Pigeon_Droppings2
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jpmillermatic
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wow, looks like that old game "pick up sticks" from when we were kids......great job...it sure looks sturdy to me!
Jp
Jp
Pigeon_Droppings2
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Cheers JP...yea half way through I was going to just quit but decided to push on with it. It was a lot harder to meet the "design brief" of making a "removable" brace to be honest. Still needs some additional work on the connectors to beef them up....the main brace pipes are ridiculously over specced but I had those steel pipes going spare so decided to use them. The end connectors are the weak area...some of the angle iron is only 3mm so will need triangulating I think but otherwise yea am happy....most of it is 6mm which I think is plenty as I reckon the actual twisting forces aren't actually going to be that large.
Just can't wait to actually start welding the car itself to be honest
...sorry to all those people who came on here to follow a Nissan Figaro project and got a project about building a brace instead!
On the down side I might be getting busy with work again so not sure how much time I'm going to have...so far I've had time available to work on Figgy but that may be about to change
!!
Just can't wait to actually start welding the car itself to be honest
...sorry to all those people who came on here to follow a Nissan Figaro project and got a project about building a brace instead!On the down side I might be getting busy with work again so not sure how much time I'm going to have...so far I've had time available to work on Figgy but that may be about to change
!!
jpmillermatic
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no worries, PD2.....the big picture is still looming large.....besides, we are a patient lot!
JP
JP
Pigeon_Droppings2
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Pigeon_Droppings2
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Today I put in some strengtheners on the weaker angle iron, added the additional door brace (square bar) and also added a couple of bolts to tie the cross braces together in the middle.
Overall I think I'm happy...definitely no movement in the braces...next job is to get her up in the air and get on with the sill repair...finally.
Overall I think I'm happy...definitely no movement in the braces...next job is to get her up in the air and get on with the sill repair...finally.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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Bit more progress today...managed to get the car up in the air. The front is on a pair of hydraulic ramps (CJ autos). This is how I got the rear up...needless to say I think this is only appropriate given the size and weight of the Figaro...I can't imagine there is much more than 250kg over the pair of rear wheels.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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slim_boy_fat
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Are those pins on the stands locked in? Chains on the nearest one looks to be hanging...?
Also, I'd remove the jack handle just in case someone manages to turn it? 
Pigeon_Droppings2
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I've owned those axle stands for 20 years...after your comment I just took another look....sure enough the other end of the pin has a hole in it so you can secure the pin with the chain....never too old to learn something new...also pointing out the obvious is never a bad thing...thanks slim.
I tested the cars on the blocks and they held up OK....then added the stands and finally left the jack in place. The handle is a faff...if you pull the handle out (as I did last time!) then the handle holder flips up because it's spring loaded...is there a way to prevent that from happening that I've also missed I wonder!
I tested the cars on the blocks and they held up OK....then added the stands and finally left the jack in place. The handle is a faff...if you pull the handle out (as I did last time!) then the handle holder flips up because it's spring loaded...is there a way to prevent that from happening that I've also missed I wonder!
Pigeon_Droppings2
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Having had very little in the way of fun so far with this project I decided it was time to begin the cutting and the welding. It's more of a physiological victory but finally I've managed to weld something on this car. The floor is basically 2 panels which join over an "outrigger". I've decided to keep with the original construction...pic 2 shows weld thro primer...I really don't seem to get on with this stuff and it seems to mess with my welds too. Am I doing something wrong....spray on...wait 10 mins...weld...I bought expensive stuff too (3m I think) so bit disappointed with it. The idea was to get it in behind the plate but it's a bit of a faff.
Looks like that black tar sound proofer has been the perfect hiding place for moisture...there are other areas of the floor that will also need attention too for example just to the right of where I'm welding along the same join.
Looks like that black tar sound proofer has been the perfect hiding place for moisture...there are other areas of the floor that will also need attention too for example just to the right of where I'm welding along the same join.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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I've also done a bit of cutting...just got fed up of seeing the rot to be honest!
I'm thinking of patching the floor first and then the inner sill....does this sound the right approach....I really don't want to end up welding on my back if it can be avoided...doing the inner sill first seems a sure way of ending up welding on my back!
