Monday 12th December 2005

Protect your TVR chassis

Multi-layer coating makes chassis hammer-proof

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TVR specialist Tower View Racing has developed what looks to be a very useful corrosion and damage prevention system for TVRs. The new powder coating service is claimed to offer the following benefits:

• Any colour you like using a combination of standard paints and clear powder coating.
• Zinc priming for chassis
• Ceramic coating for exhausts and plenums
• Give your car that concours finish and help keep temperatures at bay

Details

TVRs usually require some chassis care as they get older to protect the chassis from corrosion. This can range from simple Waxoyl treatments through to chassis restoration and powder coating. Tower View has extended its chassis care to include a special tough coating for the chassis and other components.

It uses a multi-layer approach to chassis restoration using zinc priming and multiple layers to provide a very strong  and resilient protection for the chassis. It's tough enough to be hit with a hammer with no chipping or damage. It is essentially a "do and forget" process.  Wishbones and other components can be done separately without removing the body and this can dramatically extend their working lives. 

However, this service is not just restricted to chassis components as anything metallic can be coated. Plenums, rocker covers, throttle mechanisms, brackets and so on can all be coated and colour coded to any colour you like.  A special technique allows standard paints to provide the colouring and items can then be coloured to match the body or anything else.

To complete the offerings, Tower View can also ceramic coat components to help manage heat. Exhaust manifolds can be coated internally and externally to reduce their temperatures. Temperatures can be reduced dramatically although it is still disconcerting not to feel the heat coming from it. This helps manage underbonnet temperatures without using lagging which can lead to premature manifold corrosion.

The ceramic coating can also be applied to the inside of the plenum temperature to help reduce air intake temperatures and thus keep the engine fed with cool air to enable it to deliver maximum power.

• www.t-v-r-services.co.uk

[porkus]

Bet it is expensive though

[darthPaddington]

that's the first thing I though, what's the cost.
It's nice that the site can be used as an advert this way otherwise I'd probably never know this existed, but it would be much better if they added at least a ball park figure.

[shpub]

Prices typically start from £100 upwards.

[seasider]

shpub said:

Prices typically start from £100 upwards.

For one wisbone or one chassis

[Bomber Denton]

seasider said:

shpub said: Prices typically start from £100 upwards. For one wisbone or one chassis

No that's for the new orangey cap on the rocker!

[pies]

Is it worth asking how much for a chassis

[V8 Kieran]

If they can do it, why the fk can't TVR do it from new?

[shpub]

If you have a chassis already removed and stripped with all bushes and brackets removed and blasted to bare metal, then it is around several hundred pounds. But it all depends on what options you have including colours. If you don't have the chassis in a ready to go state or it needs work/repair/dismantling, this can dramtatically increase the costs which is why it is very difficult indeed to give any ball park figures at all.

If it is part of restoration or other work, it will be just a small part of the overall cost.

If anyone is seriously interested, I suggest calling them on 0208 452 6922.

[taimar78]

The powder coating process is fairly well known here in the States and is the process I'm planning to use when I re-do my Taimar in the coming year. First, you strip the chassis of all components, then take it to a media blaster and have the chassis stripped of all rust, and other matter such as oil, grease, etc. Once you have determined that the chassis is solid (or repair anything that needs done), then you take it to the powdercoater and have it coated and you can select your choice of finish color. It certainly helps give you greater piece of mind as to the further durability of your chassis.

[Ston]

if I wanted to buy a whole new chassis for say... a tuscan, treated to this high standard, how much would it cost? Can you guys build a whole new Chassis from scratch? what warranty would it come with?

Thanks in advance.

[David H]

taimar78 said:

The powder coating process is fairly well known here in the States and is the process I'm planning to use when I re-do my Taimar in the coming year. First, you strip the chassis of all components, then take it to a media blaster and have the chassis stripped of all rust, and other matter such as oil, grease, etc. Once you have determined that the chassis is solid (or repair anything that needs done), then you take it to the powdercoater and have it coated and you can select your choice of finish color. It certainly helps give you greater piece of mind as to the further durability of your chassis.

