PollyMobiles Rebuild

[pollyp]

updated my pollymobile spec page tday

https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobile-ii-specification.65262/

 

[pollyp]

Ever since I brought my Clarke 135TE MIG, it often seemed frustrating that some settings worked but others weren't as consistant, so dialling it in was difficult.

Whilst cleaning the machine I thought I'd check what the sequence of switches actually do.
According to the circuit diagram the two rocker switches (1 - 2, Min - Max) determine the # of primary coil windings from the mains supply v/s the fixed # of secondary coil windings on the output end (welding gun).

Reducing the primary coils (measured as lower ohms) induce higher voltages on the secondary coil.

I measured the primary coil resistance with a multimeter at the supply end while toggling the two switch sequences.

So in the chart, as metal thickness increases, the wire speed and power levels should increase incrementally too.
Clarkes chart for the 135TE lists the power settings as:
1 Min
2 Min
1 Max
2 Max

What I discovered was that the sequencing from Clarke was wrong all along.

In order to get the settings to go incrementally from low power (high ohms in primary coil) to higher power (low ohms in primary coil) the sequence actually has to be:
1 Min = 1.6ohm
1 Max = 1.3ohm
2 Min = 1.2ohm
2 Max = 0.9ohm

I corrected the chart and now it welds soo much better for each setting
It must be a typo error cos my m8s Clarke welder of a different model shows this corrected order of settings

In prep for getting a TIG welder someday, I have some spare old MIG steel wire from that rusty old Clarke Pro 90 MIG so I twisted em with a hand drill as a cheap hack to make some free DIY TIG wire ?

 

[pollyp]

a-haa! it was a typo error cos I downloaded the latest PDF manual (revision 8) from Clarkes site and it shows the correct settings compared to the original leaflet that came with the welder

 

[pollyp]

I wasn't happy with using the front helper springs cos I ended up having to lower the spring seat alll the way down to the hub bracket just in order to reach the target height but meant I couldn't adjust height to corner balance it so I'm gonna have to remove it

removing the new steel nuts, they all show signs of full contact at 60deg so they'll stay locked in place compared to the cheap Alu nuts which had the wrong taper

dismantled the front strut

after removing the helper springs and setting the stiff main spring at zero preload to remain captive, it'll sit too high.
I had to move the hub axle bracket (bottom ring) up the strut by 37mm so that the car rests at the target height.

but moving the hub upwards meant that whenever the strut is fully compressed and hits bump-stop, the wheels will be far too high and strikes the arch.
so I'd have to machine some 37mm long spacers or "packers" to reduce the strut travel so that when it reaches bump-stop, the tyres won't foul the arch

tomorrow I'll install & check the bump stop is set correctly

 

[pollyp]

fitted the strut with bumpstop spacers and no springs

compressed it fully with the jack and I got the bumpstop position just right ?

now I can reassemble it together.
the dust boot is slightly larger than the strut body so I applied some thick tape to take up the gap

taped it all up with electrical tape

springs & covers installed

front suspension done

 

[pollyp]

Ever since I swapped the new halfords trolley jack hydraulics into the older trolley jack frame (cos the newer jacks were actually smaller) it's not been able to reach high enough cos the frame is slightly too long for the piston therefore unable to use all of it's travel.

also the cheap sheet pressed frame ain't very rigid & suffers from flexing/twisting till the head begins to foul the frame and won't fully retract

the current jack has a range of 115 - 328mm

redesigned a one-piece stiffer tubular frame to utilise the full travel of the piston

it'll then have a range of 118-370mm (42mm higher)

I'll soon order some steel to make it

 

[pollyp]

since ordering extra steel to make a new frame will take time & money, I figured the easiest quickest solution here is to simply shorten the existing frame to match the shorter hydraulic cylinder to achieve the same range of motion as the redesigned frame.

and it'll reach the same outcome

 

[pollyp]

marked

cut

welded

grinded

now it can lift from 145 - 396mm ?

 

[John_D]

marked

View attachment 68464

cut

View attachment 68465

welded

View attachment 68466

grinded

View attachment 68467

now it can lift from 145 - 396mm ?

