Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi guys,

I just finished my first real alloy fabrication project.

I bought a TIG about 2 months ago for some weekend fun :)

Decided to make a catch can/washer bottle for my R33 out of 2mm alloy sheet.

I'm still trying to get the hand and feed speed right, but hopefully more seat time will help!

Any tips or criticism would be greatly appreciated!

Chris :)

post-55684-13964117687792_thumb.jpgpost-55684-13964117897538_thumb.jpgpost-55684-13964118094256_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/441396-first-attempt-at-alloy-fabrication/
Share on other sites

Looks pretty good to me. Better than some workshops. :)

Practice is the only way to get better. Were you using a foot pedal? I gotta get me one, stopping to turn the dial down as the work heats up is a pita.

The cap was an eBay job- cost $28 including postage which i thought was reasonable.

I am just using the T2 control on the torch at the moment but would like to get a pedal in the future.

My biggest challenge is training my left-hand to feed properly!

Looks good, try stepping up to 3mm for items like these, makes life a hell of alot easier and you dont need to worry about a foot pedal for the tig, I'm a boily by trade who does way to much tig and i f**king hate foot pedals. If you're having lots of problems with heat soaking the material my advice is to Tack it how you want, than put a solid tack on each outside corner were the 3 pieces of material come together than its simple a case of welding from one tack to the other and blowing the material offf with an air gun inbetween runs aswell as dropping the amperage a a touch after the first few. If you feel its getting to hot Let it sit there for 10-15 minutes inbetween runs.. Take your time and be patient.

  • Like 1

Getting there bud, tonal it easier to get even ripples, get the use the move, stop, add technique makes it a lot easier to get the " stack of dimes" beads as both hands don't have to work at the same time with bigger runs I make tacks in the corners then 4 inches apart with no filler so it doesn't ruin the run you are about to do and clean surfaces and good fit is key, have fun mate

  • 3 weeks later...

Nah wasn't me it was probably a bloke called David lol.

My car is off the road at the moment getting a new turbo upgrade so hopefully will be out and about again soon. One of your catch cans would finish it off nicely I reckon ;)

  • 2 weeks later...

Nah wasn't me it was probably a bloke called David lol.

My car is off the road at the moment getting a new turbo upgrade so hopefully will be out and about again soon. One of your catch cans would finish it off nicely I reckon ;)

If you're serious about a catch can PM me, I've just moved up to darwin and have a little bit of time to do small fab jobs. Also check my thread in the fabrication section if you want to see previous work i've done.

For anyone who is interested I have another one which is almost finished.

Don't have any idea what they are worth to sell but Ill post a picture of the finished item and if someone wants to make an offer on it, go for it!

Cheers

Chris

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • As discussed in the previous post, the bushes in the 110 needed replacing. I took this opportunity to replace the castor bushes, the front lower control arm, lower the car and get the alignment dialled in with new tyres. I took it down to Alignment Motorsports on the GC to get this work done and also get more out of the Shockworks as I felt like I wasn't getting the full use out of them.  To cut a very long story short, it ended up being the case the passenger side castor arm wouldn't accept the brand new bush as the sleeve had worn badly enough to the point you could push the new bush in by hand and completely through. Trying a pair of TRD bushes didn't fix the issue either (I had originally gone with Hardrace bushes). We needed to urgently source another castor arm, and thankfully this was sourced and the guys at the shop worked on my car until 7pm on a Saturday to get everything done. The car rides a lot nicer now with the suspension dialled in properly. Lowered the car a little as well to suit the lower profile front tyres, and just bring the car down generally. Eternally thankful for the guys down at the shop to get the car sorted, we both pulled big favours from our contacts to get it done on the Saturday.  Also plugged in the new Stedi foglights into the S15, and even from a quick test in the garage I'm keen to see how they look out on the road. I had some concerns about the length of the LED body and whether it'd fit in the foglight housing but it's fine.  I've got a small window coming up next month where I'll likely get a little paint work done on the 110 to remove the rear wing, add a boot wing and roof wing, get the side skirt fixed up and colour match the little panel on the tail lights so that I can install some badges that I've kept in storage. I'm also tempted to put in a new pair of headlights on the 110.  Until then, here's some more pictures from Easter this year. 
    • I would put a fuel pressure gauge between the filter and the fuel rail, see if it's maintaining good fuel pressure at idle going up to the point when it stalls. Do you see any strange behavior in commanded fuel leading up to the point when it stalls? You might have to start going through the service manual and doing a long list of sensor tests if it's not the fuel system for whatever reason.
    • Hi,  Just joined the forum so I could share my "fix" of this problem. Might be of use to someone. Had the same hunting at idle issue on my V36 with VQ35HR engine after swapping the engine because the original one got overheated.  While changing the engine I made the mistake of cleaning the throttle bodies and tried all the tricks i could find to do a throttle relearn with no luck. Gave in and took it to a shop and they couldn't sort it. Then took it to my local Nissan dealership and they couldn't get it to idle properly. They said I'd need to replace the throttle bodies and the ecu probably costing more than the car is worth. So I had the idea of replacing the carbon I cleaned out with a thin layer of super glue and it's back to normal idle now. Bit rough but saved the car from the wreckers 🤣
    • After my last update, I went ahead with cleaning and restoring the entire fuel system. This included removing the tank and cleaning it with the Beyond Balistics solution, power washing it multiple times, drying it thoroughly, rinsing with IPA, drying again with heat gun and compressed air. Also, cleaning out the lines, fuel rail, and replacing the fuel pump with an OEM-style one. During the cleaning process, I replaced several hoses - including the breather hose on the fuel tank, which turned out to be the cause of the earlier fuel leak. This is what the old fuel filter looked like: Fuel tank before cleaning: Dirty Fuel Tank.mp4   Fuel tank after cleaning (some staining remains): Clean Fuel Tank.mp4 Both the OEM 270cc and new DeatschWerks 550cc injectors were cleaned professionally by a shop. Before reassembling everything, I tested the fuel flow by running the pump output into a container at the fuel filter location - flow looked good. I then fitted the new fuel filter and reassembled the rest of the system. Fuel Flow Test.mp4 Test 1 - 550cc injectors Ran the new fuel pump with its supplied diagonal strainer (different from OEM’s flat strainer) and my 550cc injectors using the same resized-injector map I had successfully used before. At first, it idled roughly and stalled when I applied throttle. Checked the spark plugs and found that they were fouled with carbon (likely from the earlier overly rich running when the injectors were clogged). After cleaning the plugs, the car started fine. However, it would only idle for 30–60 seconds before stalling, and while driving it would feel like a “fuel cut” after a few seconds - though it wouldn’t fully stall. Test 2 – Strainer swap Suspecting the diagonal strainer might not be reaching the tank bottom, I swapped it for the original flat strainer and filled the tank with ~45L of fuel. The issue persisted exactly the same. Test 3 – OEM injectors To eliminate tuning variables, I reinstalled the OEM 270cc injectors and reverted to the original map. Cleaned the spark plugs again just in-case. The stalling and “fuel cut” still remained.   At this stage, I suspect an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, caused during the cleaning process. This has led me to look into getting Frenchy’s fuel hanger and replacing the unit entirely. TL;DR: Cleaned and restored the fuel system (tank, lines, rail, pump). Tested 550cc injectors with the same resized-injector map as before, but the car stalls at idle and experiences what feels like “fuel cut” after a few seconds of driving. Swapped back to OEM injectors with original map to rule out tuning, but the issue persists. Now suspecting an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, possibly cause by the cleaning process.  
×
×
  • Create New...