The crashed car!!!

[NRB]

Yeah Troy, keep us all educated with this thread. I'm enjoying it immensely.

[adznight]

I'm more interested to see how this project go's Awesome thread!

[ylwgtr2]

ok cool...good to see some interest...i will be sectioning the vehicle tomorrow and shutting the door on the job will post some step by step pics tomorrow

Cheers

[akeenan]

hey how come no one has commented how cutshuts are unsafe blah blah blah?

Because everyone is bloody amazed. and interested

[Guest RedLineGTR]

but when they are done properly there are no problems. When done dodgy that is where the problem is.

[ylwgtr2]

Because everyone is bloody amazed. and interested

Nothing really to be amazed at....there are heaps better tradesmen around then me!Ive seen some a mate of mine make a panel with his hands,a hammer and a bag of sand....its absolutely amazing to watch a guy like that...very rare these days.....now thats skill!

[ylwgtr2]

Ok so now that the vehicles front has been removed you can see the two main upper structure bars have been left intact.These two run all the way down to the upper hinge pillar and acts as the hinge support,as you can see in the 1st pic....In the second pic you can see the sill panel has been marked for the join on the outer skin....In the 3rd pic the front is lined up to mark the outer skin join of the A pillar....In the 4th pic the front is coupled in to the Upper strusture bars/hinge pillar supports and A pillar.Lock in A thanks eddie!;)The 5th pics shows the new fronts hinge pillar holes lining up with the dowl pin/threaded part for the door hinge...looks like my mesurements were up to scratch!

[ylwgtr2]

in the 6th pic the bulkhead skin has taken quite a likeing to the original floor pan so in the 7th pic its screwed together to hold it in position while we check that the door gaps are true....in the 8th pic the doors are fitted and gaps are squared up ok....the next step is to weld it all back together and refit the sill strustual bars/sill panels....more on monday

Cheers

[adznight]

Awesome Looks like is coming along well. One question though. How do you get your measurments right, surely if the two were not attatched correcty doors would not shut well etc.

[predator]

I thought someone would have something to say seeing as tho minesdatsun copped a caining...wheres my caining?

Thing is the majority of cut and shut are done to minimal cost (and care) and just to get the car "looking" like its fixed so they can stick panels back on. Then they flog it off to the first buyer they can find and somebody gets ripped off. And maybe one day in the post-mortem they examine the car and find out the reason it caved in on itself after the accident was because a cheap and shitty job was done.

Seeing as you're actually going to be driving it and have to deal with the safety consequences I'd imagine you'd be spending some time on doing a proper job

[Sydneykid]

Hi Troy, are you going to "stiffen" it up while everything is accessible? A few well placed TIG zippers in the front end makes a heap of difference. I'd also do the A pillars, door openings, inner guards, suspension towers and particularly the firewall. We see over 200% increase in torsional stiffness by doing this and that's before we add the roll cage.

I reckon it's a few extra hours well spent.

[ylwgtr2]

Awesome Looks like is coming along well. One question though. How do you get your measurments right, surely if the two were not attatched correcty doors would not shut well etc.

Its not really that difficult,Jig companies like car-O-liner ect supply underbody measurements on almost every model vehicle available.These measurements are from certain points on the underbody so before the job starts a quick measure is taken from these points and if it doesnt measure up,we pull the car about until it does or until the doors fit on right.Then we disect the vehicle as shown.Its all at factory seams so when its pulled apart at the same part on both vehicles,you cant really mess the job up.As far as the sills and A pillars go when one is cut apart the off cut is then placed on the other half as shown i one of the pics (you can see a factory produced elongated hole on the sill where the scuff panel goes, these are a great indicating tool for marking out)

[the phantom]

Hi ylwgtr2,

This is very cool...

What are your plans for the 4WD into the 2WD front cut...will you be modifying what you have to fit or installing GTR chassis rails? Or will we have to wait for the next inthralling episode!!

[ylwgtr2]

Hi phantom... i have two new chassis rail of which i will fit on monday or tuesday...

[ylwgtr2]

just welded it back together today...only 3 pics....1st is thway we weld them back in the original spotwelds...the other two are of the rejoin in the sill panel...more tomorrow

[Guest RedLineGTR]

grad to know that its progressing well

[ylwgtr2]

Ok...now we have the new front on and welded...the next step is to change the 2WD chassis rails to 4WD ones....the first step is to drill the spot welds off to remove the existing chassis rails...the 1st pic shows the rail removed....the second pic shows the 4WD rail siting on a trolley jack being lined up...we then clamp it on with vice grips and get underneath the vehicle with a tremel gauge and check our underbody mesurements,this is done using the main rear diff cradle mount as a base "0" mesuring point....we then have a series 7 or so underbody mesurements that run from this "0" point toward the front ,each of them are at certain holes on your chassis rail (obviously running toward the front of the vehicle)Next time your under your car,have a look on the rails and see all these holes for yourself.I should have taken a pic of the tremel gauge,i can do it and add it in later.This is a Slide rule with a tape measure built into it as you slide the tape runs up...quite a handy little jigger.After we check the underbody measurements we can move the front rail foward or backward to get it within spec.If the old sealer left on the skirts lines up perfectly to the new rail and the measurements check out square this indicates a well thought out job prior to comencing.It turns out that i must have had my thinking cap on...it fitted perfect .The next pic shows the rail welded on and home...the next is of the right rail completed....the last pic shows the rail spot welds as seen from the inside of the vehicle...

So now the rails are fitted next we will clean up the joins and place the seam sealer and insulation mats on the floor....should i keep going on posting the process or are people bored yet?

Cheers

[meshmesh]

....should i keep going on posting the process or are people bored yet?

Cheers

You kiddiing, this is great!

However, I reckon it should be moved to maintenance sections under D.I.Y

[the phantom]

NOOOOO.....dont stop!!! You make this look so damn easy its ridiculous! I've never seen this detailed anywhere so I remain very intrigued. Doesn't the 2WD floor lack the bulge for the 4WD transfer case? Or are you welding in a new floor as well??

[ylwgtr2]

no the floor pan is the original one...it has been joined at the lower of the bulkhead(firewall)

you can see it in the earlier pics