View attachment 68468View attachment 68469

That's the first 'cut and shut 'jack I've seen! ? (personally I would have made a 'tongued' joint where it is welded rather than a straight cut butt joint as it is a safety sensative item, a weld, no matter how good, is never as strong as the original single piece of metal....... )

 

[pollyp]

went to collect my weekly wage from work and do some food shopping.
she felt soo flat & balanced in the corners
all the supermarkets have a ridiculously long queue stretching all over the whole car park! sod that, I went to fill up at the new bigger local Shell garage and brought some 'essential' groceries with minimal queues ?

main issue at the moment is the wider diameter flat-bottomed rear coil springs sitting on the "spiral" shaped bottom of the axle cup which makes it lean & rub/stutter against the sides over every bump

can see the coils touching the sides. I'll need to flatten & weld up the bottom of the spring base and re-center the spring to clear the sides

the smaller end that sits on the adjuster ain't flat and can shift offset, so I'll have to machine a 4cm longer plastic collar to keep it centered

discovered my Omex 600 ecu connector pins are really easy to remove. I'll need to order a £12 extra pack of auxilary wires to add the extra connections for MAP, Knock, speedometer, IACV and other switches

 

[pollyp]

Removed the axle to assess the spring issue

The new stiffer springs have this curved banana shape so they'll have to be fitted at a certain angle

Originally I thought about removing that spiral shape at the bottom of the axle cup by cutting & welding it all flat but that would take a lot of work & time.

Instead I figured the best fix is to utilise this spiral feature and chop the spring along the dotted line to remove the flat bottom and make it sit at the correct angle.

Chopped the spring, cut the rubber sleeve to cusion it against the solid spiral floor and machined this steel inner collar to keep it located center

Trimmed the collar to follow the spiral floor

It'll be welded to the axle to keep the spring located and clear of the sides

 

[John_D]

Removed the axle to assess the spring issue

View attachment 68507View attachment 68508

The new stiffer springs have this curved banana shape so they'll have to be fitted at a certain angle

View attachment 68510

Originally I thought about removing that spiral shape at the bottom of the axle cup by cutting & welding it all flat but that would take a lot of work & time.

Instead I figured the best fix is to utilise this spiral feature and chop the spring along the dotted line to remove the flat bottom and make it sit at the correct angle.

View attachment 68509View attachment 68511

Chopped the spring, cut the rubber sleeve to cusion it against the solid spiral floor and machined this steel inner collar to keep it located center

View attachment 68513

Trimmed the collar to follow the spiral floor

View attachment 68514

It'll be welded to the axle to keep the spring located and clear of the sides

View attachment 68515View attachment 68512View attachment 68516

Looks like it would have been an ideal opportunity to have the axle sand blasted and powder coated Paul, if only we weren't in lockdown...... ☹

 

[pollyp]

Looks like it would have been an ideal opportunity to have the axle sand blasted and powder coated Paul, if only we weren't in lockdown...... ☹

aye that'd be ideal
just a good wirebrush & lick of paint in the garage will do for now

 

[l_jonez]

Trust me you won't regret getting a TIG, it's certainly worth getting an AC/DC machine.
I spent months researching machines before I finally settled on one from R Tec and it's great.
It's quite a steep learning curve ( it makes learning mig a complete breeze in comparison) and now with the whole lock down is a great time to get your time behind the helmet.

One thing I will say is don't bother with that twisted mig wire, the filler needs to be clean and rust free. By the time you use it there's going to be rust/dirt trapped in there.

 

[pollyp]

Trust me you won't regret getting a TIG, it's certainly worth getting an AC/DC machine.
I spent months researching machines before I finally settled on one from R Tec and it's great.
It's quite a steep learning curve ( it makes learning mig a complete breeze in comparison) and now with the whole lock down is a great time to get your time behind the helmet.

One thing I will say is don't bother with that twisted mig wire, the filler needs to be clean and rust free. By the time you use it there's going to be rust/dirt trapped in there.

the only 13amp ACDC rtec is well over £1k for everything, which is well beyond my budget (especially with an uncertain future) and welding Alu ain't exactly important.

I've narrowed all my options down to the R-Tec TIG160PD-D.
it runs 13amp, digital controls and can get a soiled/scuffed discount unit for £500, plus a £120 pedal and various other accessaries.

the biggest issue currently is gas. I found a local HobbyWeld place selling 10L argon bottles rent-free for £65 but there's obviously no point buying a TIG yet if literally everything in the world is closed down right now

damn it, if only I brought all this stuff before the global shutdown, I'd be practicing with my new toy throughout the break ?

 

[l_jonez]

the only 13amp ACDC rtec is well over £1k for everything, which is well beyond my budget (especially with an uncertain future) and welding Alu ain't exactly important.

