Chassis Condition 5 Years after POR15

[mikesr]

There have been plenty of threads recently on chassis refurbishment. Discussion of new chassis, body off restoration etc. There has also been some comment about how much effort to put into cleaning up and painting the chassis with body in-situ and how much time it buys before a body off would be needed.

I've just finished rebuilding the drive shafts so thought I would take some pics to show how the paintwork lasted. I stripped the rear suspension and treated it to the 3 stage POR15 5 years ago. The following winter I repeated the exercise on the front suspension.

I am pleased to say it has lasted very well. Although it did have a year off the road whilst I rebuilt the engine

On the rear there are signs of rust on the sharp edges. I should have taken the corner off with a round file to give the paint a better surface to adhere to. But I didn't hear that tip until after I had done it.

There are also some chips and a few pinholes that are rusting




The patching up around the welds on the main chassis is showing signs of rusting and needs doing again




The front has faired better but it is only 4 years since it was done








So it looks as if you can get 4 years plus from a refurb with the body on if there isn't any significant rust damage already present

I will need to get the outriggers sorted this winter. But the main chassis was treated whilst the engine and gearbox were out and the rear end when I took the diff out. So I'm hopeful it will last a few more years before a body off is required.

Edited by mikesr on Saturday 14th April 11:10

[Tang Soo Tim]

looks pretty good for time involved, what sort of mileage have you done and is car garaged all the time ?

[scotty_d]

Looking good for 4/5 years on I have to say. I would think there are many years left still with out any major issues, good to see this

[mikesr]

I will have done about 14,000 miles and it is garaged.

[spongy]

This kinda makes my work worth the time......nice to see a long term test result,

[Robertjp]

Hi Mike,

thanks for the report - i have been considering cleaning and painting my chassis this winter, have just bought a complete set of nuts and bolts but have been considering my treat / paint options.

Maybe im being a bit naive but i had thought once i did this job it would stand up better than the original powdercoat!! i.e. only have to do it once.

The chassis on the tuscan is fairly good, only the wishbones have a little flakiness and there is some surface corrosion on the chassis members running close to the exhaust but other than that its pretty clean.

What was your chassis like to start with? did you do the full prep route? i.e. clean / drgrease, metal ready, then por 15, then top coat?

I have pretty much decided to go down the epoxy mastic route actually, rather than POR-15, but still, i expected either route to be still pretty much intact after 5 years....are my expectations too high?! Im just a teeny bit dissapointed you are seeing signs of rust breakthrough after 5 years...but then maybe im about to have my bubble burst about just how good these coatings are?!?!

[Gazzab]

I used POR-15 on a metal window in a room with condensation issues - I spent ages scraping, sanding, treating, painting etc.... It lasted much better than normal paints (Smoothrite etc) but I did get some evidence of rust within a few months and after 2 yrs there are some not great bits. The window comes out this summer and so I am not too bothered. It was good to see it lasting longer but it doesnt appear to be a fix that will last a long time.

[mikesr]

Robertjp said:

Hi Mike,
What was your chassis like to start with? did you do the full prep route? i.e. clean / drgrease, metal ready, then por 15, then top coat?

Yes I did the full prep process with marine clean and metal ready. Two coats of silver POR15 then a coat of their self etch rpimer followed by White Hammerite (they weren't selling the White Hardkote in the UK at that time)

The condition was pretty bad. A good deal of surface rust and flaking powder coat. The wishbones were practically bare at the rear. The fronts were bare.
I started trying to do the rear in situ then gave up and dismantled the wishbones

Some pics below of the condition

Rear Suspension


Front Suspension


And what it looked like when it was finished

[VictorMeldrew]

Considering how nasty it was before treatment I think that counts as a result 5 years on.

[ridds]

What stages did you use and did you use and surface prep between coats etc?

[mikesr]

ridds said:

What stages did you use and did you use and surface prep between coats etc?

The procedure in my notes is: -

Marine Clean then washoff
Scrape and wire brush rust
Marine Clean and wash off
Allow to dry

Metal Ready and wash off
Allow to dry
POR15 – 2 coats allowed to cure
4 – 5 hours between coats

Self Etching Primer 1 coat followed by
2 of White top coat 30 minutes after primer

I was time constrained in that I was working in London through the week and had to do all the work on a weekend.

