Chassis Protection without removal
Discussion
I have just bought a TVR 350i and whilst the chassis is in generally good condition, the majority of the powder coating on the lower half of the chassis is gone. There is some surface rust but nothing serious but there is a lot of powder coat flaking and old underseal combined with oily lumps of crud where the engine/diff have been leaking over the years. Whilst this has helped to preserve the chassis, I now want to tidy it up. I have the car on four ramps so I can slide under and so far I have been scraping off the loose powder coat and dirt.
Realistically I am never going to get the chassis clean enough to paint it and so I am wondering what best to protect it with? Access is a bugger as I am sure you can appreciate. I will rust treat it with something first but I was thinking that waxoyl, either thinned down or as it comes, brushed on everywhere is the best I can do; maybe the black underseal waxoyl? Brushing is the best I am going to manage.
Any ideas or recommendations would be much apperciated!!
Realistically I am never going to get the chassis clean enough to paint it and so I am wondering what best to protect it with? Access is a bugger as I am sure you can appreciate. I will rust treat it with something first but I was thinking that waxoyl, either thinned down or as it comes, brushed on everywhere is the best I can do; maybe the black underseal waxoyl? Brushing is the best I am going to manage.
Any ideas or recommendations would be much apperciated!!
Access to the wedge chassis is pretty good - in comparrison to other TVRs - so painting is possible. Just be methodical and do a section at a time. A lot of people doing it this way use specfialist paints such as POR 15 with very good results.
Lots of examples in build threads on here - search your feelings, reach out with your mind ..
Much more activity over on Facialbookage these days though.
Lots of examples in build threads on here - search your feelings, reach out with your mind ..
Much more activity over on Facialbookage these days though.
Whatever you do will be temporary until you take the body off for a full refurb.
I would clean as much as you can get at with a degreaser/ solvent - maybe 2 or 3 times.
I have used 'Smoothrite' to good effect, again 2 or 3 coats. I fact I used it for my body off resto, although if done now I would use a good Marine coating like Jotun or similar. https://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/primers/jotamast...
I would clean as much as you can get at with a degreaser/ solvent - maybe 2 or 3 times.
I have used 'Smoothrite' to good effect, again 2 or 3 coats. I fact I used it for my body off resto, although if done now I would use a good Marine coating like Jotun or similar. https://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/primers/jotamast...
I have no plans to take the body off as I don't have the facilities. However the car is basically being refurbished as it has been off the road for sometime. I am not expecting to get it back on the road for a year so maybe cleaning and painting would be the way to go. It will take hundreds of hours though as there is no point it painting unless all the oil is removed and that is going to be almost impossible!
I have no plans to take the body off as I don't have the facilities. However the car is basically being refurbished as it has been off the road for sometime. I am not expecting to get it back on the road for a year so maybe cleaning and painting would be the way to go. It will take hundreds of hours though as there is no point it painting unless all the oil is removed and that is going to be almost impossible!
phillpot said:
For a temporary bodge, because that's all it will be, search Lanogaurd.
I have no intentions of doing any bodge job but removing the body and getting the chassis refurbished is a 'restoration' and not a 'running toy' thing to do. The car isn't ever going to be valuable eonugh to go to that level of effort either in my opinion.The chassis is currently good but just needs cleaning and having some protection. it is important to get this into perspective I think!
It will always be garaged and used in good weather when I own it so what I have suggested will probably last another 20 years which is definitely longer that I will own it for!
Hi, just done the same on my Griff. Bit awkward at the corners of the outriggers, but mostly quite accessible. Really lots of work, but not complex.
Big tip is to get an air powered rotary tool. Will send a pic. They take 2 inch sandpaper pads, I used 60 and 80 grit to get the old crap off. This set up is like a superpower. I also found emery in rolls, 25mm wide, works well around the back.
Use air blow to clean out stones, dust etc.
Old Waxoil comes off with white spirits.
Once clean, paint with stuff of your choice. Honestly this is super personal. I used pqr15 or some such as loads recommend, I thought it was cr@p, peeled off. So, lots of folk, lots of views. Now I use Rustoleum, mainly as you can get any ral colour. Griff white is RAL9004. If you use hammerite white, it is very wrong…. Chassis actually quite grey. Bit like hammerite to use, so you will recognise the type of paint.
I changed all the body bolts, makes it easier to strip and looks better. Cheap.
At the corners of the outriggers you can’t get to everywhere, so I flooded it with oil of increasing thickness, start with WD40, finished with Waxoil, but not in its pure form, it dries too hard, mix one third engine oil or similar. Flows better, wets better.