I'm going to try the floor repair without the weld-thru primer...hopefully that will solve the welder issues I was having fingers crossed. This steel is paper thin so it's incredibly easy to blow holes through it.
I'm thinking of patching the floor first and then the inner sill....does this sound the right approach....I really don't want to end up welding on my back if it can be avoided...doing the inner sill first seems a sure way of ending up welding on my back!
I'm going to try the floor repair without the weld-thru primer...hopefully that will solve the welder issues I was having fingers crossed. This steel is paper thin so it's incredibly easy to blow holes through it.
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slim_boy_fat
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- I have the Costco one which is a different design.Pigeon_Droppings2
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Naa...your suggestion made perfect sense and I did exactly that when I was working on the mr2 which is quite a low car. Came back to insert the handle and the thing had flipped upwards because it's spring loaded...bit of a stupid design. It's very difficult to pull a jack down without the handle!
Pigeon_Droppings2
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At this stage I could have covered it with 5mm of filler and painted it I guess like the last bloke would probably have done!
The template has been cut short deliberately as the rest of the floor will likely also need a little repair on the flange lip...I was going to leave it but I may as well take a look at the whole floor while I have the interior out. It would be a real shame to have a different part of the floor rust through after all this work is done!
The template has been cut short deliberately as the rest of the floor will likely also need a little repair on the flange lip...I was going to leave it but I may as well take a look at the whole floor while I have the interior out. It would be a real shame to have a different part of the floor rust through after all this work is done!
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Pigeon_Droppings2
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Next job was tacking and shaping as I went along. I made the template slightly larger than the hole as I wanted to try out that slit disc gap trick. The line of 5 plug welds at the top of the repair matches how the original panel was fitted.
To skip the inevitable discussion about plug welds and welding around the entire perimeter of repair panels...I spoke with my MOT tester when I was doing the MR2 repair. From his perspective it's absolutely fine to do it this way - as he's the one who will be testing it I'm going to go with replicating the original nissan approach on the panel boundaries. I should also have mentioned that I joggled the first repair so that the floor would sit nicely....not really necessary as would have looked fine without the joggle....but I bought the joggle years ago and this is really the first time that I've used it in anger!
To skip the inevitable discussion about plug welds and welding around the entire perimeter of repair panels...I spoke with my MOT tester when I was doing the MR2 repair. From his perspective it's absolutely fine to do it this way - as he's the one who will be testing it I'm going to go with replicating the original nissan approach on the panel boundaries. I should also have mentioned that I joggled the first repair so that the floor would sit nicely....not really necessary as would have looked fine without the joggle....but I bought the joggle years ago and this is really the first time that I've used it in anger!
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Pigeon_Droppings2
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Pigeon_Droppings2
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Bit of tidying and the floor repair was in....I'm very happy indeed as I was expecting it to be quite difficult but turned out to be fairly easy. I shaped the patch as I went along and then used the slit disc to give me a gap...it really worked very well indeed. The gap towards the bottom is deliberate....the floor needs more patching so I haven't welded in the bottom flange to the existing floor. Next job is to fix the inner sill and get the floor and sill rejoined.
So far the welder has been behaving itself...I made a few tweaks to the settings and it seems to be welding very nicely again. In fact the only big issue I'm having is that some plonker filled the car with a load of acrow props so I can't really get my head in to do the welding....there is quite a bit of arms length "luke skywalker" stuff going on hence all the misses on the spots!
So far the welder has been behaving itself...I made a few tweaks to the settings and it seems to be welding very nicely again. In fact the only big issue I'm having is that some plonker filled the car with a load of acrow props so I can't really get my head in to do the welding....there is quite a bit of arms length "luke skywalker" stuff going on hence all the misses on the spots!
jpmillermatic
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well that is a happy event...looks great.
JP
JP
slim_boy_fat
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This is the one I have, although they've modified the handle location tube since. You can see the grub screw at the rear, I'll post up a close-up of mine to let you see better, when I get a chance [next week].
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/p/arcan-2000kg-aluminiumsteel-service-jack-model-hj2000eu-900930
