Chassis protection. Advice please.

[poorpeet]

I have just sent an hour or so under mine with a wire brush & a hacksaw blade cleaning off the out riggers & getting rid of all the little stones that get stuck between the tube & the body. The problem is that the clearance varys quite a bit & I dont see how I can ensure that I get a good coat of POR15 around the whole tube. As I understand it POR15 works by encapsulating the rust. So,if I leave a gap it might as well not be there.
My question is this. Is it worth painting it at all? or would I be better off spraying oil or waxoyle over them a couple of times a year to keep the rust at bay?
Any thoughts?

[Seasider]

Hi Poorpeet i would paint as much as you can, imho all waxoil does is cover rust & keep any moisture present on the chassis, a once a year check & possibly re-paint any damaged areas is a much better option (also looks much better)
perhaps spray waxoil on the inaccessible parts like the top off the out riggers...

I did the front corners of mine last year(only with Hammerite) & still fine, i did use "Rust Remedy" before painting...

All my opinion but i just dont like waxoil!!!

[paul garabette]

I reckon Waxoil is pretty good but it does seem to wear off and needs retouching frequently. I don't think it is good enough for the exposed places.

I use "underseal with added waxoil" available from Halfords, for the exposed bits (like the parts of the chassis you can see "in the wheel archs"

All applied on top of trusty smooth Hammerite of course!

[travelsveryrapid]

poorpeet said:

I have just sent an hour or so under mine with a wire brush & a hacksaw blade cleaning off the out riggers & getting rid of all the little stones that get stuck between the tube & the body. The problem is that the clearance varys quite a bit & I dont see how I can ensure that I get a good coat of POR15 around the whole tube. As I understand it POR15 works by encapsulating the rust. So,if I leave a gap it might as well not be there. My question is this. Is it worth painting it at all? or would I be better off spraying oil or waxoyle over them a couple of times a year to keep the rust at bay? Any thoughts?

I'm not sure if it's worth painting at all. The first year I had the car I spent about three weeks with it on axle stands, first painting with red oxide the hammerwright and finally waxoyling. The following year when I inspected underneath the waxoyl was still in place apart from where the paint had flaked off. I also can't thinking that rust can get underneath the paint and do it's damage without you seeing until it's too late. All I do now every year is clean in between the chassis and the body with a paint scraper and give it a good wire brushing and waxoyle it. I may be wrong but time will tell.

Steve.

[victormeldrew]

I stripped all the crud then used paint stripper dribbled into the gap to get down to bare metal.

Painting isn't too hard - lets face it no one is going to be looking for brush marks! I used a bit of velour cloth soaked in POR and wrapped around the tubes. Sort of like a paint pad only more flexible. Major caution: wear latex gloves, or you will be chassis coloured for weeks with POR15. I overcoated the POR with Waxoyl underseal, and poked lots into the gap with a brush. Attack from below and get in as deep as poss, then from the top and you'll get it all covered. Use silver POR under black underseal and it'll be easier to spot where you've left gaps.

[griffter]

poorpeet said:

I have just sent an hour or so under mine with a wire brush & a hacksaw blade cleaning off the out riggers & getting rid of all the little stones that get stuck between the tube & the body. The problem is that the clearance varys quite a bit & I dont see how I can ensure that I get a good coat of POR15 around the whole tube. As I understand it POR15 works by encapsulating the rust. So,if I leave a gap it might as well not be there. My question is this. Is it worth painting it at all? or would I be better off spraying oil or waxoyle over them a couple of times a year to keep the rust at bay? Any thoughts?

Brush paint the bits that you can see - the bits you can't see will probably still have original coating on (no guarantees!) as these aren't as exposed. The rag idea is a good one - I did the following:

You've identified the problem with POR15 - it can only be brushed on. Which is why I used zinc primer - brush it where you can, use an aerosol with a straw attachment where you can't brush. Then take a day to waxoyl everything properly - get aerosols with very thin straws which will go between the outriggers and the body. Take the time to do it right and it's worth it - if you just cover the bits that are easy to get at, you'll be doing it again soon.

>> Edited by griffter on Monday 29th November 13:47

[zumbruk]

If you get the Waxoyl runny enough you can spray it more-or-less anywhere with the pump-up sprayer attachment. I just jammed the nozzle into every body/chassis gap I could find and sprayed the stuff in until it started to run out.

The secret is to stand the Waxoyl can in a bucket of the hottest water you can for several hours before using it. It goes as runny as water. Keep topping the bucket up with boiling water and submerge both the can and they spray-gun.

[poorpeet]

Thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated.

Pete

[jellison]

Lots of time and then anti- rust stuff - (begins with J - nasty stuff) when dry a couple of coats of hamerite - time consuming but best way IMHO.

[stevejcompton]

What is POR15?

[poorpeet]

POR15 is a special anti rust paint. Very hard, won't chip or flake & is supposed to prevent further rusting.

[andy43]

Por15 sticks best to rusty (but not loose or flakey) metal - you can brush or spray it (with the right thinners) - its been sprayed onto my new outriggers - won't come off in a million years, whereas Hammerite will flake or chip even on solid well-prepared steel. Worth the extra £££ for por15 in my opinion. Frosts sell it by mailorder. Don't get por15 on your hands tho' - took me weeks to 'wear' it off

[puffsorted]

andy43 said:

Por15 sticks best to rusty (but not loose or flakey) metal - you can brush or spray it (with the right thinners) - its been sprayed onto my new outriggers - won't come off in a million years, whereas Hammerite will flake or chip even on solid well-prepared steel. Worth the extra £££ for por15 in my opinion. Frosts sell it by mailorder. Don't get por15 on your hands tho' - took me weeks to 'wear' it off

Don't do what I did and get a blob on the end of your nose!
I also annoyingly somehow managed to get a tiny tiny bit on the drivers headrest, and it ain't ever coming off.

[zumbruk]

jellison said:

Lots of time and then anti- rust stuff - (begins with J - nasty stuff) when dry a couple of coats of hamerite - time consuming but best way IMHO.

Jenolite. Phosphoric acid gel.

[stevejcompton]

Aah, looks like I`ll have to get some POR15 and a balaclarva then.
I`ve got a gallon can of Waxoyl that`s about 12 years old, I dug it out from the depths of the garage, opened the can only to find that it`s turned into a solid lump of wax, wheres me oyl gone?. Any suggestions
Is it terminal?

[Chimleic]

Where can you get Jenolite from?

From what I've read so far it seems the best solution is to brush/scrape, then coat with Jenolite, once dry paint with Hammerite or POR15, then finish with Waxoyl. Is that right?

Also, my front 'wishbones' are quite corroded - the rust has gotten under the paint. Any indications how bad this should get before replacement becomes an issue?

Cheers.