Lifting the body by a couple of inches and painting chassis

[zed4]

Hi,

I'm about to start giving the chassis a coat of expoxy paint to protect it, I have the car up on stands and I've started to rub down the old POR 15 paint and/or powdercoat.

I have a few questions, hopefully you can help.

Firstly, some of my chassis is coated in POR 15, which I'm wire brushing off, should I also brush off the powder coat so it's down to fresh metal? The powdercoat looks to be in good condition, so I don't think I really need to, as long as the epoxy paint will adhere to it ok.

Secondly, is it a simple job to lift the body up by a couple of inches to paint on top of the chassis rails? Is it worthwhile? My outriggers are 3 years old and have had mostly dry use since they were fitted, so they should be in good condition still. I assume I'd need two people to raise the body up, is it a difficult job?

Finally, Do you guys just paint over the chassis number, which is scribed into the chassis? It's currently the original white powder coat there and it's looking a bit rusty/flaky there now.

Thanks,

Dan

[zed4]

PS. I realise I've posted before about a body removal, but that was when I thought I was going to have to have the diff removed. I don't need to anymore, so I'm wondering if I should just lift the body. I've read the guide that details what's involved in removing the body, just wondered what jobs I need to do to just lift it slightly now.

[pwd95]

For me, most of the work is in the prep & initial lifting. If your going to undo everything required to lift a little you might as well go the whole hog.

[CHIMV8]

+1

[zed4]

Hmm, the chassis is in pretty good nick. I think I'll leave the lift for another time in that case, just touch up the chips and any flaky bits then.

I was hoping it would be pretty simply, but if it's as much work as a full removal, I won't bother.

I need to buy a decent drill or grinder too. I tried using my battery drill with a wire brush attachment last night and the battery died after a couple of minutes!

[Kitchski]

The only bits that are really worth painting Dan, are the leading edges of the outriggers (the bits in the wheel arches that take the hit). Trying to prevent crap getting sprayed from the tyre onto the chassis is where your efforts are best concentrated.
You can paint the underside of the outriggers if it makes you feel better, but it'll be in vain as they rust along the top first.

To be honest, the only way to paint one properly is to lift the body. If the previous owner has fitted new riggers, and POR15 coated the whole lot using the proper pre-treatment, then the tops of the rails will likely be fine. But if it's just been brushed on like Hammerite, over existing bits of powdercoating, then the only way you'll know is to lift the body and have a look. It'll also give you a chance to clean and paint the lower rail areas too, where they also fail.

Prevention over cure mate

[zed4]

Kitchski said:

The only bits that are really worth painting Dan, are the leading edges of the outriggers (the bits in the wheel arches that take the hit). Trying to prevent crap getting sprayed from the tyre onto the chassis is where your efforts are best concentrated.
You can paint the underside of the outriggers if it makes you feel better, but it'll be in vain as they rust along the top first.

To be honest, the only way to paint one properly is to lift the body. If the previous owner has fitted new riggers, and POR15 coated the whole lot using the proper pre-treatment, then the tops of the rails will likely be fine. But if it's just been brushed on like Hammerite, over existing bits of powdercoating, then the only way you'll know is to lift the body and have a look. It'll also give you a chance to clean and paint the lower rail areas too, where they also fail.

Prevention over cure mate

Hi Rich,

Yes, the leading edges of the outriggers have started to chip, so I was planning on repainting them.

If you remember, you said the main chassis rails down the middle were starting to show rust, so it would be wise to get them painted, so that's my main concern really. The outriggers look pretty good and have a good coating of POR 15 which seems well adhered. They were done by Offords TVR in 2010 (you may remember we had a look through the paperwork)

I wish I had the time/space/help to lift the body and make it look beautiful, but I don't really. I can get the time off, but I'm on my own here, so it's not going to be possible.

I'd love to give it to you guys to sort out, but funds won't allow unfortunately!

[Kitchski]

zed4 said:

Kitchski said:

The only bits that are really worth painting Dan, are the leading edges of the outriggers (the bits in the wheel arches that take the hit). Trying to prevent crap getting sprayed from the tyre onto the chassis is where your efforts are best concentrated.
You can paint the underside of the outriggers if it makes you feel better, but it'll be in vain as they rust along the top first.

To be honest, the only way to paint one properly is to lift the body. If the previous owner has fitted new riggers, and POR15 coated the whole lot using the proper pre-treatment, then the tops of the rails will likely be fine. But if it's just been brushed on like Hammerite, over existing bits of powdercoating, then the only way you'll know is to lift the body and have a look. It'll also give you a chance to clean and paint the lower rail areas too, where they also fail.

Prevention over cure mate

Hi Rich,

Yes, the leading edges of the outriggers have started to chip, so I was planning on repainting them.

If you remember, you said the main chassis rails down the middle were starting to show rust, so it would be wise to get them painted, so that's my main concern really. The outriggers look pretty good and have a good coating of POR 15 which seems well adhered. They were done by Offords TVR in 2010 (you may remember we had a look through the paperwork)

I wish I had the time/space/help to lift the body and make it look beautiful, but I don't really. I can get the time off, but I'm on my own here, so it's not going to be possible.

I'd love to give it to you guys to sort out, but funds won't allow unfortunately!

I see quite a few TVR chassis' at work - didn't remember yours too well

Main rails are even more important than the outriggers. You can get to one side of them without touching the body, but that's normally the side that rusts. For the other side, it's a body lift at least.

We're doing lifts again now, but I know what you're saying. Everyone would love the body-off chassis work, it's just a question of funding.

[zed4]

Cheers Rich. Actually, I've stripped the old chassis paint and it's pretty good underneath. One side is mint



The other side had some flaky powder coat, so I've stripped it back to bare metal.



Outriggers are mint so that's good.