Here's your solution (£12 for a full set, from Lidl):

Have you tried the onion skin trick yet?

I have ordered a seat cover off the Snap On man, but I do intend to have another go at them. If I can't get whatever is staining them out then I'll probably order a set of the cheapy D*lly style covers off Ecas.

Today I started making some tubular bumpers but the boss was in and out so I couldn't really get started. After work I repaired a rear door hinge. I say 'repaired', what I mean is I sort of cheated. The bottom 100mm of the drivers side rear door hinge was rotten and it'd come away from the door all the way up to the window. I drilled out the spot welds, cut the rotten section off and re-welded the hinge back on but 100mm lower, re shaped the bottom so it's the same as the original and slid it back on. As soon as I get my hands on a scrap rear door I'll add the missing bit of hinge back onto the top, but at least now I can open the door without the risk of it falling off and having a constant battle trying to close it. I'd quite liked to have popped the window out and repaired the window surround but I couldn't be arsed.

Forgive my ignorance... what are the brass things that look like bullets on the door hinge?

Cleco fasteners/skin pins...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgEIVUVLrnQ

Tools used by wizards...

Should get some of those clecos too they look rather handy for welding jobs.

They're well handy for stuff like this.

I cut up a really shit front door for sections to repair the rear door I started the other night.

Sorry for the shite photos...

You need to do a close up "how to" welding section (giving the power settings of the mig )

Great work.

Some very good work.

Thank you, It's not really my forte, 0.6mm steel sheet like 2cvs are made from. I tend to blow holes in it all over the place, I have no patience. I also have to do most of this at work as my welder isn't up and running yet. That means there's always a time limit for me to have the car back in one piece to drive home in again. It'd be hard to give a 'setting' so to speak, I can only give a rough amperage and to be honest it's more about your own personal trial and error. I would advise more that folk get hold of a load of scrap panels and cut them up and practice welding them together in a similar manner.

The best advice is mainly regarding cleanliness and tooling yourself up correctly. I recently bought an air powered die grinder and a little cut-off tool and it's the best thing ever. Cheapo wire wheels go in the die grinder and mean I can clean paint off beautifully, the cut-off tool is really good for cutting smaller detailed sections out (like the door parts I did.) Cleaning paint off and cutting the rot out until it's like clean new metal is the only important bit. I reallt struggle with welding the bits back together and avoiding distortion. Copper backing pads and heatsinks are one answer but not always viable on closed sections. Some folk use a damp rag and quench each tack as soon as it's done but this doesn't always seem like a good idea. I've recently tried using the TIG but I've not really got the talent for that yet. It's great for tacking in sections by fusing spots here and there but I've not had the practice with it to make a good job of actually stitching a whole panel in.

Patience and constant trial fitting and adjustment of new metal shapes are the key, I look at every bit of 2cv welding I've ever done and think to myself 'I wish I'd taken longer over that'.