I've narrowed all my options down to the R-Tec TIG160PD-D.
it runs 13amp, digital controls and can get a soiled/scuffed discount unit for £500, plus a £120 pedal and various other accessaries.

the biggest issue currently is gas. I found a local HobbyWeld place selling 10L argon bottles rent-free for £65 but there's obviously no point buying a TIG yet if literally everything in the world is closed down right now

damn it, if only I brought all this stuff before the global shutdown, I'd be practicing with my new toy throughout the break ?

I thought the same but once you have the ability to weld aluminium you wonder how the hell you managed without it.
It's certainly worth saving longer to get an AC capable machine.

It's a huge outlay of money and with things the way they are at the moment it's probably not the best time to buy.

I use hobby weld ( both argon and mig bottles) as I don't do anywhere near enough to have a boc account etc.
I'll be honest your first bottle will be a write off as you learn, but once you are set up they last a while. The small bottle is 10l liquid which is something like 1200l of gas.

Whichever way you go good luck with it and I look forward to seeing the first welds

 

[Low Rider]

Glad to see you expanding the Omex capability.

There are plenty of tuners out there who only want to tune and therefore push a particular make of ECU because it's a personal preference. Sadly, as a result, it can result in them slating other brands just for the sake of it.

If an Omex was a PITA to tune, it wouldn't have taken Ed a mere 30mins to get mine up and running from a base map, driven to the local Shell to fill up and off to the dyno. It also wouldn't run flawlessly for years on my car at the power level we were at.

Honest advice, find a tuner who supports Omex and avoid someone who doesn't as you'll only get a bum streer.

 

[pollyp]

I thought the same but once you have the ability to weld aluminium you wonder how the hell you managed without it.
It's certainly worth saving longer to get an AC capable machine.

It's a huge outlay of money and with things the way they are at the moment it's probably not the best time to buy.

I use hobby weld ( both argon and mig bottles) as I don't do anywhere near enough to have a boc account etc.
I'll be honest your first bottle will be a write off as you learn, but once you are set up they last a while. The small bottle is 10l liquid which is something like 1200l of gas.

Whichever way you go good luck with it and I look forward to seeing the first welds

Indeed, spending extra few hundred quid for an ACDC machine will certainly offer much more versatility over a long term investment.

It definately ain't the right time to throw over £1k on a non-essential luxury tool during a global crisis with almost no income and no idea when the next wage is, it'll be more important to spend that amount towards essential living costs like feeding the family & pay the bills.

While the RTec 13amp plug machine is very flexible for use in any domestic outlet BUT costs a fortune, alternatively there's Tons more 16amp TIG welders for a fraction of the cost (or with much better specs for the same price of an Rtec) but would need to wire up a dedicated 16amp cable from the fuse box to the garage (which ain't a big issue cos that's where I'll only use TIG anyway)

Thanks for the advice I_Jonez

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[pollyp]

Glad to see you expanding the Omex capability.

There are plenty of tuners out there who only want to tune and therefore push a particular make of ECU because it's a personal preference. Sadly, as a result, it can result in them slating other brands just for the sake of it.

If an Omex was a PITA to tune, it wouldn't have taken Ed a mere 30mins to get mine up and running from a base map, driven to the local Shell to fill up and off to the dyno. It also wouldn't run flawlessly for years on my car at the power level we were at.

Honest advice, find a tuner who supports Omex and avoid someone who doesn't as you'll only get a bum streer.

Exactly Dave

I've been trying to find a tuner local for the past yr who'll handle Omex but sadly there's none that I'd trust.

The only options I have for running Omex is:
to fit & get it running myself (blending bits of ur 1.4 map and requesting a basemap from Omex as a basis).
Then either tune it myself (a m8 knows someone who'll borrow us their dyno),
Or drive all way down to Ed on basemap & have him tune it on his dyno.

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[SuperUno]

I have been running my welder for 10+ years on a standard 13a plug, it should really have a 16a plug on it. Only caused an issue once when I was playing with it running flat out, and it blew the 13a fuse. Swapped for a normal fuse and away again. Unless you are planning on lots of flat out welding it would be fine.