Have fun,
Nic
Big tip is to get an air powered rotary tool. Will send a pic. They take 2 inch sandpaper pads, I used 60 and 80 grit to get the old crap off. This set up is like a superpower. I also found emery in rolls, 25mm wide, works well around the back.
Use air blow to clean out stones, dust etc.
Old Waxoil comes off with white spirits.
Once clean, paint with stuff of your choice. Honestly this is super personal. I used pqr15 or some such as loads recommend, I thought it was cr@p, peeled off. So, lots of folk, lots of views. Now I use Rustoleum, mainly as you can get any ral colour. Griff white is RAL9004. If you use hammerite white, it is very wrong…. Chassis actually quite grey. Bit like hammerite to use, so you will recognise the type of paint.
I changed all the body bolts, makes it easier to strip and looks better. Cheap.
At the corners of the outriggers you can’t get to everywhere, so I flooded it with oil of increasing thickness, start with WD40, finished with Waxoil, but not in its pure form, it dries too hard, mix one third engine oil or similar. Flows better, wets better.
Have fun,
Nic
Edited by NicBowman on Tuesday 29th March 12:15
The Wedge chassis is pretty good for access. The sills are only held on with pop rivets so I'd take them off to expose the outriggers. Many garages offer a hot pressure wash steam clean so might be useful to get the car up high on axle stands take the sills and exhaust off and get a mobile steam cleaner in to clear all the oil. You can then plod through it with wire brush and paint. I've used both POR and Smoothrite and both work well.
Got to admit the previous owner of my car must have plastered waxoil all over the underneath of my car on a regular basis. It never looks nice but in the scheme of things I've never seen any rust on the chassis and I've never had any issues with seized bolts so it must work. When I take underside bits off the car I paint them up with POR, otherwise it gets painted in dinitrol.
Having seen all the replies and considering my car will be a sunny days toy in reality and rarely get wet, I think I will spend the time doing a proper clean up and rust treat, and then paint with white smoothrite. It will certainly impress the MOT man and I expect will be easy to spot any future problems. I will post pictures as I progress for those who might be interested!
I took the body off mine (well actually rolled the chassis out from underneath) in one side of a double garage like yours. The only thing I needed help with was taking the bonnet off, but if my son in law hadn't been around that day I probably would have managed it. The technique was to inch front and back side and side a little bit at a time starting with a hydraulic jack until you can slide timber across underneath the wheel arches, and then inching up the timber. The body doesn't go straight up either, you get to a point where you have to pull the chassis forward a couple of inches at a time and lift a couple of inches at a time.
It's not easy I admit, actually bloody hard physically, but if you want to do a proper job...
Would I do it again? Noooooo, I'd buy a two post lift, do the job, and then sell the two post lift. I'm actually thinking of buying an S3 which will need the same operation at some time. Or not be so cheap and get a garage to separate it for me.
I originally thought I could renovate the chassis from underneath but found that I couldn't remove the rear brake calipers or pads (corroded solid and 1 pad missing!!!) so it had all to come apart.
If you don't separate the chassis you'll never see the bits you just can't see or reach to feel for rust. If you do you can repair the bits you didn't know needed repair like the petrol tanks and some cracks in the bodywork at the front. In my opinion, you can't see the tops of all the tubes and if there is rust there, it will just spread.
And it took me ages to clean and paint the chassis even when it was out, and so easy to miss bits, so I can't believe it will be easy while upside down underneath it.
But best of luck with it and post pictures.
It's not easy I admit, actually bloody hard physically, but if you want to do a proper job...
Would I do it again? Noooooo, I'd buy a two post lift, do the job, and then sell the two post lift. I'm actually thinking of buying an S3 which will need the same operation at some time. Or not be so cheap and get a garage to separate it for me.
I originally thought I could renovate the chassis from underneath but found that I couldn't remove the rear brake calipers or pads (corroded solid and 1 pad missing!!!) so it had all to come apart.
If you don't separate the chassis you'll never see the bits you just can't see or reach to feel for rust. If you do you can repair the bits you didn't know needed repair like the petrol tanks and some cracks in the bodywork at the front. In my opinion, you can't see the tops of all the tubes and if there is rust there, it will just spread.
And it took me ages to clean and paint the chassis even when it was out, and so easy to miss bits, so I can't believe it will be easy while upside down underneath it.
But best of luck with it and post pictures.
So I have been getting on with cleaning and reportecting my chassis on my 350i. Luckily the only rust is surface and very minor. I can get to a large amount of the lower part of the chassis and the upper part is so well out of the way that it seems undamaged. Even the powder coat is good there. I am scraping, sanding with 40 grit paper, rust treating and painting with white smoothrite where possible, and then painting clear waxoyl all over. The years of oil leaks seem to have really helped protecting the underneath!!
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