Any one know why I have a silver chassis on my Cerbera?
Discussion
Hi all, I have always thought that the chassis on my car didn't look white but as most of it is covered in dirt and grime I haven't inspected any further, now I have been fighting the gearbox in the tunnel I can see clearly that it is silver, all the pictures of other cerebra's I have seen have had white chassis any ideas why mine is silver and could this be why it has much less corrosion than other cars its age? It all looks original and is smooth, in contrast the suspension arms and rear anti roll bar brackets are powder coated white.
Below is a picture of the tubes in the top of the tunnel showing the colour.
Below is a picture of the tubes in the top of the tunnel showing the colour.
The white powder coat was applied from about 1998 to 2000 iirc and was the first time it was done in house by TVR and it's well known to be rubbish.
My Griffith has a white chassis and while most of the powdercoat has gone on the exposed chassis rails liberal annual applications of Waxoyl and patching with Hammerite by the previous owners and myself has kept the tinworm at bay and delayed the inevitable outrigger replacement for a few years..
My Griffith has a white chassis and while most of the powdercoat has gone on the exposed chassis rails liberal annual applications of Waxoyl and patching with Hammerite by the previous owners and myself has kept the tinworm at bay and delayed the inevitable outrigger replacement for a few years..
V8 GRF said:
The white powder coat was applied from about 1998 to 2000 iirc and was the first time it was done in house by TVR and it's well known to be rubbish.
My Griffith has a white chassis and while most of the powdercoat has gone on the exposed chassis rails liberal annual applications of Waxoyl and patching with Hammerite by the previous owners and myself has kept the tinworm at bay and delayed the inevitable outrigger replacement for a few years..
Earlier than 1998 I think.My Griffith has a white chassis and while most of the powdercoat has gone on the exposed chassis rails liberal annual applications of Waxoyl and patching with Hammerite by the previous owners and myself has kept the tinworm at bay and delayed the inevitable outrigger replacement for a few years..
This is a well discussed topic over in Chimaera land.
All TVR chassis' were certainly silver/grey in colour right up to the end of 1996, and it seems there were some silver/grey ones that sneaked out in the first few months of 1997.
After that you got the dreadful white coating, from early 97 to late 99 the quality was truly appalling, however from 2000 on it did get much better (relatively speaking).
I've been told by a reliable ex-TVR factory source one of the reasons the silver/grey finish lasts so much longer is because the chassis was zinc phosphate etch primed prior to the powder coating being applied.
This is an essential element in the powder coating process, without an etch to bite into the substrate the powder just sits on the surface like a wrap.
One chip and you introduce an access point for water, after that.... well you know the rest!
But don't get over excited about the silver/grey chassis, they still didn't clean & prep the welds properly prior to the two stage coating process, which is why you'll still see brown staining around the welds on the silver/grey chassis.
I've also heard the story that TVR purchased their powder coating equipment wholesale from a bankrupt double glazing company and that's why the chassis became white, just like the window frames produced by that double glazing manufacturer.
Whatever the truth is one thing is well excepted, the silver/grey chassis was infinitely better protected than the white ones from early 97 to late 99 but again this is relative.
Sadly it's more of a reflection of the dismal standard of the white coating rather than huge praise for the durability of the silver/grey coating.
Any TVR with a silver/grey chassis is a minimum of 17 years old now, you may get 5 more years out of a silver/grey chassis over its white counterpart, but the silver/grey chassis could easily be 5 years older.
This is why I'd advise people not to get too hung up over what colour their chassis is, yes the silver/grey ones (like mine) were far better protected from new than the white ones, but these days it's all a bit academic.
It's highly likely whatever colour your chassis is it will need some attention soon, if it's not been addressed already.
My last point would be that I've seen many powder coat jobs across may industries, the quality of which has ranged from comedy bad to very good indeed.
But even the best powder coat job I've witnessed is hopelessly poor protection when compared with a decent 2k paint job over a zinc phosphate etch primer.
Have a look at what's used on fishing trawlers & oil rigs, you'll not see a lot of powder coating in those environments.
In marine environments if its not stainless, then it's galvanisation, zinc phosphate etch primers & 2k epoxy paints all the way.
And for very good reason
All TVR chassis' were certainly silver/grey in colour right up to the end of 1996, and it seems there were some silver/grey ones that sneaked out in the first few months of 1997.
After that you got the dreadful white coating, from early 97 to late 99 the quality was truly appalling, however from 2000 on it did get much better (relatively speaking).
I've been told by a reliable ex-TVR factory source one of the reasons the silver/grey finish lasts so much longer is because the chassis was zinc phosphate etch primed prior to the powder coating being applied.
This is an essential element in the powder coating process, without an etch to bite into the substrate the powder just sits on the surface like a wrap.
One chip and you introduce an access point for water, after that.... well you know the rest!
But don't get over excited about the silver/grey chassis, they still didn't clean & prep the welds properly prior to the two stage coating process, which is why you'll still see brown staining around the welds on the silver/grey chassis.
I've also heard the story that TVR purchased their powder coating equipment wholesale from a bankrupt double glazing company and that's why the chassis became white, just like the window frames produced by that double glazing manufacturer.
Whatever the truth is one thing is well excepted, the silver/grey chassis was infinitely better protected than the white ones from early 97 to late 99 but again this is relative.
Sadly it's more of a reflection of the dismal standard of the white coating rather than huge praise for the durability of the silver/grey coating.
Any TVR with a silver/grey chassis is a minimum of 17 years old now, you may get 5 more years out of a silver/grey chassis over its white counterpart, but the silver/grey chassis could easily be 5 years older.
This is why I'd advise people not to get too hung up over what colour their chassis is, yes the silver/grey ones (like mine) were far better protected from new than the white ones, but these days it's all a bit academic.
It's highly likely whatever colour your chassis is it will need some attention soon, if it's not been addressed already.
My last point would be that I've seen many powder coat jobs across may industries, the quality of which has ranged from comedy bad to very good indeed.
But even the best powder coat job I've witnessed is hopelessly poor protection when compared with a decent 2k paint job over a zinc phosphate etch primer.
Have a look at what's used on fishing trawlers & oil rigs, you'll not see a lot of powder coating in those environments.
In marine environments if its not stainless, then it's galvanisation, zinc phosphate etch primers & 2k epoxy paints all the way.
And for very good reason
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