Thanks Everyone,

[redwine300]

Hi Hoarder, Appreciate your comments about my welding. I feel I am getting the hang of it to some degree at the moment. (Again, thanks to this forum) As the Nissan has a very low front spoiler the ramps were the only way to get her off the ground. (Again, thanks to another forum specific to the zx300) As for welding near the petrol tank, I have not ventured there yet but will seek advice here before doing so.

 

[redwine300]

Stuck it out today despite the rain and made a bit of progress. Now that I have repaired this section of wheel arch I will be able to close up the chassis rail section.

 

[redwine300]

Not alot happened today.Managed to get some acid etch primmer to dry. Spent most of the day fabricating inner rear sill section. Still every little helps.

 

[redwine300]

Well, that's Christmas out of the way, back to the resto. Managed to get a bit of cavity waxing done, plus final fitting of fabricated inner sill section. Will finish welding into position tomorrow, weather permitting!!

 

[bill_gj]

I like the way you fabricated the recessed flanging in the holes in the new pieces - how did you do that?

 

[redwine300]

Once I had determined the shape and position of the bores etcetera, I cut them out leaving a set amount so as to allow for the developed length of the flange. I would like to say I calculated this, But in reality it was trial and error until it came right. The next step was to mark out the first bend point, (again determined from test pieces) Once this was achieved I then marked out the second bend. I achieved the shape by gradually bending by hand with a pair of pipe wrenches following the marking out by eye. I tidied the form up afterwards with a little panel beating just to add the definition. I will post stage pictures next time if you wish?

Dave.

PS thanks for the compliment .

 

[redwine300]

Weather was kind today, so made the most of it. Tacked and welded in the fabrication of inner sill section. Still can not get the hang of welding with small continuous runs yet?? Stuck to stitch welding to be on the safe side.
Question... When I match up my fabricated panels for but welding, should I leave a slight gap to help alleviate distortion or should I but up face to face? The reason I ask is that a small buckle occurred with this panel, something that has not happened before.

Cheers Dave.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

a small gap will help with penetration.

You could then move the torch a bit quicker and hopefully avoid putting too much heat into the metal and so avoid any buckling.

I tend to put spot welds 2" - 3" apart to hold the metal and then fill in the gaps. If it's something where I'm thinking about appearance then I'll step over, ie, do one then skip one, going back on a second run to fill in the gaps when the metal's cooled a bit. Otherwise, if it's underneath the car, I just do a continuous run straight over the spots.

Regards
Peter

 

[bill_gj]

Stage pictures would be very useful for me redwine. Thanks

 

[redwine300]

Hi Peterd51, Many thanks for taking the time to pass on your invaluable comments, I have a secondary panel to put into place next and it will give me a good opportunity to incorporate your advice. I have compared my attempts at welding to some examples on the forum, and to me mine seem to be to a little high, If I was to try a faster torch speed,as you suggested earlier, would this also improve the weld height as well as minimise the distortion?

Cheers Dave.

By the way Bill_gj, I will post some stage pictures of how I went about forming the flanges soon.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

it should do, but also the height may be down to low penetration and that would be improved with a butt-gap. Basically it should allow the bead to 'centralise' on the metal, so there's an equal height bead on both sides.

Regards
Peter

 

[redwine300]

Inner Wheel Arch, Bottom Corner

Well, despite the weather I managed to get a bit of welding done today, Albeit most of the time I was in the garage. If all goes to plan I hope to weld it into position tomorrow.
By the way Pete, Put into practise your advice and found it very helpful, Cheers.

 

[the snooper]

youve done alot of good work on that car you must realy love the car well done

i will add my 2 peneth worth though
any seams in the wheel arches i always weld solid so the repair doesnt just rely on seam sealer.
its those seams in the arches that fail then fill the sills with water and you know the rest

 

[redwine300]

Thanks for your comments "the snooper". you are right, I love her to bits, (sad I know) I do take your point though about the wheel arches and the seams. I hope to only do dry weather driving if I ever get her finished. That said,I will consider your comments before I underseal the arches.

 

[Chickenjohn]

Just to add the comment great work! keep it up. Quality is better than you would get at most garages.

I'm surprised that a modern Nissan would rust so much, and very impressed that you work outside in the middle of winter- dedication! The extremely cold weather has kept me indoors recently, only started working in the garage the last week or so.

 

[redwine300]

Thanks for the kind remarks Chickenjohn, I am flattered that my attempts are appreciated so much. I must admit, the degree of rust has surprised me also. As for the cold weather it does get a little hard to drag myself out there but the thought of being back behind the wheel helps. Are you working on anything particular yourself at the moment?
Cheers Redwine300

 

[redwine300]

After many frustrating hours in the garage fabricating I finally managed to get some welding done. Still some way to go yet though. Again I have to say big thanks to this forum and in particular all those who have taken the time to comment. I would not have been able to achieve what I have done to date without you.

 

[redwine300]

Me again, I do hope I am not becoming a nuisance to everyone. If there is still interest in what I am doing thats great but I would not want to p**s people off, I am just chuffed that I have been able to get to grips with mig welding to some degree and want to show the world, lol

 

[Iain Westland]

I'm surprised that a modern Nissan would rust so much, a

had to work on a 52 plat almera xmember before xmas, all the bubble shaped micras are terrible. poor quality control somewhere....

iain

nice work!!!

 

[pedrobedro]

I've done a few bits to Micras and the steel seems very thin to me, back end of the sill gone mostly. The bit you made for the corner with the slots, bends and welds would have been easier to make in two pieces, it looks like a lobster tail I like to keep welds and grinding back to a minimum unless it's cosmetic. It's an epic job you're on and I don't think I would tackle anything that far gone any more but when Escort Mk1 was my runabout it was a case of having to and it was all done with a BOC Portapak in those days.