So after prepping the chassis I would apply the marine clean early on the saturday (to allow drying time) and the POR15 on the sunday
Then the self etch primer and top coats a week later

The marine clean was applied with a spray bottle and worked into the metal with a nylon pan scrubber. I tried to keep the surface wet for an hour before washing it off.

The rear was prepared by scraping and sanding the rust and loose powdercoat. But when I came to do the front I was finding rust trails on the tubing under apparently sound powder coat. So in the end I used POR Strip on the front main chassis and cleaned it back to bare metal before applying metal ready and painting. I had removed the rack, radiator and all the hoses and the engine mounts to get access.

I should have invested in the compresser and blast cabinet before I did the job. It would have saved hours on the wishbones and other smaller components. And the POR15 instructions suggest freshly blasted metal is a good surface to paint on without the need to apply metal ready so would save even more time.

When doing any further work I will re-plate components (like the steering arms) rather than painting with POR15. Again something I wish I had invested in ages ago.

When I replaced the driveshaft joints a couple of weeks ago I replated the metal collars that the boots fasten to as well as the spacers for the shocks and ARB. Much more satisfying than painting them

I will have to do a thread in a few years to report on how well the plating has lasted

[Basil Brush]

mikesr said:

When I replaced the driveshaft joints a couple of weeks ago I replated the metal collars that the boots fasten to as well as the spacers for the shocks and ARB. Much more satisfying than painting them

I will have to do a thread in a few years to report on how well the plating has lasted

Which plating option did you go for? Interested to see pictures of the results if you have any.

[Walford]

Robertjp said:

Hi Mike,

thanks for the report - i have been considering cleaning and painting my chassis this winter, have just bought a complete set of nuts and bolts

I bought a bolt kit for a Tuscan 70% where the wrong lentgh, miles to long, it takes quite a lot of work to cut them down, to a good enough standard so they go through the nylocks without cutting the nylon

would measure up and buy from bolt dealer next time

[ridds]

Walford said:

I bought a bolt kit for a Tuscan 70% where the wrong lentgh, miles to long, it takes quite a lot of work to cut them down, to a good enough standard so they go through the nylocks without cutting the nylon

would measure up and buy from bolt dealer next time

Been doing this myself today!

[mikesr]

Basil Brush said:

Which plating option did you go for? Interested to see pictures of the results if you have any.

I bought the Frost one which is labelled as Barvic. Then the posts with the link to the ebay supplier appeared. The Frost kit is more expensive.

It did a reasonable job but as with all plating doesn't do much to fill in the pitting from the rust.
Disappointed with the colour though. Its supposed to be yellow cad/zinc plating rather than silver.

[Basil Brush]

mikesr said:

I bought the Frost one which is labelled as Barvic. Then the posts with the link to the ebay supplier appeared. The Frost kit is more expensive.

It did a reasonable job but as with all plating doesn't do much to fill in the pitting from the rust.
Disappointed with the colour though. Its supposed to be yellow cad/zinc plating rather than silver.

Are you yellow passivating after plating?

[ridds]

£50 cash at my local platers. Most of them will do a bucket of parts for £50. Mine included ALL the bolts from the rear of the car!

[mikesr]

Basil Brush said:

Are you yellow passivating after plating?

It was passivated after plating with whatever bottle of passivate they sent.

[Basil Brush]

ridds said:

£50 cash at my local platers. Most of them will do a bucket of parts for £50. Mine included ALL the bolts from the rear of the car!

Where's the fun in that though.

[Robertjp]

Im hoping to have avoided any shortfalls / incorrect sizes by tackling the chassis kit in a different way. I obtained a T Car fitment list from Graham Varley and then bought this list as a job lot from my local fastener supplier. The vast majority of the UNF stuff came in 25 / 50 boxes therefore i have quite a few spares!!

I wanted to avoid the ‘off the shelf’ kit because i know i would pay a premium for the fact someone else had identified what was needed....which sounds like it would have been a waste of money anyway

I bought all zinc plated....question is do i paint the bolt heads or get the whole lot cadmium plated on top? I find all this painting / plating stuff confusing...everyone has a different view!!!