chassis/suspension painting and other Qs...
Discussion
the wife has finally reached breaking point regarding my S2. i bought it not long after we met and it was dailiy driver. other cars, couple of houses, lots of sprint/hillclimbing (not in Tivs) a wedding and a baby later and its done nothing for 2.5years and she says i have to use it or flog it! filled with enthusiasm (and a little scared of Er Indoors to boot) i decided to strip the front susp off ready for a clean up and paint. So far OSF off, NSF tonight. it all looks remarkably good if a little rusty (surface not structural) as most of them do. Both myself and prev owners have ladelled smoothrirte on the bits and pieces which has staved off any major problems, but the wishbones need cleaning off and re-painting. POR15 seems the piant of choice for some and hammerite for others. ive used smoothrite before and it give 'soft' finish which can be scraped off without too much effort. being lazy i dont want to have to do this bloody horrible job again in the next 5 years so a bit of advice would be appreciated.
do you guys use a de-rust stuff before painting too?
the chassis is pretty good with the majority still having the powder coating still on and firm, but with small areas chipped away that are flaky or gone surface rusty. again wire brushing and painting is my plan.
Colours,... ive seen loads of you guys pics with red chassis and susp items but my chassis seems to have grey poweder coating with the susp arms showing bits of red here and there under loads of black paint, underseal and other such. cars a G plate '89 S2, what colours should they be?
Is the bonnet a complete b*****d to remove? can of worms or not? doesnt need to come off really, can struggle re touching rad and front chassis, but might make life easier if its not a total ball-ache. The hinges looks a bit crusty, but always have to be fair since ive owned it.
OK thats it for now, but there will be loads of other Qs once ive finished the re-paint and tart up of chassis and suspension.
Ta,
CNH
do you guys use a de-rust stuff before painting too?
the chassis is pretty good with the majority still having the powder coating still on and firm, but with small areas chipped away that are flaky or gone surface rusty. again wire brushing and painting is my plan.
Colours,... ive seen loads of you guys pics with red chassis and susp items but my chassis seems to have grey poweder coating with the susp arms showing bits of red here and there under loads of black paint, underseal and other such. cars a G plate '89 S2, what colours should they be?
Is the bonnet a complete b*****d to remove? can of worms or not? doesnt need to come off really, can struggle re touching rad and front chassis, but might make life easier if its not a total ball-ache. The hinges looks a bit crusty, but always have to be fair since ive owned it.
OK thats it for now, but there will be loads of other Qs once ive finished the re-paint and tart up of chassis and suspension.
Ta,
CNH
Can't help much with the paint choice, other than to agree that hammerite doesn't seem to stay on for long.
Removing the bonnet is pretty easy.
Remove the front half of the wheel arch liners (these are held in by some self tapping screws on mine).
Disconnect wiring connectors to lights (these are probably hidden under lots of insulation tape).
Disconnect air vent ducting (jubilee clip on end of ducting at very front of bonnet, a bit hard to reach, but not too bad if you sit on the front tyre!)
Finally, undo the lock nut and retaining nut from the front of the long stud holding the bonnet hinge to the bonnet.
Place a couple of blocks of wood on the plenum to support the bonnet and rest the bonnet on them so that the bonnet catches are clear of the wings and slide the bonnet forward off of the studs.
A friend is useful for this last bit as the bonnet is quite heavy. I slid mine on to a crawler trolley, cause I don't have any friends!
Replacement is the reverse. As long as you don't move the nut on the rear (hinge pivot) end of the stud, bonnet alignment should be fine when you put it back together.
Removing the bonnet is pretty easy.
Remove the front half of the wheel arch liners (these are held in by some self tapping screws on mine).
Disconnect wiring connectors to lights (these are probably hidden under lots of insulation tape).
Disconnect air vent ducting (jubilee clip on end of ducting at very front of bonnet, a bit hard to reach, but not too bad if you sit on the front tyre!)
Finally, undo the lock nut and retaining nut from the front of the long stud holding the bonnet hinge to the bonnet.
Place a couple of blocks of wood on the plenum to support the bonnet and rest the bonnet on them so that the bonnet catches are clear of the wings and slide the bonnet forward off of the studs.
A friend is useful for this last bit as the bonnet is quite heavy. I slid mine on to a crawler trolley, cause I don't have any friends!
Replacement is the reverse. As long as you don't move the nut on the rear (hinge pivot) end of the stud, bonnet alignment should be fine when you put it back together.
I'm organising some new stainless steel bonet hinges if you are interested
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you're prepared to replace the wishbone bushes (not all that expensive) then get the wishbones off, remove the bushes and get them shotblasted and powder coated. It's nowhere near as expensive as you would think, particularly when you budget what you will spend on wire brushes, paint and that big tin of elbow grease.
The powder coating I have had done is a pretty close match to smoothrite red too.
The powder coating I have had done is a pretty close match to smoothrite red too.
The answer to the chassis debate in my view is 'Waxoyl'and plenty of it! I am really not interested if my chassis tubes are red, grey or sky blue pink as long as they are not rusty. I concentrate on trying to keep the shiny side looking good. Only me and the mechanic see the nasty black bits underneath.
plan is to waxoyl chassis areas not easily viewed after painting, but waxoyl looks awful if splattered all over areas that can be seen in my opinion.
as for the colour, i realise it wont make it handle/go better, but i was asking what it should have been from the factory, but it seems no one knows...
as for the colour, i realise it wont make it handle/go better, but i was asking what it should have been from the factory, but it seems no one knows...
Edited by CNHSS1 on Thursday 14th May 15:57
Red seems to be the predominant colour - (as is mine under the waxoyl) but I have heard that both grey and black plastic was used also. It would be interesting to learn if the coating was done at the factory or at a specialist plastic coating firm. No doubt someone will know all about the process and why different colours were used. Let's hope we get a response. Oh, and I agree, waxoyl is not pretty but it is functional.
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