Project #2...Nissan Figaro

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Hi HopefullySoon...originally I was a northerner...but that was a different life entirely.

This is what it says on the owner club site..."All production vehicles over 25 years old are eligible and last year our oldest car on the run was a 1925 Morris Bullnose , whilst at the newer end of the classic spectrum we were joined by some of the iconic cars of the 80’s."

I think it's just the age criteria....and of course the £100 joining fee!

The figgy has chrome over sills so none of the welding will show...plan for the sill inside is to leave it in etch and then to wax the hell out of them every couple of years. I painted the insides of my mr2 sills but I kind of think that a lot of the paint got burned off during the welding! I think the key is to replace the outer sills early before the rot gets to the floors so will be keeping an eye on them going forwards....I've built some additional drainage channels in the sill lower flange which will hopefully help.

The London/Brighton is 3/6/2018...would be fun and theoretically "plenty of time"...but I'm about to be buried with regular work up to my neck in the next few weeks so I kind of need the Figgy done before that happens otherwise I'll be sticking a sheet over it and coming back to it in 5 years time!!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Here it is with the wing on and chrome attached with sticky tape.

Think I'm a happy man...the wing corner fits well over the end cap and the gaps look great so job done I think.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Made a start on the drivers side...decided I'm going to fit the sills in 2 parts...i'd rather do an extra weld than faff about with all the alignment issues.

Offered the curved part up but it's just not that great a fit so will need some tweaking to get right. The original Figaro over sill would simply have been this part spot welded onto the inside support...that didn't really work out too well on the rust front I think!

It's ironic that I bought these sill panels to save time...I'll be making these myself on the next one!! That gap at the end of my finger is about 10mm so I will basically have to adjust the curve of the sill panel to fit....it does explain why I struggled so much with the passenger side.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Been working on the drivers side sill...first put in the reinforcers to hold the door gaps.

Next the sill cover...I decided to "cheat" and joggle the edge so I could lap weld the sill. I must say it was so much easier to align and weld...not as good as a butt weld but I will be waxing the insides so decided to make things easier.

I still have the end cap and the rear arch to sort out too of course.

 

[jpmillermatic]

fantastic progress!

JP

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Cheers JP...I think it's been easier the second time around. Joggling the edge really helped me out alot...not just making the welding easier but also keeping the edge of the sill alot more rigid.

Still along way to go...but definitely progressing.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Am behind schedule again...was trying to move the car with a single trolley jack and did my back in...very annoying!

Decided I'm too old for such nonsense so made a few purchases to cheer myself up.

This car restoration thingy is meant to be fun....I think the days when I could lay on a drive under a car on a piece of cardboard in the middle of Feb...and then go for a run the next day are long over!

Must say I was a little worried about the skates...those wheels looked a but flimsy...but when it arrived thankfully they were cast steel wheels.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Got a good 20+ years out of my old creeper...but over time the wheels got destroyed. I was just going to replace them but a set of wheels isn't much cheaper than a new creeper...and the new one turns into a seat too. Was the "usual" case of assemble...fit brass washers to soak up the terrible tolerances...job done!

The last straw was when the 4th wheel fell off...The block of wood just wasn't any good at rolling though....I think I got my value for money out of it though . It will go in the scrap metal pile where it will keep on giving.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I did get some of the arch done prior to my back problem...looks good but needs finishing off plus some dolly work.

I had to split the arch at roughly the 1 o'clock position...this was to give me 10mm of movement to get the front part of the arch where I needed it. There is a chrome strip in this area and it would have looked a bit odd if it was out vs the passenger side. Fingers crossed it's where I want it to be.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Had a go at the sill closer...I tend to chop and change so I do the difficult stuff when my head is in the game. I have to plug weld the arch inner flange but will save that for later as it's a nice easy job.

Decided to do the closer in 2 pieces...I did the passenger side in a single piece...but then ended up cutting and welding to get it to fit.

I think this was alot easier...I put the bottom in first and then the side piece.

Next job will be working on the sill lower flange...the bit I cut off needs to go back on.

Gas is definitely running low too!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Sadly the gas ran out...will take a few days to get a refill.

Soooo......in the mean time I decided to knock up a shrinking attachment for my mig. Took 10 minutes...the only question I have is whether this could hurt my welder?

I may buy a cheap might box just for the shrinker. I paid £5 for a set of copper clad resistance soldering thingys on fleabay. I was very lucky that the OD was exactly the ID of 15mm copper pipe...so a bit of copper with a slit and a plumbing fitting easily made a nice holder for the carbon rods. .

Works exactly as planned to heat panels by dragging in a circular motion.

Can it really be this easy to make a shrinker....has anyone blown up their welder with such a setup? Just seems so easy that it has to be a bad idea!

To attach it to the welder I just double threaded a regular welding tip.

 

[gaz_moose]

seems a fair amount to hang off that little m6 or whatever it is thread in the swan neck. drop it on the floor and its game over.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Cheers gaz_moose...the copper rod looks heavy but its solid carbon rod with just a thin layer of copper on the outside...so its fairly light (ish)...the thread is m6...hopefully it would break on the tip joint but sods law says it would probably break the most expensive bit of my torch!!

Any idea whether this could damage the welder electrics...I'm worried because I have a kemppi machine which is quite expensive and full of lots of computerised trickery. I'm worried enough to be looking for a cheap broken welder...one with the feed/gas busted would be ideal for this.

 

[jpmillermatic]

Im awaiting the answer to your question myself, PD2......

can you run through a quick tutorial on how to use your new contraption?

JP

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Hey JP...I've only done a trial run to make sure it works so far...still cannot believe it was this easy to make!

I will take some pics when I do the shrinking including with the tip on the work piece....plan is to get the welding completed in the next week or so and then I'm moving onto dolly work and finishing the panels as best I can to reduce the amount of filling (and get some practice too of course).

For the trial run it was simply gas off, wire feed off (loosened the tensioner)...then put the carbon tip on the panel and just do circular motions with the trigger pulled. I wore a welding mask just to be safe...there were a few sparks and the end of the tip glowed nice and red .

Plan is to get the welding finished in the next week or so...then I'm moving onto the panel work and of course rechecking all the welding I've previously done (I really have a thing about pin holes!)

 

[mylesdw]

I can't see why it would damage the welder. There will be less current flowing than when you are welding.

 

[gaz_moose]

could you not contrapt something that runs off an aldi special buzz box. then if it does blow up you wont be bothered. could also make a slide hammer attachment etc..

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yea I had the same idea gas_moose....I actually have a cheap buzz box lying around...I'll have a go with it and report back how I get on.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Got a bit more done on the sill...replaced the bit I had cut off previously. Actually had to make a new piece...was a lot of welding but it's in. The flange needs trimming...still lots of jobs to get done on the welding but at least it's moving forwards.

The original Nissan design would have just been spot welded where the step is underneath the sill. I can't imagine a worse design...having a spot welded joint under a sill exposed to water. I decided to match the passenger side...it isn't quite original but I don't mind.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

With some etch primer...this area is going to need some dolly work and a bit of shrinking I think but its getting there.

If you look inside the arch you'll see a new hole I made!!...basically this area was rotting from the inside out. I think water got in through the seatbelt bolt hole from inside the car (roof leak maybe?). It was enough to rot the seatbelt reinforcement plate but it was very localised so not a big fix I think. Inside the hole you can see the seatbelt mounting nut...this is attached to an upside down "U" shaped reinforcement plate (hmmm does that make it "n" shaped!)....half of this plate was just solid rust!!

I also need to finish the the inner arch where it joins the sill...lots of little jobs like these still outstanding...I'll get through them....eventually!