Project #2...Nissan Figaro

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Then rinse and repeat (if only it were that easy!)...I'm trying out a new way of fixing the floor....the idea is to get the floor welding done then bend the lower lip in situ....seems to have worked....needs fettling of course. The butt welding of the floor is a royal faff...perhaps I should have lap welded instead....grrrr. On this piece I rushed the template and just didn't get the gap set right...resulting in poor penetration in places....resulting in me under the car welding on my back from the underneath....which I really really dislike!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The floor repair so far...I'm mostly happy with the welds however I do have some pin holes in places that will need to be sorted out. Definitely making progress now!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

First pic...Put in my first drain channel....this drains the middle reinforcer...this is the sill from underneath with the new repaired central reinforcer at the top of the pic and the floor at the bottom.

Second pic...This is the bit I hacked out...looks like they had a bunch of drains out of the passenger floor area!!...that's seems like a very very bad idea to me so I won't be adding these back in...I count about 6 drains in this section alone...what on earth is that all about?

I'm going to just be adding 2 or 3 into the centre reinforcement area of the sill....thats the area that I don't want to rot out again...I may also add a few on the outer sill panel too.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Progress to date...floor came out really well...the floor repair is almost done - been a right faff...I hate welding upside down! Sill is still a work in progress...still some fun to be had I think

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

End of the sill is looking a bit angry...there is a hole next to the seatbelt mount plus a hole in the inner sill in that area. There also seems to be an extra reinforcer in this area...definitely more fun to be had!

Been trying to work the end of the sill out...I'm starting to suspect that someone has basically plated over the outer sill at the end. So what looks like an additional reinforcer in the pic is actually the original outer sill. What I cannot explain is why they would have left the original rusty outer sill in place...anyone with half a brain I think would have just cut the rust out....wouldn't they??

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Am thinking of building a sheet metal folder/bender...I'm thinking there is going to be a lot more sheet metal work on this nissan!...struggling to se my vice and bits of angle iron. Have seen loads of plans and idea around but they are all very beefy and therefore I can imagine quite heavy bits of kit. Am very keen on keeping the weight down...has anyone come across any plans for something which is designed to carry the loads involved using later materials but with a bit more engineering?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Back to more figgy fun...made a start on opening up the rear part of the sill. Looks quite scary.

That lump sticking out of the middle of the sill turned out to be more filler...is there no end to the filler on this car!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Here is the underneath...it appears the filler fairies have been busy repairing the rear suspension structure! While I've been annoyed so far with this guy...in my view you cross a line when you repair structural damage using filler. Very poor job indeed imho and potentially very dangerous!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Also removed the last bit of rusty floor and rust which was sitting on top of that suspension mount. I don't want to remove the seat belt nut/bolt...partly because my body brace is bolted to it....no point making a brace to keep everything from twisting and then unbolting it mid repair...I'll have to come back to that bit but I think I can maybe get at it from inside the car!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Here is the floor repair....it came out quite well I think. You can see part of my brace which ties into the seatbelt bolt area...I want to leave this in at least until I get a bit more structure back into the sill.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I've butt welded a patch into the side of the suspension mount and ground down the welds because it needs to be flush to allow the inner sill to be plug welded to the side (as per original). The original inner sill had a separate rear section lapped over where the seatbelt mount sits so it was double metal in this area. I will be repairing with a single inner sill repair piece and will then put a strengthener over the top in this area I think...will have to see how it goes.

Still have plenty of cutting to do but at least the floor is in which I've found is the biggest faff....I really dislike welding on my back...so much that I've been looking at car tilters!

The 4 holes to the right are where the jack point bracket was mounted...I removed it now so I don't end up cutting it in half....like I did with the front one!!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I think the cause of the rot is this joint....well not much left of it. As far as I can tell nissan brought the main inner sill to this point and then lapped over it with a smaller panel which runs to the rear wheels. Problem is I reckon it was spot welded and basically let water in which then rotted everything out!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Decided to just take a chance and remove the seatbelt bolt...I could see some rot behind the bolt. Am glad I did...was pretty ugly and I definitely wouldn't want to rely on this holding together in a crash!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

This is after some cleaning...I patched the suspension member and then butt welded in a repair to the inner sill...the welds have been flattened because I will be putting a stiffener over the top. I put a crease in the repair panel where it sits on the suspension member...I figured this would give me better access when I come to rust proofing the rear.

The hole you can still see in the top pic is part of my body brace inside the car.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I then welded in a stiffener over the area between the seat belt mount and the jacking point...the original nissan panel would have just overlapped by around 4 inches around the area of the seatbelt mount but I decided to extend the stiffener in both directions...the stiffener is a lot thicker steel than the inner sill so in a way it's more than double the original panel in terms of the steel used. It is plug welded and lap welded in a bunch of places. Used plenty of weld through primer.

I was able to reuse the seatbelt nut and it's strengthening plate too...the body brace came in very handy to relocate the nut as I was able to redrill the hole from inside the car and then weld the nut into the correct position inside the sill.

Was a very tiring day as most of this has to be done upside down lying on my back. So far I'm very happy with progress....there is a little bit to do on the inside of the car but I will wait for the body brace to come out before I do the finishing off.

Next job is to reconstruct the sill reinforcers...I will also need to do a repair on the lower part of the inner wheel arch because with the reinforcer back in I think it would restrict my access so might do the lower part of the inner arch next.

You can just see the seatbelt nut/bolt sticking through the top of the inner sill...I stuck plenty of etch primer over the top.

Both the inner sill repair panel and the strengthener have a 90 degree flange and are plug welded at the top too for a bit more strength. With 2 sill reinforcers in this area and then an outer sill I think this area will be plenty strong!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

This is the suspension member from underneath...I put a slight fold in the inner sill repair panel so that there would be a bit more clearance to get the chassis wax in....otherwise it would be very difficult to get right to the top corner I think....this way the little tube that the wax comes with should easily fit in the gap.

Am still very proud of that floor repair....this car is basically made of baking foil so it's pretty tricky to butt weld the steel.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Started planning the next repair...this is the rear arch area...my plan is to just hack out the rust and then go straight across with a single piece...the nissan original has this funky curved panel with an infill piece....wheel arches and exposed joints don't really work too well in my opinion...as evidenced by the rotten infill piece! Will have to see how it pans out when I start cutting...I do quite like sticking with original designs! I will leave the repair panel over sized on the lower edge...then trim to fit the outer sill when I offer it up.

I also need to sort out the edge of the inner sill repair at the wheel arch end...just had too much going on to worry about it. I need to check whether that panel is descent enough or needs to come out too....if it looks OK I will simply cut across with the slit disc and then mig to continue the butt weld.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Speaking of outer sills....I indulged my curiosity and did a first fix of the outer sill just to see how much work it will need. It's not too bad...the curve will need some work but otherwise I'm quite happy. The best news is that so far the sill reinforcer seems to be in the right place so I just need to continue in the same way to the end of the sill.

The lower edge will need a little bit of trimming too but that can be done once it's all welded in.

 

[jpmillermatic]

good steady and comprehensive work here, PD2!.....gives me hope to finish my sill work on the passenger (off side?) side of the truck.

bang up job!

JP

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Cheers JP...I basically have a short window of opportunity to put some time in so I'm focusing on getting the most difficult bits out of the way as these tend to need a lot more time and thinking. Then I'm thinking I can work on the easier stuff as and when I have the time.