Anyone replaced entire front panel inc cross member? How big a job?

[3706mht]

Morning all. Amazing, it passed MOT today with just an advisory on tyre!!! Happy days.

That said the cross member is definitely for it's maker by next years happy event. Bought an entire new front panel of ebay for £30. .... is the entire panel including lower cross member, slam panel, that vertical support piece and bumper mounts. Good price.

But wandering how big a job to replace that is?

I guess it's spot welds in the main? Is it a question of just drilling them out and the whole panel drops off or is that just wishful thinking?

I found a couple of good article on the lower cross member itself on MSC but not sure about the wider panel.

Anyone done that?

Looks pretty much like this one.....

 

[Low Rider]

If you're doing the complete panel, it's a LOT of drilling, so make sure you get a high quality (HSS) one piece spot weld drill (not one of those spring loaded affairs).

Most of us opt for a lower cross member, which is the lower section replacement only. Even that's still a fair bit of work but it cuts down the amount of drilling and also greatly reduces the amount of alignment and re-welding needed. You can easily trim a full panel down into the lower section only (plenty of photos floating about on 'www' to compare panels).

I'll say this for free. A non-genuine pattern part is made of fairly low quality steel, so forget jacking up the car on the front jacking point after it's replaced, as it WILL buckle under the weight of the car.

 

[LiamC]

Morning all. Amazing, it passed MOT today with just an advisory on tyre!!! Happy days.

That said the cross member is definitely for it's maker by next years happy event. Bought an entire new front panel of ebay for £30. .... is the entire panel including lower cross member, slam panel, that vertical support piece and bumper mounts. Good price.

But wandering how big a job to replace that is?

I guess it's spot welds in the main? Is it a question of just drilling them out and the whole panel drops off or is that just wishful thinking?

I found a couple of good article on the lower cross member itself on MSC but not sure about the wider panel.

Anyone done that?

Looks pretty much like this one.....

View attachment 64082

I only bought the lower cross member but I had to weld a patch in the bottom of one of the legs under it too as there's a seam there that I presume trapped water. I bought a 10mm (I think) spot weld drill and it was worth it's weight in gold for the hassle it saved,a quick centre punch and off you go. I made a guide for where all the spots are since there's a few sneaky ones so I'll have a look now

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

 

[YellowPeril]

What ?
Some part of that is supposed to be a jacking point ?

 

[3706mht]

I only bought the lower cross member but I had to weld a patch in the bottom of one of the legs under it too as there's a seam there that I presume trapped water. I bought a 10mm (I think) spot weld drill and it was worth it's weight in gold for the hassle it saved,a quick centre punch and off you go. I made a guide for where all the spllots are since there's a few sneaky ones so I'll have a look now

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

Hi Liam, yeah would very much like to give that a read if you have time to find. It passed MOT Saturday so I have a year to plan for the work

But have to say every time one of you guys makes one of these guides, it genuinely does make it way less work for those us a bit more 'part time' K11 enthusiasts. Well not part time but you know what I mean.

Many thanks

 

[3706mht]

If you're doing the complete panel, it's a LOT of drilling, so make sure you get a high quality (HSS) one piece spot weld drill (not one of those spring loaded affairs).

Most of us opt for a lower cross member, which is the lower section replacement only. Even that's still a fair bit of work but it cuts down the amount of drilling and also greatly reduces the amount of alignment and re-welding needed. You can easily trim a full panel down into the lower section only (plenty of photos floating about on 'www' to compare panels).

I'll say this for free. A non-genuine pattern part is made of fairly low quality steel, so forget jacking up the car on the front jacking point after it's replaced, as it WILL buckle under the weight of the car.

Thanks for the steer lowrider. Yes I considered the trim down and yet (originally) thought the one piece panel to theoretically be a stronger option. But you think not the case? Worth to consider in and is exactly the sort of thing to have an understanding of before starting such a job.

I've not seen the panel yet but yes will check out the quality of it for sure. Car did have a small bump a few years back and some straightening was needed on front panel ... could be part of the reason why the cross member rotted. I thought a new entire piece might tidy a few bits up but could be that might cause more harm than good

 

[Low Rider]

I've done 3 now. One full panel replacement and 2 lower panels.

The full panel was a pattern part which I regretted doing, as it's on the shell I'm building up. They bend where the central engine member bolts on at the front. The other 2 were just lower panels but they were both OEM Nissan supply. While they're still not what I would call fully robust they are significantly stronger than an equivalent pattern panel.

 

[LiamC]

Hi Liam, yeah would very much like to give that a read if you have time to find. It passed MOT Saturday so I have a year to plan for the work

But have to say every time one of you guys makes one of these guides, it genuinely does make it way less work for those us a bit more 'part time' K11 enthusiasts. Well not part time but you know what I mean.

