Rusty wishbones on newish car

Rusty wishbones on newish car

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Discussion

MajorClanger

Original Poster:

749 posts

269 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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Just how rusty should the wishbones on a 3 year old Chimaera be? Having a look at the front ones this weekend, I was disappointed to see that there was not much paint left on them and that they were rustier than my 11 year old Citroen's! Is the paint finish affected by heat from the exhaust? or is this just stone chips and road salt taking its affect?

Haven't TVR worked out how to keep the paint on (better still the rust off) yet?!!

MC

Jason F

1,183 posts

283 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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Get it waxoyled.. I think that helps cure this problem. ( I am no mechanic mind )

philr

389 posts

278 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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I'm half way through doing mine. Apparently its a common feature of TVRs ! (according to the TVR recommended MOT place that I went to).

I was told to wire brush them down and then hmmerite them. Others have suggested that its worth waxoyleing them afterwards as well. Whilst I was under the car I also founds lots of places where the powder coating has already come away from the frame work, so I'm doing that at the same time.

All part of the winter preparation ritual I'm afraid.

richb

51,429 posts

283 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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quote:
Just how rusty should the wishbones on a 3 year old Chimaera be?


Bit of a bummer - mine is coming up 3 years old so I guess it's up on some ramps and out with the wire brush/face mask/old boiler suit and Hammerite then R...

philshort

8,293 posts

276 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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Yes, it is depressing isn't it!

They are supposed to be plastic coated but the finish is wafer thin, and seems to flake off first at the welds, followed closely by the rest! Chips from road debris doesn't help. You'll find similar damage around the wishbone mountings and along/under the chassis outriggers.

One consolation is that the replacement wishbones I recently purchased have a sturdier finish. I know because I stripped them back to bare metal to make sure they were adequately protected! IMHO there were 3 significant differences between the replacement wishbones and the originals:

- the metal has been blasted to give a keyed finish for paint to adhere (the old ones were shiny smooth steel except where they were rusted through).

- there was evidence of a white primer coat under the silver top coat - the originals had no discernable primer.

- the top coat itself appeared to be thicker (though not without a couple of vapour thin areas).

So it looks like steps have been taken to improve the quality of finish, but the inconsistant (though better) quality of the top coat shows that there is still room for improvement.

Incidentally I had mine powder coated by a specialist in a metallic silver which looks a LOT thicker than the TVR finish. Barring mechanical damage I don't expect to have to replace them again.

Phil


Edited by philshort on Monday 10th December 19:44

Marshy

2,748 posts

283 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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quote:
Bit of a bummer - mine is coming up 3 years old so I guess it's up on some ramps and out with the wire brush/face mask/old boiler suit and Hammerite then R...


Feel free to come and do mine while you're at it...

rthierry

684 posts

280 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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Phil,

Usual questions of interest: where did you have the job done and how much did it set you back! My car is also 3 years old and it may be about time to look at this - although it was only recently purchased, better safe than sorry. As I have no place / time / skills to do this, outsourcing seems the best way forward...

Roms
Antigua Blue Chimaera 450
MCC Smart Passion Grey with Bungee Red interior ;o)

griffchris

166 posts

269 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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By coincidence, am off work this week and have been hammeriting the wishbones on my Griff this afternoon.
I know its not safe really, but I had the car up on the scissor-jack and took it in turns to take the front wheels off to gain access to them.
Thing is, I have now seen so many more places under the car that are rusted and need treatment - can you realistcally get good enough access under the entire car up on axle stands (presumably you can get these from Halfords?)to do this sort of thing or do you need to find somewhere to get it up on a ramp?
Any advice much appreciated.

ATG

20,480 posts

271 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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Just replaced front wishbones on a 97 P Chim. Shouldn't have needed doing yet, but there you go ... TVR powder coating is a joke. Its not too expensive a job as the replacement wishbones aren't dear, and the labour is less than I expected. God knows I'd love to get the bloody thing up on a ramp and have a proper look underneath. Seems so stupid to risk having the chassis fall to bits just for the lack of a decent coating.

Bob the Planner

4,695 posts

268 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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I looked under my 94L yesterday - the first ime for a while - and noticed light rust mainly around the wishbone attachments and on the outriggers .

I assume to waxoyle or hammerite the process is to remove existing coating, rub back to good metal and coat with suitable stuff (either / both ? of the above). Can you apply either of the above to a rusted surface ?

