New outriggers/wishbone protection

[STE VR]

I've just put my car in for brand new outriggers, front wishbones and Gaz golds. The outriggers and wishbones come powder coated. Would anybody recommend protecting them or leave as they are so I can see what's what in the future? Also the car rides quite harsh at the moment so I'm hoping the car will feel transformed after the new shocks and a geo. Has anybody found that fitting new shocks makes it feel like a different car?

Thanks in advance

[spongy]

outriggers i am having done at the mo,and will have em wax oiled
my wishbones i will keep just as they come,and clean em every 4 months
bud who is doing your outriggers.

[SILICONEKID340HP]

My self ,you just need to remove the wheels get the car on axle stands ..

Various abrasives ,grinder for bad areas,paint brush and a lot of work.

I clean mine down with a solvent cleaner every year and give it a quick spray of Metal paint from Wilkinsons.

I used this stuff ,its rock hard..My whole chassis is black,easy to look after..Bit of a crappy picture from my phone

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=epoxy+mastic

Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Sunday 4th March 19:31

[BIGMIKE1]

Mine had new outriggers at the beggining of 2010 before I bought it in may 2010, they had been painted but wasn't sure what with, it did seem to be holding up quite well. I then made the mistake of spraying them with black waxoyl which I'm currantly regretting as I'm cleaning it all off and POR15 them. Once done I'm not sure whether to leave it alone of coat of clear waxoyl on top.

[taylormj4]

I had my front upper and lower wishbones replaced in 2008. The owner of the garage that replaced them is a bit old school and recommended them being covered (along with the rest of the chassis and outriggers) in heavy grease.

The grease is obviously clear to start with but picks up road dirt and little stones and eventually this forms a surface all over the covered components that looks a little like a very coarse grit sandpaper.

Two weeks ago, I replaced the front OS lower ball joint and ARB drop link so wanted to remove the grease coating in those areas. It rubbed away with either WD40 or brake cleaner and the wishbone underneath was as like brand new. There were even a few eye-holes in the plastic coating and these hadn't even rusted. That's pretty good for 4 years of daily driving in all conditions !

The other beauty of grease is there is no paint prep, no degreasing, you don't need to remove components from the car, no masking, no mucky paintbrushes to clean, just get a big pot of it and slap it on by hand and if you're doing a job and you find a bit of chassis coat that has flaked off just wire brush then slap on a load of grease.
POR 15 is brilliant, no doubt, but grease is very simple to apply and surprisingly effective - it's won me over.

Edited by taylormj4 on Sunday 4th March 21:47

[STE VR]

Thanks for the replies. Still not sure what to do with them. I would ideally like to leave them as they come. Is powder coating any better today than when TVR done it? More durable?

[taylormj4]

STE VR said:

Thanks for the replies. Still not sure what to do with them. I would ideally like to leave them as they come. Is powder coating any better today than when TVR done it? More durable?

I'd put something over them Ste VR, just to give a bit of impact protection from stones etc
A quick spray of waxoil would help or grease as above. You can always wipe these away if you need to do anything.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

STE VR said:

Thanks for the replies. Still not sure what to do with them. I would ideally like to leave them as they come. Is powder coating any better today than when TVR done it? More durable?

TVR's powder coating varied from ok-ish to dire and seemed to depend on the year of manufacture. I've heard it said many times that cars produced in 1999 (give or take a year) are about the worst. This is probably due to different production practices employed from year to year, as demand varied.

I can understand some people's reluctance to use Waxoyl or similar coatings - and I'm not sure that I'd use it on top of an older chassis for fear of hiding developing problems. However, if you're starting with a pristine newly-powdered chassis in perfect condition I think a generous coating of Waxoyl is a good idea. In that case you know you're not covering up any problems, but it'll give the powder coating a bit of extra protection - even if all it does is to absorb some of the energy out of a stone that might otherwise chip the powder coating.

[STE VR]

I agree totally with the impact protection side of things. Didn't even think of that.

Top advice as usual.

Many thanks