Could you check out these welds for me?

[JoshStratton]

These are not mine. When I weld, I make sure there is at least 3 inches of paint grinded off around the area. These pics were taken off of a car I am thinking of getting and they make me a little nervous. The car is about 150 miles away and I do not want to make the trip to find a pile of junk.

[Matt@RFR]

I can't tell what's going on in the first picture, but the bottom two pictures show above average welds. They're alittle long for body work, but if nothing is warped, you should compliment the guy.

[JoshStratton]

What about the surface rust that is surrounding them or the paint that is awful close to them? I usually prime mine after welding, and since I am not too experienced, I have really not seen much like that. How would one clean that up?

[astroracer]

Hey Josh, I have to agree with Matt that those are some nice looking welds. To clean them up, sandblasting would be your best alternative. Use a fine silica sand and low pressure. Keep the blaster off the flat panels. If you can't blast them hit them with a knotted wire wheel in an angle grinder then dose them with rust converter. Let that dry then shoot them with some epoxy and then cover them with seam sealer.
I would make a concerted effort to get the back side as clean as the front if you can. That is where new rust will start if you don't get it cleaned up and covered.
Mark

[JoshStratton]

:( Unfortunately those 2 areas of the VW Bug are sealed from the back. There is no way to get to them. It seems like a good car. He cut the Torsion brackets off the rear of the car so there really is no rear suspension. The ride would SUCK so I would have to do something about that.

[Matt@RFR]

Like Mark said, some rust converter and it should be fine. As long as the paint/rust wasn't touching the weld, it's fine. I think people grind paint so far from the welds is to prevent nasty fumes if it melts...otherwise it has no effect on the weld as long as the puddle doesn't touch it.