Project #2...Nissan Figaro

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Interesting....but I'm not going to try it myself...kind of hard to get the petrol liquid without the vapour I reckon! Slim you've made me paranoid again...just did a safety check. Here is how I left it...the pipe with the blue bung is the top vent pipe...well if you're bunging you might as well do them all. Like the Jerry can alot actually...belt and braces

 

[slim_boy_fat]

It's possible to extinguish a fire with liquid petrol...

The liquid doesn't burn, in fact I'm quite sure that there's no liquid that burns at all.

I remember when at school we used to make a puddle of lighter fuel in the hollow of our hand and set fire to it as long as you blew it out and didn't let it escape and spread thinly allover the rest of your skin you were OK - no burns, so pdg is right in what he says, except I wouldn't go pouring liquid fuel onto an existing blaze. As I understand it, as long as the petrol added is below it's flash point and remains at that level it should work, but it'd need to be pretty cold or it would quickly start to give off vapours which is the dangerous bit.

"That's all, she wrote......"

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yea I bunged them intending to raise the front and then remove the bungs to drain the lines....bit it got late and I got tired...hate raising a car when I'm tired so decided to leave for now. Once the front is up then I'll take out the bungs and blow the lines out + leave them a day to air out as you suggested.

I've heard about brimming the tank being a lot safer...but it's just the thought of all that fuel sitting there that worries the hell out of me. I was also worried that I'd be welding right next to the tank vent pipe in the rear quarter....just too much stress for me so I decided to get the tank out.

On my MR2 the tank is really well located in the central tunnel of the car....it's such a safe location I left it in. But the Figaro tank would be right next to where I'm welding.....it was too close for me.....probably would have been ok..."probably"

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I remember seeing a video from the USA where he was running his car from a temporary tank...the fuel leaked onto his engine and evaporated...it wouldn't have been a total disaster except that he was running without an exhaust manifold too...he then grabbed the fuel tank and just ended up spreading the vapours around too!

The figaro tank has been emptied of fuel and I've left the vent pipes open to air it....am assuming thats OK right? Am aware of the numerous cases of people throwing empty petrol cans on bon fires and blowing themselves up so I'm treating the tank with a bit of respect.

I remember being really impressed with the safety lamp invention at school where the flammable gas would be allowed into an ignition chamber surrounded by flame arresting gauze....very clever stuff.

 

[fixerupper]

Sir Humphry Davy.... Lamp

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Thats the one....so simple and so obvious....once someone else has thought of it!

Check out the thickness of this filler....pretty impressive to lay it on so thick and achieve such a good finish!

 

[rtbcomp]

Can save up all the removed filler and weigh it?

 

[rtcosic]

I had grinder sparks set fire to fine steel wool in a open topped plastic box on a head high shelf. Gap between the top of the box and ceiling about 50mm.

Didn't notice until long after I had packed up for the evening and smelled strange smell of burning plastic and went to investigate.

I hadn't realised until then how easily steel wool burns.

I recalled the advice to check over your workspace for a final time after you have cleaned yourself up and again before going to bed, and NEVER omit that check now.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I usually do my final checks of the garage just after having a wash....if I've been welding I also recheck before going to bed too. Can never be too careful - I'm usually very careful when welding. I've been caught out a few times while grinding....one time I could smell burning....it was my sleve on fire. I must have gotten something on there by accident.

 

[Robotstar5]

Might as well put this in here as it's an unusual Nissan saw it at a car show the weekend, I've never heard of the model, another import?.

Difficult to see in the photo, but the rear quarter windows are horizontally split to open.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Hi RobotStar5....I came across these when I was researching the Figaro. I believe they are a part of another limited production run that Nissan did in Japan of retro designs. I don't know a lot about them though and haven't seen one in the flesh.

Have been taking a couple of days off from the Figaro...working on house and garden renovations . I'll have some more updates by the weekend....I was actually in the garage about half an hour ago but didn't take any pictures (selfish I know but forgot me phone!)

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Ok made myself feel guilty so just went back to the garage with my phone!...here is what I've been looking at. I made a template of the drivers side door...here are pics on the door and the drivers rear quarter.

 

[rtbcomp]

My local Figgy was parked outside this morning and less than 30 mins later I saw another one on the road at the bottom of my street!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

rtbcomp...Did it look like that one was full of filler too....bet it looked about 5mm smaller than mine!

Now the same template on the passenger side... Hmmm me thinks there is a "slight" dent. I'm going to have a go at correcting the door that I have (nothing to lose as it's forked anyway!). So basically all that filler was to cover the dent! At least the door is ok further down so the problem is localised and maybe I can save the door.

My £10 hammer and dolly set hasn't arrived yet...I can't wait to spend a day grinding everything smooth!! I wonder if I've made a mistake buying them....I was thinking if they are really bad I will use them for "custom" tools type stuff.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Had a first attempt at sorting out the door and rear quarter. My hammer and dolly set hasn't arrived so had to make do with scraps from the garage! I used the cardboard template to cut a wooden former which I then used to reshape the metal. It needs plenty of fettling but I'm quite happy for a first attempt. Turns out the door is pretty thin steel so just the wooden former and clamps were pretty much enough to bend the door back into the correct shape.

I still don't understand why they didn't do this in the first place....I will spend a bit more time getting the shape right but even if I decided to just fill it now it would be 10 times better than what they did with the mountain of filler.

The issue with the rear quarter was simply the inner door edge (the body side) had been bowed...once I straightened this out the rear quarter moved back out to the correct position. I've done enough to assess that it's fixable....I will be using standard arch repair panels and sills so the car needs to be kind of standard for these to fit I think.

The second pic shows just how far out this was....with the door fixed the rear quarter looked all wrong. Basically all of this was just made up with filler. It must have taken them an absolute age to get the filler sanded correctly....think I've counted about 10 layers of filler so far!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Also found a green touchup stick in the car....I made a start on getting the paint sorted. I might need to order a few more though :-)

 

[rtbcomp]

Also found a green touchup stick in the car....I made a start on getting the paint sorted. I might need to order a female more though :-)

Mind not on the job?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Hi rtbcomp....it's the flipping spell checker on my laptop. I type one letter wrong and "few" becomes "female"...it's so annoying as I have to keep checking my posts for errors! On the up side project foggy (see what I mean....I typed "figgy") is progressing again....been having a house refurb and sometimes that takes me away from the Figaro for a few days!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Also found a green touchup stick in the car....

That's kinda adding insult to injury, given the state of all you've uncovered [so far......]

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yea I saw the funny side to be honest too...at least the passenger side door and rear are looking fixable and it wasn't a large amount of work (once I had chiselled off all the filler!). I was a bit surprised that the wooden template worked to be honest....the bit I cut off I actually used on the inside of the rear quarter to bash it out too so was a double win!

I sold my large bandsaw many years ago but managed to pick up a cheap one for £100 from screwfix that actually works pretty well...a RECORD it ain't but it's good enough for what I need + makes easy work of templates :-) and bits and pieces especially with a descent blade fitted.

Next job is to get the front in the air and have a poke around then I'll be calling "the man from delmonte" to take a look at the front end damage. I didn't want to waste his time with a basket case so prefer to do some leg work first before calling him.