 

[pollyp]

I have been running my welder for 10+ years on a standard 13a plug, it should really have a 16a plug on it. Only caused an issue once when I was playing with it running flat out, and it blew the 13a fuse. Swapped for a normal fuse and away again. Unless you are planning on lots of flat out welding it would be fine.

so unless I'm welding thick gauge aluminium, I should be ok using a 16amp ACDC welder on the normal plug? that's good to know Matt
and if I do keep tripping the meter, it gives an excuse to upgrade to a dedicated 16amp cable

 

[pollyp]

wirebrushed the whole axle

cut some slot holes around the spring collars to allow water to drain out

welded on and now the springs sit approx 5mm clear of the axle

the rear sway bar mount always dries & seizes up, resulting in this cracked flimsy bracket

I welded it all back with some extra reinforcing sides so it won't snap again

thoroughly wirebrushed everything again, covered in Kurust before I paint it tomorrow

 

[pollyp]

coated in Kurust

primered

didn't have enough black paint but I had a new can of LKO grey purple paint (was slightly the wrong shade for the car anyway) so I sprayed the base coat and 2 coats of laquer and it looks alot better than using matt black

machined the two spring adjusters to the same length to remove & neaten the obsolete ends

 

[SuperUno]

It's useful painting suspension in a lighter colour, I spray all mine in silver. It brightens things up under the car when working on it, and makes it easier to spot cracks. I found one once like this on the rear beam, doubt I would have seen it if had been painted black.

 

[plmval]

It's useful painting suspension in a lighter colour, I spray all mine in silver. It brightens things up under the car when working on it, and makes it easier to spot cracks. I found one once like this on the rear beam, doubt I would have seen it if had been painted black.

What a good idea don’t paint it black.

If I ever get the irresistible urge to paint the back axle I will go & lie down, have a kip until the urge passes over.

 

[l_jonez]

I have been running my welder for 10+ years on a standard 13a plug, it should really have a 16a plug on it. Only caused an issue once when I was playing with it running flat out, and it blew the 13a fuse. Swapped for a normal fuse and away again. Unless you are planning on lots of flat out welding it would be fine.

Same here, both my welders should have a 16A plug/supply but they have been running 13A fuses. I've had the occasional fuse pop but it's a quick fix and back to it. It's rare I find myself needing to weld at max amps

 

[pollyp]

thanks for the good points guys

 

[pollyp]

while the axle was off, may as well spruce up the rusty bits under the chassis. removed all the suspension, bumper & exhaust

as usual, there's always one stubborn bolt that's seized onto the inner bush (and it's the same one I replaced back in 2014 with OEM nissan bolts ?)
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/post-667417

after a lot of grinding close to the full fuel tank I got the trailing arm off

thankfully it wasn't 100% fused so I was able to hammer the chopped bolt off the bushing.
saved me the headache of drilling it out, phew ?
will put plenty of copper grease on these bolts now

the plastic spring seat on the rear adjusters are abit too short to keep these new coils located, so I brought a block of 100mm dia plastic to make longer new ones

trimmed to fit the lathe jaws and machined down to size

bored the hole to fit the alloy adjusters

sliced into two collars

machined to precisely fit the springs

like a glove. now they won't shuffle about throughout their movement

 

[l_jonez]

Do you have an impact driver?
They are great for spinning the bolt in the bush and freeing themselves

 

[pollyp]

Do you have an impact driver?
They are great for spinning the bolt in the bush and freeing themselves

nope it's one of the many things I'd like on my wish list but not got round to researching & save enough to buy one

 

[pollyp]

spent the day trying to wirebrush the rust off the underside, URGH there's soo much to do, losing the friggin will here
continue tomorrow

 

[pollyp]

further wirebrushed the right side and it's abit worse than I thought.
both of the lateral chassis beams above the exhaust are rusted through and the spring top cup is half perished

chopped the rusty beams out and had enough for now ?

if I leave the spring top cup, it might eventually tilt over and collapse under high loads so I'm gonna have to chop the whole thing off and reweld both top cup mounts.

I'm thinking I should simply weld the flat threaded mount directly onto the chassis beam, which makes it stronger and moving the adjuster assembly upwards gives it 20mm more spring adjustment

once again a simple dusting off & paint task has suddenly turned into another huge rebuild challenge cos of friggin rust! ??

 

[SuperUno]

Always the way, found a large crack in a front chassis leg on the ZR today whilst doing other jobs...

 

[pollyp]

Always the way, found a large crack in a front chassis leg on the ZR today whilst doing other jobs...

yikes, good thing u caught it in time

 

[pollyp]

chopping out the rotten spring top cup off the chassis

and the right side was more crusty

machined the new spring mounts flatter and made some covers to smoothly join the outer half of the mount plate to the chassis beam

 

[SuperUno]

Yep all sorted now, also found one of the inlet manifold nuts missing !!

