Bender Build

Discussion in 'Member's Garage' started by Anti, Sep 17, 2011.

  1. graysonvario

    graysonvario New Member

    bro did you consider fix back seats at all ? I know you would have at some point.
    what was your reasoning for not getting them ?
     
  2. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    yeah of course. they were even cheaper. the car is a 2+2 though and is absolutely retaining usable rear seats. that paired with the fact that one day I want to be able to just plop into this car and drive interstate without breaking my back, so practical seats are a must.
     
  3. graysonvario

    graysonvario New Member

    ahhh I didn't realise yours was a 2+2.
    I heard that the fixbacks where pretty up right. and not good for long distance. do you know of anyone in AUS who sells the STATUS seats I cant seem to get my hands on them
     
  4. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    can't say I do, never looked into them. I think if your seats have status they don't need to say status on them ;)
     
  5. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Okay. Progress time! And I mean real spanner throwing action!

    With semester over and time on my hands the first job I started back on in the garage was one I was really looking forward to - a good motivator. Fitting my new TRust heat exchangers. The first step of course was paint stripping the **** out of them to remove the "wanker blue" finish.

    [​IMG]

    Oh yes. I totally bought another one.

    Fitting these up properly took quite a bit of effort but the end result is great. A few brackets on the chassis had to be cut off but nothing too bad. I'm already moving the radiator overflow bottle but a new washer bottle will have to go in too (no big, actually looking forward to it, trust do an after market one which is kind of fitting seeing as why I need one lol).

    I ended up putting wayyyy too much work into designing these brackets (get too into these things) and ran myself clean out of material. At the time I was still go go go, so dad's ladder became a sacrificial lamb:

    [​IMG]

    The upper brackets rivet to the chassis for simplicity and reduced weight while Nissan OEM rubber vibration isolators mount the cooler.

    Folding the bracket over to an L shape with an overlap to be fastened for extra strength;

    [​IMG]

    Coming together - nutserts installed into the oil cooler, a pop rivet was put through the fold overlap later on;

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    The lower brackets are folded 1" flat bar riveted to the coolers and attaching to the chassis via more vibration isolators.

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    [​IMG]

    I went with the brackets set up this way and made them (remember what I said about overthinking) they're light as all hell, reliable with the rubber eating up bumps rather than the coolers, none of the hosing or bracketry will block air flow to the cores and lastly they're serviceable; the coolers can be removed via the wheel wells without having to take off any bodywork.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    If you're wondering if they clear the bodywork... the answer is no, absolutely not. but with some bumper bracket trimming they should have just a hair of clearance. most importantly though is that they do have a decent amount of road clearance; they're still about an inch from the underside of the bumper. achieving took a considerable amount of work... bye bye headlight buckets

    [​IMG]

    Next up was a job I started ages ago; a custom rear strut brace. I wanted to strengthen the rear towers without having a bar through my interior.

    With a bit of planning the OEM metalwork came out;

    [​IMG]

    My old strut brace (still nicely trimmed) stayed on throughout the process to stop the towers shifting. I grabbed some DOM tubing from a local roll cage material supplier and set about fish mouthing;

    [​IMG]

    The outer pieces were angled as steeply as possible before they would foul on the boot trim.

    [​IMG]

    Some new brackets were made up to replace boot trim retaining flanges on the OEM brace. No quality concerns with rattles and flimsy trim.

    [​IMG]

    Welding welding welding. That's some stripped sound deadening hanging off the bar. I haven't picked up a mig since before semester started and to be honest I kind of dicked it here. They're over done and ugly but at least they're strong. The good news is that I figured out what the issue was and I'll be pulling off way better work in future.

    [​IMG]

    The OEM brake line shielding brackets were kept and with light work wrapped nicely around the bar, which was drilled and tapped to suit.

    [​IMG]

    Done and dusted, this is how the trim fits up:

    [​IMG]

    While I'm not overly enthused with the welds the end result I am happy with. The two points fused to the boot floor are actually running across body seams, tying the structure together. The remaining sheet metal that previously connected to the OEM brace was trimmed, folded down and welded to the tower.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I also fitted up my seats! With an ungodly immense amount of relief that my cut 'n' shut driver's rail from a few posts back worked. They fit the chassis well which was sweet confirmation seeing as I don't know of these ever going into a Z32 before.

