[@mohabatkhanmalak1161]

Practice, and more practice and you will get there. About the brand 'Clarke', I remember way back in the 1980's, 90's seeing their home DIY equipment in car magazines from the UK. I am surprised to see they are still there for the DIYer.

[@SmugwoodMini]

Practice definetly required :-) Just waiting for some better weather. Yeah, Clarke seem to be doing very well.

[@wannesvanhoudt6429]

Very nice. Much respect for just having a go at it. That's the way to learn fast 👍 before you weld something on your mini, make sure the penetration is spot-on. Sticking 2 metal pieces together doesn't mean it's strong. A bodyshell goes through a lot of fources so do a lot of testing pieces before doing the real stuff. Keep raising the current/voltage untill you blow holes in the panel and turn it a bit down from there. That should be a good/safe startingpoint.

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks, that sounds like a plan. I’ve a few scrap pieces of bodywork to practice on first. That’s a worry of mine though...visions of driving down the road and body panels popping off 😂

[@billywhizz98]

Great video and nice to see good reviews

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks. It’s better built than I was expecting so fingers crossed it’s been a good purchase.

[@DBMiniDIY]

All setup and ready to go, another great video

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks 😊 Just really hoping that I don’t make it worse than it already is 😂 If theres one part of the restoration I’ve been most nervous about...this is it.

[@DBMiniDIY]

@@SmugwoodMini you will be fine, you seem to have the correct temperament and attitude towards it, when practicing get some metal that is the same thickness as the mini panels because its the welding on thin metal that is the tricky part

[@SmugwoodMini]

Yeah thats my worry. The panels seem really thin compared to the shovel and I was surprised at just how hot the shovel got, even with small welds. I’ve kept the old damaged bonnet from the car to practice on. Hopefully that’ll give me a more realistic view of what to expect. Think I’m gonna have to do a lot of studying these next few weeks.

[@irelandsirelands5253]

What an awesome guy lovely fella great video

[@SmugwoodMini]

Very kind of you to say :-)

[@mindrivencarclub9403]

Great Video, that’s the welder I’m going to go for, very good price and great for welding minis up! Keep up the good work! William Mindriven Car Club of Northamptonshire

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks. Yeah it seems up to the job. If you can get the vat free codes as well it makes it a very good price indeed. It comes with a welding mask but I ended up buying a semi decent one as the one that comes with it is very flimsy...but I’ve kept it just in case I need a back up.

[@mindrivencarclub9403]

Smugwood Mini where do you find the VAT free codes?

[@SmugwoodMini]

When I bought something from Machine Mart earlier this year I signed up with their emails as they said they send latest offers and discount codes etc. I called them last month wondering why I’d not received any vat free codes yet like others had been, and they kindly sent me a code to use. 👍

[@mindrivencarclub9403]

Smugwood Mini cool !

[@SmugwoodMini]

👍👍

[@rustyrover3808]

Great to see you your finally making a start, I am an amateur welder as well. I would really recommend hiring a spot welder for doing the outer panels, i5 made life so much easier and I managed to get a professional finish as well. Good luck one step at a time 👍

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks. I may have access to a spot welder but I’m gonna see how my welding gets on first. Gonna spend the next few weeks practicing. 😊👍

[@TheGentlemensMotorRacingTeam]

Great video

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks. I’m thinking Episode 8 could be the challenging one 😂 but looking forward to it.

[@TheReelMob]

Really cool video, this is exactly the type of video that i needed to see as I'm looking at getting into welding. Would love to see more things you've welded. New sub right here :-)

[@SmugwoodMini]

It's all relatively new to me too. I'm just in the process of learning how to plug weld with the welder. Ive got a few scrap panels I'm practicing on before I attempt to replace the Toe Board on the mini. This will be uploaded soon...it's certainly worth practicing on scrap pieces first. Just waiting on a tool delivery which I'm hoping will help speed up the cleaning up of the welds :-) At first I was really wary of the welder but the more you use it...the more fun it seems to get :-)

[@harrisonwestley7537]

Pro tip: watch series on kaldrostream. I've been using it for watching all kinds of movies these days.