 

[pollyp]

with everything closed, unable to go out, or buy supplies, I'm waking really late and only have enough energy to do bout 2-3hrs of messy grinding work each day till I had enough and cba ? don't think I have enough paint to finish the job with every rusty section I find and ordering stuff online to reach here in time is difficult.

tday I managed to grind all the old rear spring cup mount off the chassis beam.
was a bit nervous with all that grinding spark thrown towards the fuel filler & full tank with myself laying so close to it underneath ??

in these boring times, I dismantled & neatly packaged all the Omex loom back into its box for the next time I'm ready ??

also ordered an extra pack of auxilary wires to add knock sensors, MAP, speedometer, clutch switch, idle control & rad fan override switch to the loom

 

[nissan boy]

For the new coil mounts, plate o. The bottom of the chassis rail to re enforcement it, and spread the load as the orignal cup did?,


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[pollyp]

For the new coil mounts, plate o. The bottom of the chassis rail to re enforcement it, and spread the load as the orignal cup did?,


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

Ya

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[John_D]

For the new coil mounts, plate o. The bottom of the chassis rail to re enforcement it, and spread the load as the orignal cup did?,


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

That was what I was thinking, the original supports extended quite a long way , vertically up the body, distributing the load...... Paul's very localised wedge shaped supports for the round plates do not look to be doing the same job.......?

 

[nissan boy]

That was what I was thinking, the original supports extended quite a long way , vertically up the body, distributing the load...... Paul's very localised wedge shaped supports for the round plates do not look to be doing the same job.......?

Mainly on about the mount it's self ,as the orignal had 3 points of contact ,plus a large surface area cone , tho only afew spot welds were actually really strong ,
Like the rear damper mounts car run struts on them and will take it tho can fail do to the stress on a small surface area hense they recommend renforcing
Mean specially for Kassandra with the load she can take on track and daily road with the stiffer coils

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[pollyp]

good points above, I found some longer pipe of the same diameter and made it go up the chassis beam and a bit of the arch well

welded the base mount

and then the vertical supports

 

[John_D]

good points above, I found some longer pipe of the same diameter and made it go up the chassis beam and a bit of the arch well

View attachment 68725

welded the base mount

View attachment 68727View attachment 68726

and then the vertical supports

View attachment 68728View attachment 68729

I still feel you need to spread the load wider, you have a very concentrated load on a very small area of the chassis rail and directly above it..... The original spring plate and support above it, spreads the load over an area three or four times wider than you are achieving....

 

[Daz1985]

Nice work as always. my sealey mightymig is the full 32a one but works fine on 13a fuse up to power lvl 3, good for burning a hole in anything on a jap car lol

 

[SuperUno]

I think your revised design is fine. Remember the OEM cup is barely spot welded into place.

 

[John_D]

I think your revised design is fine. Remember the OEM cup is barely spot welded into place.

I still think it puts too much load on a very small area of the underside if the chassis rail, that will be the next failure point ☹....

 

[Huggy444]

The forces from the Damper are directed up vertically not side to side, so being narrow shouldn't pose too much of an issue.

Given the maintenence and attention Paul gives to his car, I think he'd notice any fatigue or cracking if it did arise.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

 

[pollyp]

I believe this design will work fine for afew reasons:

when the spring adjuster was bolted to the original spring cup, the +170kg weight went through the threaded adjuster column, through the small diameter 20mm long inner conical cup shape and half of that cup sat directly underneath the chassis beam with nothing breaking/collapsing/crumbling.

the outer half of the right-side cup was actually completely rusted through, disconnected from the outer vertical support cover.
so the half connected inner cup itself was strong enough to support the cars weight in the worse scenario and size of the outer cover was due to the big diameter of the spring it was covering whilst also transferring loads back towards the chassis beam and cover the spring cup from water spray.

the new design welds 1/2 the spring cup for the adjuster directly & solidly under the chassis beam (a lot more secure than original).
the other 1/2 of the cup is welded to a 2mm thick half-pipe vertical cover which transfers the load along the entire height of the chassis beam plus more.
the chassis beam itself is also much beefier than the tin-can bodywork so it'll handle the stress of this new layout without buckling.

I'll obviously keep a close eye on it

 

[pollyp]

welded the new sections of the cross beam on.

welding overhead, under a cramped car, limited lighting, butt-welding onto old rusty steel with some huge gaps upto 4mm, urgh it was such a pain to get reach and deal with repeatedly blowing through, but got there eventually ?

dunno if it's the heat, dehydration or my past concussion from jae 2019, but after laying underneath for hrs my head & vision would randomly spin dizzy with slight nausea ?? guess it was a sign to take a tea break

welded up the drilled holes in the wheel well and all undersealed

 

[pollyp]

the RH bumper mount and chassis beam also rusted away so I chopped out the rot & welded a new section in

there was a gap behind the recently repaired wheel well, so I welded it up from the inside