sounds reasonable to me if theyre welding both top & bottom of the overlap (which they should), its time consuming

That's what I figure :) stock heater unit will disappear I guess cause it won't fit with the maddat tunnel. That's east fix though

I find it overkill that people expect the tunnel to be fully welded inside and out with a 20mm ovelap.

Has anyone ever had a look at the tunnel in a factory automatic 1200?

there is less than 20mm overlap and random spotwelds joining the enlarged tunnel section to the floor/firewall.

Quote:

That tunnel is made to 40 year old standards.
2012/13 standards require 20mm overlap and fully welded.

Is that true? Is a 2012 Kia or Proton made with fully welded and highly overlapping sections?

Protons aren't made dd, they are a digestive systems by product from a really bad curry dinner

I dont know I'd have to be pretty convinced they were a decent welder to feel good about only being charged $100 to weld in a tunnel. Not that I'd be thrilled to pay more but a pro welding shop should charge around $75 - $90 & hour & there's no way you can do that complete in an hour. NOw $800 is a different story, I'd say between $225 & $350 is probably about right for pro job. That's a lot of spot or stitch welding to do.

I had a tunnel fully rolled up and welded in by a professional fabrication shop for 300, that was around 5 years ago though but I'd say around that maybe 400 to just weld one in

Cut tunnel out, fully weld all round, make it fit perfect, seam seal both sides, prime and prep for paint. I am not worried about the cost just wanted to know whether anyone else had actually had a maddat installed professionally and not installed by yourself or a different tunnel installed

The last time I did something like this the 'standard' for engineering approval was the overlap as mentioned but then seam weld (complete all the way around) on one side, and then stitch weld (weld 1-2 inches, then a small gap then the next 'stitch' ) - the reasoning was that the seam weld would have the strength, but absolute worse case, if the stitch weld cracked, the crack could only travel the length of one stitch, not all the way around. If you do do it that way, do the seam on the underneath (even though it's harder to do) and the stitch on the top side, as it won't let water get in there (yes body sealer should stop that, but don't count on it 100%)



If the place you are taking it to are absolute top notch craftsmen, that's not an unfair price. I'll tell you one thing, take it somewhere 'cut price' and if they stuff it up, have fun trying to repair it and then put the tunnel insert section (possibly the second one if they stuff the original up enough!) in.