Repairing a rusted out "A" pillar & sill cap.

[Nissanman]

In the beginning, there was THIS!

Bottom 1/2 of the LHS sill cap was absent, the 3 sides of the "A" pillar base are rotted and the cabin side panel has a huge hole behind the "A" pillar.

Looks easy enough to repair doesn't it!

Initial surgery to gain access to the inner sill panel and replace it.

A view of the new inner sill panel.

These plug welds will be done after the rest of the sill has been cut away.

"A" pillar has lost all the rotten bits at the bottom and the top surface of the sill has been trimmed for a replacement patch.

Worms eye view of the sill and "A" pillar surgery.
Interior looks bad but it is only surface rust, the metal is quite sound.

Sill top under construction. Needs to be strong and accurate since the "A" pillar is welded to this area.

The angles were pressed using the Sheet Metal Brake. All surfaces are flush so the patch is a good one.

That is the basic shape. Now to clamp it in position and do some tacky welding.

A recess has been pressed into the outside edge to accept the trailing edge of the front LHS guard.
I test fitted the guard and it fits fine.

[Nissanman]

Continuing the work on the LHS sill and "A" pillar.

There is a narrow patch at the back of the "A" pillar, the cabin wall.
It needed a joggle pressed into it so that it sat correctly.

Leading edge "A" pillar patch cut to size and ready to go.
The outside face has already been done.
These repairs need to be very strong to re-establish the integrity of the "A" pillar to sill junction.

The corners of the pillar have gaps left as per the original panel.
This to create an effective drain for moisture that collects inside the pillar.

Trailing edge done.
The welds need a little bit of grinding to tidy them up but generally they turned out reasonably neat.

[S Allen]

Very nice pictorial write-up Graeme. Thanks for sharing.

Steve

[itsa68]

Looks like you're doing a great job on that pillar.
Brings back memories of when I had to do mine

Ray B.

[Nissanman]

Next chapter.

The top edge of the original sill cap is the only part worth keeping.

I am going to try and fold up the replacement cap from one piece of sheet.

Need to do these plug weld first so that the sill panel is anchored in the right place.

Chassis mount welded in position. This item certainly strengthens the whole area and fixes the sill back nice and vertical.

Well, I had to section the cap to get all the curves to happen.

The two pieces blend in nicely.

All set to weld it on. I'm leaving the seam weld until the plug welds are done.

The original cap top sheet was good enough to weld to so that is a bonus.

That completes the first section of the cap.

Template for the rear section. Compound curves and a flange, easy peasy.

That should do the trick nicely.
I'll tack it in position then refit the guard to make sure everything is in position.
The trailing edge of this patch will be flared out slightly to mate up with the new sill centre section.

If all goes to plan, there should be a 10mm gap between the guard bolt holes and the base of this section of the cap.
That will hopefully prevent the buildup of debris that causes this area to get trashed.

[fixitman04]

i really hope that you put some rust converter or por-15 inside that rocker before sealing it up. if not it is gonna come back. you need to remove all rust, that stuff is like cancer if you leave any it will spread. nice metalwork btw.

[ppeters914]

I'm sure I'm not the only one amazed. Btw, is that all MIG welding?

[Nissanman]

i really hope that you put some rust converter or por-15 inside that rocker before sealing it up.

All the inside surfaces will be dosed up with Metal Prep, it is a phosphoric acid based de-rusting treatment.
The plug welded joins will be seam sealed after etch priming has been sprayed.
The last step will be to squirt a Cavity wax inside all the box sections to seal and protect against moisture.

Btw, is that all MIG welding?

Mmmm, no, it is oxy-acetylene.
I use the DHC 2000 torch which requires only 5PSI gas pressure.
With the smallest tip you can weld an aluminium soft drink can back together
I have never had that requirement but apparently it is possible.

I tried MIG once, wasn't real good but I'm sure with practice I would get the hang of it.
I was able to do a really neat weld bead as long as necessary but it was about 5mm from the join! D'Oh

[fixitman04]

more info on the torch , do they have a website?, address, phone

how much $$$ was it?


i want one

[spl310]

Unless I am mistaken, that unit is retailed in the US as the Henrob 2000. Here is a link:

http://www.cut-like-plasma.com/

[MTyler]

Graeme, You're doing this with Gas welding? Wow! now I'm doubly impressed!

[Nissanman]

For those in Oz: -
http://www.amweld.com.au/
I actually won my torch on eBay and it came from USA but they are available in Oz.
I never use Oxy-Acet to do cutting, I figure that it is cheaper and easier to use my big mutha cutoff wheel and angle grinders to do that.
So far I have been able to weld all my ferrous repairs successfully, I have yet to try anything with aluminium.
According to the sales pitch, alloy welding is fairly straight forward using alloy filler rod and NO FLUX
Because the gas pressure required is so low, there is a special procedure to set up the regulators to the correct setting.
It is a 20sec. exercise and once done and the line gauge or regulator knob is marked, job done
I don't suggest that MIG is not comparable but considering there is ZERO prep time for gas welding I'm sticking with it.
Plus, with gas, you can backtrack, re-heat etc. by simply moving the torch.
Try doing that with an electric powered wire feed system