Galvanised chassis tuscan rebuilt

[leeroy343]

has anyone had their chassis galvanised? Im planning to rebuild my tuscan in the new year and want the peace of mind that my chassis wont rust, can anyone recommend anywhere to do this? ideally near portsmouth?

thanks

lee

[alspeed]

leeroy343 said:

has anyone had their chassis galvanised? Im planning to rebuild my tuscan in the new year and want the peace of mind that my chassis wont rust, can anyone recommend anywhere to do this? ideally near portsmouth?

thanks

lee

Are you talking about hot dip galvanising ? if so i doubt it would be a viable prospect. Hot zinc spraying followed by paint is probably a better option for a chassis.
can't recommend anyone in your area unfortunately.

[DAKOTAstorm]

I enquired about this when restoring my 'M' chassis and was informed the temperatures involved with galvanising could deform the chassis. I've seen defenders advertised with galvanised chassis but that may be because they are big thick box sections of metal.

[ianwhitewick]

Lee, have a look at Southways Automotive in Fareham.

http://www.southwaysautomotive.co.uk/

They did my Cerbera this summer. Galvanised then powder coated and good lads too. They probably have not done a Tuscan so far.

You would have hoped TVR would have sorted the chassis by the time they built the Tuscans!!!

[B17NNS]

TVR did experiment with galvanizing. The heat caused massive distortion.

[m4tti]

It wouldn't be technically difficult to brace to prevent distortion....

Edited by m4tti on Saturday 2nd January 01:02

[BobE]

Marcos cars have space frame chassis and people have had those galvanised but it takes care to prevent distortion and I think the chassis tubes have to be vented. Might be worth calling Marcos Heritage for advice.

[Tuscanuwe]

Hot dip = no chance
Temp will be too high, whole frame will be out of aligment after hot dip galvanizing.
Also min 10 mm holes must be drilled due to washing and cleaning before galvanising all residues
must be drained easily out of any cavity.
Matra has done it with the Murena and Espace , they have destoyed a lot of frames before they had the
procedure working properly.
Furheron it was very expensive, because the zinc bath must be always warmed up to around 450 deg Celsius.

http://i47.servimg.com/u/f47/10/07/78/45/2012-341....
http://www.forum-auto.com/pole-technique/preparati...

And after 20 years they also get rusty at some aeras.

I have owned two ones (Murena 2.2 and 2.2s)1985 and 2003 (the 2003 has undergone complete restoration).It was the starting point of my "Plastik" cars aera.

Uwe

[BobE]

I have just checked with a friend who had his Marcos chassis galvanised - it was by a company somewhere on the south coast and was organised by Rory at Marcos Heritage. The chassis was checked on their jig afterwards and was completely straight with no distortion so it can be done.

[alspeed]

The other thing to consider with hot dip galv is the added weight, iv'e had loads of gates and trailer chassis galvanised and they charge by the kilo, it adds quite a bit of weight, not much of a consideration on a land rover or trailer, but would bother me on a sports car.

Also It's not a nice a thin coating applied with care by trained professionals, your chassis will most likely be roughly dunked in a tank of molten zinc by an immigrant worker on minimum wage who couldn't care less if it warps or gets battered by the crane/forklift afterwards. I've had all sorts of lumps and drips to grind off after galving, and bits of metalwork to straighten, its not always pretty

Zinc spraying is a much better option.

[Sagi Badger]

Zinc spray it as others suggest. Hot dipping causes enough twisting on heavy sections..

J

[leeroy343]

cheers guys! I just hate doing things twice or having to worry about it all the time.