Full Chassis or Outriggers Only
Discussion
A bit of advice from the experienced:
Due for a winter refurb and its time to do the dreaded chassis.
I have the Chim on ramps and the centre section is in fine fettle and she has had new polybushes and suspension all round.
I have heard many discussions regarding full chassis restorations, equally I have been advised that it is possible to replace the outriggers without a body off by cutting through the floor pan.
It seems to me that the body on outrigger replacment done correctly can be a cost effective solution to this problem. However this is a forum and just thought I would get a view from those who have gone before.
Good points, bad points and horrible experiences required to assist me in this decision please.
Thanks in advance.
Due for a winter refurb and its time to do the dreaded chassis.
I have the Chim on ramps and the centre section is in fine fettle and she has had new polybushes and suspension all round.
I have heard many discussions regarding full chassis restorations, equally I have been advised that it is possible to replace the outriggers without a body off by cutting through the floor pan.
It seems to me that the body on outrigger replacment done correctly can be a cost effective solution to this problem. However this is a forum and just thought I would get a view from those who have gone before.
Good points, bad points and horrible experiences required to assist me in this decision please.
Thanks in advance.
You only want to do this job once, so a full body lift for me!
Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
britpower100 said:
Is this the 6 inch lift people talk about ?
Maybe only 4 or 5, but enough to get access.QBee said:
I believe the outriggers can be replaced by a skilled welder without doing a body lift.
Can be done but how do they clean up/re-paint properly? or is everything just drowned in "Waxoyl" or similar sh*t? Know it can be done, don't know the details.
I agree with one of the above posters, a complete body lift is the best option with time and money less of an object.
Having to do it when it has failed the MOT, your quarterly VAT payment is due and its late April, ie, the start of the everything TVR related, focussed the mind on getting the car back on the road ASAP.
That was April 2013, I now have the full lift to do in the next 18 months. But my outriggers shouldn't now be on the to do list.
I agree with one of the above posters, a complete body lift is the best option with time and money less of an object.
Having to do it when it has failed the MOT, your quarterly VAT payment is due and its late April, ie, the start of the everything TVR related, focussed the mind on getting the car back on the road ASAP.
That was April 2013, I now have the full lift to do in the next 18 months. But my outriggers shouldn't now be on the to do list.
TJC46 said:
You only want to do this job once, so a full body lift for me!
Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
^^^^ This!!!Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
Fully agree that you only want to do this job once. I had a similar situation with my '98 450 with white powder coat. Basically solid but powder coating blowing off (!) everywhere, as soon as it saw a jet washer.
If its a keeper, do it once and do it properly. Opinions vary but I can't see how you can get a decent job with the body in place. And why even consider cutting holes in the body??? Sure, it will cost more for the full body off but again, if it's a keeper you'll be certain this way that you're only doing it once. With correct preps and treatment your chassis will be good for another 20 years min. No brainer. You can even hand it down to the kids!
TJC46 said:
You only want to do this job once, so a full body lift for me!
Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
I did mine this year with a full body off. Mine was a 1996 chim, with the original silver powder coat [some people say this was better than the later white powdercoat chassis].
I purchased the car in a very good roadworthy condition, but had the intention of doing a body lift anyway, just for piece of mind and because the car is a keeper.
When i lifted the body the chassis was solid and the outriggers had a few tiny pinholes in the corners.
The problem was every where on the chassis where there was a weld, there was also missing powdercoat and rust!
I replaced all the outriggers and blasted and painted the whole chassis.
You end up renewing brake pipes, fuel pipes, bushes, diff mounts ,engine mounts and so on, and so on, the list is endless.
If i was in the market to buy, then i would walk away from any car that had not had a full bodylift.
Im sure there are a few cars out there with a perfect original chassis, but as for me, one with a full body lift every time. Its just all the other items that get replaced that make it a no brainer.
Bear in mind that it's not just the outriggers that go - the chassis top rails under the exhaust manifolds is another favourite and these need the body off for access.
Because I did the strip and build myself, the cost of repairing the chassis including hot zinc spray and 2-part epoxy paint for the chassis and wishbones was in the order of £2,200. I know the chassis is spot on and won't have to do the job again.
britpower100 said:
The chap from Melton Mowbray (Forget his name) TVR specialist explained he does it by cutting out the floorpan, completing welds and the re-glassing floor.
Seems like a plan.
Absolutely no need to cut the fibreglass at all. I've seen under enough cars and been shown several times to see that a skilled welder can close the full weld if they know what they're doing. It also involves the angle gussets not being added until the weld has been done to allow proper access. Seems like a plan.
Cutting the floor pan is a bad idea, as mentioned above, as by the time you've factored in the time to do that as well as the welding you may as well gone for a body lift.
Also to take into consideration is who is doing the welding. Do the garages hire in a 'proper welder' or do they just get the mechanic who can produce the best looking weld? It's pretty easy to produce a decent looking weld but a lot harder to produce a 'good' weld, sorry for the quotation marks 
Also to the people who say powdercoating is good enough, I've seen two full chassis restorations and an outrigger job done by someone who is always mentioned here for doing top work and their chassis aren't lasting 20 years, not a chance.
Also to the people who say powdercoating is good enough, I've seen two full chassis restorations and an outrigger job done by someone who is always mentioned here for doing top work and their chassis aren't lasting 20 years, not a chance.
JimTC said:
On the basis that you only want to do this job once if doing a full chassis refurb the next question is what to treat it with?
When I get to to this point I would like to avoid smothering the whole chassis in black Waxoyl.
Any suggestions on best initial treatment?
Thanks
Lots of opinions on this one....but for me plenty of coats of 2-pack epoxy paint, and then DON'T COVER IT WITH ANYTHING! The paint itself is protection enough, it looks good, unlike plenty out there covered in waxoyl.When I get to to this point I would like to avoid smothering the whole chassis in black Waxoyl.
Any suggestions on best initial treatment?
Thanks
Have a read:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
My full chassis repair job at R T Racing
PM me if you want costs, etc
Dave
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
My full chassis repair job at R T Racing
PM me if you want costs, etc
Dave
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