[@kylanrory1402]

@Harrison Westley yea, been using kaldroStream for years myself :)

[@johngiven2253]

Good video there Lee, welding takes alot of time and patience, I've been welding on and off for years and I'm still learning every day, I have the Clark 160tm and find the Clark range perfect for what I need, keep up with the videos, look forward to seeing the work start on the mini!

[@SmugwoodMini]

Thanks 😊👍 So far I’ve been taking everything apart and I guess from here, everything gets repaired and built back up...so I’m quite nervous 😂

[@johngiven2253]

@@SmugwoodMini don't make the mistake I did and remove too much without having new panels there first, if you have your new panels you can offer them up before you cut to make sure it all lines up, also plenty of bracing inside the doors and between the floor, at the end of the day it's a learning curve and you will only learn more by making some mistakes along the way life I have 😂😂😂

[@SmugwoodMini]

I find filming everything adds more pressure...but sometimes I find that helps me try and get things right. But no doubt I’ll make lots of mistakes along the way 😂 and it might make for better tv 😂

[@johngiven2253]

@@SmugwoodMini I started to film to make a KZbin channel but I'm far too shy and not very good on camera 🙈 so didn't carry it on, I'll be following on with your uploads chap!

[@SmugwoodMini]

It’s hard I’ll admit. Not got the confidence to actually talk to the camera yet...but a year or so I wasn’t able to even talk behind the camera so there’s a bit of progress 😂

[@davidyeates5525]

HI, sorry to ask but did it come with the 0.8 or 0.6 wire, nothing I can find online says which size wire it's delivered with. Thanks. David

[@SmugwoodMini]

Im not sure...when i went into the shop to get it I asked for both sizes so I came back with 0.6 and 0.8...but not sure which size actually came with the machine.

[@davidyeates5525]

Turns out it's delivered with the 0.6. well mine was when it arrived the other day 👍

[@SmugwoodMini]

I wasn’t sure what to use as I’m just learning so got both just incase. I’m still unsure which one to use 😂

[@davidyeates5525]

@@SmugwoodMini same here, although I only have the 0.6 at the moment. If you are on Instagram you can check out my efforts today @davidbyeates

[@SmugwoodMini]

I shall have a look :-)

[@Automotiverecoveryuk]

How u get on with this how long did it take u to get it going good with welding on car

[@SmugwoodMini]

I really struggled if I’m honest…no fault of the welder, just a lack of skill and the fact I was trying to weld outside in the rubbish weather. Once I swapped the regulator and got decent gas, the welding started to look alright, but I have very little experience and welding metal less than 1mm is hard. I did weld up a shovel I broke and that was a lot easier with being thicker…but I was making a mess of the car and ended up taking it to someone who knew what they were doing. The welder itself was fine but needed to be used indoors and that’s what really let me down…facilities and lack of skill 😊

[@Automotiverecoveryuk]

@@SmugwoodMini that's a shame How's the car get along I'm 50/50 to buy 1 to test my patience

[@SmugwoodMini]

It’s going well now. The rebuild starts next week once the paint has fully cured. Certainly very stressful 😂 but really looking forward to getting back on the road…hopefully before the end of the year 🤞

[@Automotiverecoveryuk]

@@SmugwoodMini cool make some vids be interesting to see progress

[@SmugwoodMini]

I have a whole series of the build so far…think I’m nearly at episode 40. 😊👍

[@davemoore2016]

You might find 0.8 is to much and you will blow through a lot, try using 0.6 as this is easier to weld with on thin sheet metal like body shells, and matsuri your metals are very clean.

[@SmugwoodMini]

Yeah I’ll try both. 👍 I’m thinking of cutting up some identical test pieces and trying both wire sizes and seeing what happens. Hopefully after lots of practice things will become a bit clearer.

[@davemoore2016]

@@SmugwoodMini thats it, all you can do is practice and do what works best for you.

[@SmugwoodMini]

I’ll be crossing my fingers a lot over the next few months 😂