Bob the Planner

philshort

8,293 posts

276 months

Monday 10th December 2001
quotequote all
Mine is still work in progress - I've been fitting new wishbones for about 6 months now! Its up on axle stands at the front, and you get get at most of the corrosion damage, but some parts are pretty awkward. I haven't looked at the back end at all yet, but I'm sure it will be no better than the front when I do.

The corrosion from the rear upper wishbone mounting will stretch back along the chassis tubes inside the transmission tunnel and you won't be able to get it all.

I'm making do with what I can get at (quite a lot) and steeling myself for taking the body off next winter (or the one after) to get the entire chassis refinished. I'm using some rust inhibitor (Dinitrol) from Frosts (www.frost.co.uk - recently updated site I notice!) which seems to work well, then painting with rust inhibiting paint (POR-15 - same place) followed by Waxoyl impregnated underseal. Should keep things sweet until the major rebuild.

I had the wishbones coated by a small outfit in Birmingham I found via the web, £30 for the four. (www.sweeneysherlock.co.uk). Pretty good job (esp. for £30!), the only fault was some bubbling on the inside of one of the wishbones. It would probably have been ok, but I masked off that area, stripped it back and refinished by hand just in case.

Phil

speedman

7 posts

267 months

Monday 10th December 2001
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TVR chassis, front and rear wishbones
suffer from corrosion. Cleaning and painting keeps these areas looking nice waxoil treatment is the best protection.
TMS are currently offering full chassis clean and WAX OIL TREATMENT for only £99.00 inc vat.
Contact Chris in service on 01664 481065

Steve _T

6,356 posts

271 months

Tuesday 11th December 2001
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Phil,

My chim' is definitely suffering from rusty wishbone syndrome (fix next service) and I'd like to get a better look at the rest of the chassis to assess the situation. I'm concerned that I may cause damage in the process. Re. your axle stands. Does the back of the car ground when you jack it up to get the stands underneath? If so, how do you get round this.

Cheers,

Steve

GasBlaster

27,427 posts

278 months

Tuesday 11th December 2001
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OK I can get how waxoil, etc can help cure / prevent chassis rust, but what about the top side of the chassis (that sits against the body shell) ; how do you get at that?

philshort

8,293 posts

276 months

Tuesday 11th December 2001
quotequote all
No, the back of the car does not ground when using axle stands - though I guess it depends how big your stands are! Mine are normal tripod affairs as you would probably get from Halfords, and adjustable. About 12" high I'd estimate. My car has the space saver fitted on the rear at the moment as well, so is a touch lower than it should be, but no problems.

Normal cautions if you haven't jacked the car up before, you should be ok jacking on any of the main chassis members (close to a junction will be strongest/safest), if you want to use a trolley jack you will need to use the scissor jack at first to get clearance, and personally I wouldn't risk using just the scissor jack alone to jack the car high enough to get axle stands underneath. Use a block of wood or piece of rubber mat on the axle stands to avoid further damage to chassis finish, and make sure you place them away from the area you need to refinish.

For the Waxoyl you can get a spray attachment, and a good way of accessing awkward places (apparently) is to mix 50/50 with white spirit and then mist the area with the spray.

Phil

Edited by philshort on Tuesday 11th December 10:19

MikeyT

16,451 posts

270 months

Tuesday 11th December 2001
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In my experience it's always better to stand the tin of Waxoyl in a bucket of hot water for a bit – thins it quite nicely – especially at this time of year.

Disregard this if you're either in Florida or Waxoyling your car in your kitchen – don't laugh, if the old patio doors were wider – I used to put my Kwacker 900 in the kitchen to clean it –before I was married though I must say – sod all chance now.

TVR owner one day soon

Edited by MikeyT on Tuesday 11th December 15:34

Hazzer

119 posts

268 months

Tuesday 11th December 2001
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quote:

OK I can get how waxoil, etc can help cure / prevent chassis rust, but what about the top side of the chassis (that sits against the body shell) ; how do you get at that?



With the aid of a bucket of hot water, some white spirit in the Waxoil and a 30psi compressor attachment!

Its important to remember that when the tin worm has attacked there is nothing you can do to stop it - Waxoil (and its competitors) will only slow it down..

- Oh and power coating does nothing to prevent rust spreading on cars!

Ta

Haz

philshort

8,293 posts

276 months

Wednesday 12th December 2001
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TVR powder coating certainly won't!

Phil