Many thanks

Couldn't find the guide but it's out there somewhere, anyway here is the original pictures I took showing all the spots you need to drill out. Don't need to do any others even if it looks like you do

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

 

[3706mht]

I've done 3 now. One full panel replacement and 2 lower panels.

The full panel was a pattern part which I regretted doing, as it's on the shell I'm building up. They bend where the central engine member bolts on at the front. The other 2 were just lower panels but they were both OEM Nissan supply. While they're still not what I would call fully robust they are significantly stronger than an equivalent pattern panel.

Yeah that's definitely worth to know ... many thanks for explaining. Have to say I would have crashed on with that without understanding that.

Not sure if it's a Nissan part or OEM. Will be a while before it's here but will take a look and report back

Cheers

 

[3706mht]

Couldn't find the guide but it's out there somewhere, anyway here is the original pictures I took showing all the spots you need to drill out. Don't need to do any others even if it looks like you doView attachment 64090View attachment 64091View attachment 64092View attachment 64093View attachment 64094

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

That's really helpful stuff Liam, amazing how a pic can paint a lot of words. Cheers for the pictures, they explain the spot weld positions really well.

Just a quick question ... in the third photo, there's what looks like a plastic cover hanging loose that would go across the cross member. Is odd as in looking at the cross member work on our car, I saw a plastic body press clip and it crossed my mind what it might be for. I have a feeling it could be this. I've never seen it on ours ... is it the case that it's a plastic cover of some sort ... or a sump guard or suchlike? And if it is do you know what it's called ... definitely missing off ours and would like to replace if it's cheap and easy to find.

Cheers

 

[nissan boy]

Yeah that's definitely worth to know ... many thanks for explaining. Have to say I would have crashed on with that without understanding that.

Not sure if it's a Nissan part or OEM. Will be a while before it's here but will take a look and report back

Cheers

I got the cheapest eBay one it's been fine two years later , I still jack on the crossmember jacking point , does flex alittle but so does OEM, welded up fine and I used a stickwelder haha
Some pics on my blog

Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[3706mht]

Couldn't find the guide but it's out there somewhere, anyway here is the original pictures I took showing all the spots you need to drill out. Don't need to do any others even if it looks like you doView attachment 64090View attachment 64091View attachment 64092View attachment 64093View attachment 64094

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)

Hi Liam, just quick nudge on that lower plastic guard mentioned in earlier post. Cheers

 

[3706mht]

I got the cheapest eBay one it's been fine two years later , I still jack on the crossmember jacking point , does flex alittle but so does OEM, welded up fine and I used a stickwelder haha
Some pics on my blog

Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app

Have to confess just reading lowrider's (and your) point back and never realised there was a jacking point on the cross member. Have always used the big lump of metal at the back of the wishbone.

Looked at your blog ... good reading. You did the lower X member not the whole panel I think. But very useful to see how to approach.

Cheers

 

[nissan boy]

Have to confess just reading lowrider's (and your) point back and never realised there was a jacking point on the cross member. Have always used the big lump of metal at the back of the wishbone.

Looked at your blog ... good reading. You did the lower X member not the whole panel I think. But very useful to see how to approach.

Cheers

Tbh it's the same for the upper half just a few spot welds , take the wings off , or just drill out the welds and just use the crossmember , the upper half a don't really rust or anything


Sent from my moto g(6) using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[Lyte]

Have to confess just reading lowrider's (and your) point back and never realised there was a jacking point on the cross member. Have always used the big lump of metal at the back of the wishbone.

Looked at your blog ... good reading. You did the lower X member not the whole panel I think. But very useful to see how to approach.

Cheers

I wonder if using rubber rise paint on the cross member will stop any rusting in the future.

Sent from my SM-G615F using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[LiamC]

That's really helpful stuff Liam, amazing how a pic can paint a lot of words. Cheers for the pictures, they explain the spot weld positions really well.

Just a quick question ... in the third photo, there's what looks like a plastic cover hanging loose that would go across the cross member. Is odd as in looking at the cross member work on our car, I saw a plastic body press clip and it crossed my mind what it might be for. I have a feeling it could be this. I've never seen it on ours ... is it the case that it's a plastic cover of some sort ... or a sump guard or suchlike? And if it is do you know what it's called ... definitely missing off ours and would like to replace if it's cheap and easy to find.

Cheers

It's a little plastic cover, probably Nissans excuse for underbody aerodynamics in the 90s. It's a scrapyard job if you're missing yours, don't pay more than a tenner for them

Sent from my LG K11+ (yes I did buy the phone specifically to have a K11 phone, I'm that sad)