It's very well known in th UK mate, but it seems that TVR skipped the afternoon when they were teaching powder coating!

Does anyone know how good the coating is on the more modern cars (T350 etc)?

Also when I was stripping my chassis back I found that the powder coating was well and truly welded to the centre box section part of the chassis. I know the outriggers and wishbones get a Much harder life than this area but I was amazed how well it was adhered.

[bunglist]

Well A new Chassis for a Chimaera is about £2600

But if your old one is ok then for a complete body off with no surprises then a shot blast and coating plus bushes and maybe a few other parts set aside about £5000 which i think is damn good value!!!!!!!

[BogBeast]

bunglist said:

Well A new Chassis for a Chimaera is about £2600 But if your old one is ok then for a complete body off with no surprises then a shot blast and coating plus bushes and maybe a few other parts set aside about £5000 which i think is damn good value!!!!!!!

Are you sure? I was told that TVR had stopped making replacment chassis for the Griff & Chim..

[pies]

TVRcarparts might have the jigs

[shpub]

Ston said:

if I wanted to buy a whole new chassis for say... a tuscan, treated to this high standard, how much would it cost? Can you guys build a whole new Chassis from scratch? what warranty would it come with? Thanks in advance.

Supply Tower View with the chassis and it can be done. As for building a new chassis. Not possible without the jigs. A cheaper solution would be to take the original and refurb that.

[Roy the Boy]

shpub said:
Supply Tower View with the chassis and it can be done. As for building a new chassis. Not possible without the jigs. A cheaper solution would be to take the original and refurb that.

Not if what's below is correct!!

bunglist said:
Well A new Chassis for a Chimaera is about £2600

But if your old one is ok then for a complete body off with no surprises then a shot blast and coating plus bushes and maybe a few other parts set aside about £5000 which i think is damn good value!!!!!!!

(I can't get this quote lark right!!)






>> Edited by Roy the Boy on Tuesday 13th December 01:34

[nelly1]

Ston said:

if I wanted to buy a whole new chassis for say... a tuscan......

You can't - at least not from TVR.
I've had the last one!!! And you wouldn't believe how hard it was to get that!!

Seriously, they are NOT suppling bare chassis' any more

...and many other parts too by the difficulty in getting hold of 'em!

[jonnyb]

So whos got the jigs? Also the £2600 would just be for the chassis, the £5000 would be for the whole thing done, drive in drive out.

[shpub]

Roy the Boy said:

Not if what's below is correct!! bunglist said: Well A new Chassis for a Chimaera is about £2600 But if your old one is ok then for a complete body off with no surprises then a shot blast and coating plus bushes and maybe a few other parts set aside about £5000 which i think is damn good value!!!!!!!

Not comparing like with like. Buying a new chassis is only part of the job. You still have remove the old one from the car, dismantle it, and refit the new one which is where the main cost is. So to refit a new chassis instead of a refurb is going to be nearer £6-7000! That is why I said a refurb is a lot cheaper and also overcomes that difficulty of getting a new chassis.

Alternatively if you want to do all the work, you could save yourself nearly a couple of grand compared to buying a new chassis.


>> Edited by shpub on Tuesday 13th December 08:31

[shpub]

jonnyb said:

So whos got the jigs? Also the £2600 would just be for the chassis, the £5000 would be for the whole thing done, drive in drive out.

That's right. Tower View have jigs for repairing corroded Cerbera chassis. We had to make them as to help weld in the 14 metres of tubing needed to replace the my Cerbera's chassis rot. Refurb is not an issue - its a lot of work doing the dismantling but that is true if the chassis is being replaced anyway.

[url] www.shpub.co.uk/gallery/Cerb3/index.html [/url]
[url] www.shpub.co.uk/gallery/CerbLS1/index.html [/url]

The pictures are not for the easily shocked.