    [​IMG]

    This takes us up to about two weeks ago maybe, and since then I've been up to my ass in more car work so much more to come.

    -A
     
  6. mtopxsecret6

    mtopxsecret6 Member

    I like the idea and thought process, though those welds are terrible. Looks like you've just done a series of tacks? At least clean your welds when your finished. You need a welding lesson from a welder, shame your not closer.
    Truth hurts sometimes, though use the criticism to do a better job next time.
     
  7. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    It wasn't a series of tacks all, but it was a combination of a few things. Much worse than usual unfortunately, they're pretty shameful. Either way, they're in tact and there is more than enough fusing to hold the piece together. Lesson learned, though it sounds like you could school me on a few things.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2016
  8. mtopxsecret6

    mtopxsecret6 Member

    whats your setup?
     
  9. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    BOC 180. Entry level gas mig.
     
  10. mtopxsecret6

    mtopxsecret6 Member

    again, whats your setup?
    what gas/flow rate, wire? wire dia? anti spatter? etc

    the boc welder is a good welder. It has only got a 35% duty cycle though, so you would be pushing it alot on bigger jobs.

    I have a cigweld 135 for my mobile on site jobs, and a wia for at home.
     
  11. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Argoshield 5 from Elgas, 92% argon at 15 or so L P/M. 0.6mm, welder maxes out at 6mm thickness I think. It's produced well tidier work than this, it was a shitty shitty day for me.
     
  12. SrAfciGeR

    SrAfciGeR Member

    0.6mm is for very thin materials up to 1mm.

    You can use 0.6mm on thicker stuff, but the wire speed would have to be so high and it would cause spatter.

    I would go up to .08 on anything over 1mm thick and wouldn't think twice about it.
     
  13. Mitch

    Mitch Has one gear: GO

    as others have said 0.8mm is the sweet spot for your kind of work with that machine. Of all the welding wire I sell, less than 1% is 0.6mm.
     
  14. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Sounds like a plan. I'll pick some up.
     
  15. rollin

    rollin First 9

    That's right Mitch. Pretty much just for panel beaters and sheetys who don't tig!

    Hey Anti have u thought about getting a tig ? Since you are using this as a learning project and u don't mind spending time on things. I would put a old on parts buying, get a tig, 100% argon and just practice for a few months.
     
  16. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    I dream of a tig. I really really really want to get into aluminium work - preceded by very long periods spend practicing on nothing at all 'til I get it passable. It's a lot of money though so if you know a cost effective way for a student to get into one I'm all years.
     
  17. rollin

    rollin First 9

    I get what your saying. It's just that looking at the parts you buy it seems like money is not that much of an issue. For a thousand bucks you can have a piece of equipment that u can use for 10 years.
     
  18. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    I'm not made of money, but what I do have I save well and am patient enough to wait for what I want and I live at home so don't have much in expenses. You reckon I could set myself up for a grand with something that could do ally? Second hand? That's a reasonable price.
     
  19. mtopxsecret6

    mtopxsecret6 Member

    swap to 0.8mm wire. dont forget to swap the nib to the correct wire. make sure the gun shroud is clean, spray a mist of anti spater inside the shield and over the outside. Stops the spatter from sticking to your gun.
    Make sure your gun lead is straight when welding, you dont want to restrict the wire feed, which will result in pulsing while your welding.

    At the end of the day, grab scrap metal and start practising. all angles all positions. The way i did it when i was an appentice was to put myself into uncomfortable positions using both hands for my weld test's. And try and pass of course.

    You need an ac tig welder if you want to do ally work.

    The easiest way to start to learn tig, buy a soldering iron with soldering wire. and start laying down pad welds on some scrap tin. Its the same principle with out the initial cost. It will teach you hand coordination similar to tig welding.

    At the end of the day, practice on scrap metal, not your car, just cause it's welded, doesnt mean its a good weld. There's a reason why welding is a 4 year apprenticeship.
     
  20. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. I'll pick up a roll of 0.8 and go from there - it's what was initially offered with my welder but an experienced buddy of mine recommended I go smaller. It has served me well so far but I don't have a basis of comparison.

    I've done a boat load of soldering and even more plastic welding so I understand what you're getting at. I'd really love to get into tig then possibly get rid of the mig. I'm very wary of weak welds and am sure to cut them out and re-do them. Ugly I can live with while I'm learning (depends how visible it is and how strong my case of the ****its is).
     

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