Silver/Grey Chassis - What's The RAL Code?
Discussion
Thanks chaps, to be honest it's getting Jotamastic 87 in aluminium which looks like this...
Its super durable 2k epoxy mastic Norwegian marine grade paint and is a close enough colour match for me.
My new outriggers will be made from stronger thicker wall seamless tube then protected by 1 coat of red oxide Jotamastic 87 followed by 1 coat of Jotamastic 87 in contrasting aluminium, finally a set of laser cut stainless outrigger protectors will be fitted to keep the muck out and shield against any future impact damage... although it has to be said the protectors are probably overkill as Jotamastic 87 is itself pretty much bullet proof.
My thinking is if I got 23 years out of my original powder coated thin wall seamed tube TVR outriggers that weren't nearly as well protected, my new set should easily last twice as long.
Its super durable 2k epoxy mastic Norwegian marine grade paint and is a close enough colour match for me.
My new outriggers will be made from stronger thicker wall seamless tube then protected by 1 coat of red oxide Jotamastic 87 followed by 1 coat of Jotamastic 87 in contrasting aluminium, finally a set of laser cut stainless outrigger protectors will be fitted to keep the muck out and shield against any future impact damage... although it has to be said the protectors are probably overkill as Jotamastic 87 is itself pretty much bullet proof.
My thinking is if I got 23 years out of my original powder coated thin wall seamed tube TVR outriggers that weren't nearly as well protected, my new set should easily last twice as long.
Edited by ChimpOnGas on Monday 18th November 17:45
Classic Chim said:
Looks lovely Dave. Goodluck with it all.
Thanks Alun,Here's a section of the earlier silver/grey chassis next to some Lotus wishbones painted in the 'aluminium' colour Jotmastic 87 epoxy mastic paint.
I think it'll prove to be a pretty good match
However TBH I'm not too worried about a perfect colour match, because the truth is if I was going for full TVR originality we'd need to paint all the welds in brown
Here's to my next 10 years of TVR ownership by which time I'll either sell the car or more likely take 'Ol Gasbag' with me when I retire in Brazil, the roads there are off the scale, I've driven this mountain range in Lauro Muller in Southern Brazil and it's just made for attacking in a TVR.
These road are way better than anything you'll find in the South of France or the mountains of Northern Italy, they also have next to no traffic on them so I fully expect to be ragging my TVR senseless there at the age of 65 and running the old girl on heady mix of compressed natural gas and ethanol.
So here's to at least another 23 years of chassis life, the way I see it she's done well to give me 10 years of chassis service from a car that only cost me £8k at 30,000 miles, that's a low mileage silver/grey chassis for you that had been Waxoiled from birth followed by a comprehensive jet wash, thorough drying session, followed by the two stage Dinitrol treatment I gave it some 8 years ago.
But now with new thicker wall seamless outriggers let in, everything sealed by two coats of marine grade epoxy mastic and further protected by stainless outrigger protectors my chassis will last way longer than the 23 years TVR's efforts achieved. I'm looking forward to putting chassis corrosion anxiety to the back of my mind for a very very long time... probably indefinitely if the truth be known as the kind of rusting we see here simply doesn't exist in sunny Brazil
.Buy it, drive it, wear it out, fix it... drive it some more
This is the true essence of TVR ownership, not as some do wrapping these great cars up for the winter then only driving them three times in the summer to park in a field full of other classic cars so you can show of your shiny paint job!
Obviously that's not your way Alun and it's most definitely not my way either mate, we're not polishers we're drivers
To to close this off I've just spoken with a super helpful guy at SML Marine who supply Jotun paints.
https://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/home
Following his advise things have changed slightly, but for the better so I thought I'd share what I've learned.
1. Firstly the guy at SML Marine clearly knows these paints, I wanted a zinc phosphate primer but he advised two coats of Jotamastic would work better
2. He then suggested I may want to consider upgrading from the Jotamastic 87 I'd selected to the Jotamastic 90 as it's a superior new formula that's a development of the 87, he suggested this would be a useful upgrade and as it was the exact same price as the 87 this seemed like a no brainer
3. The next thing I learned was the Aluminium colour I originally chose because it very closely matches my silver/grey chassis actually offers better protection than the other colours, happy with that!
I discussed that buying in 5L quantities was going to leave me with a lot of wastage as I want my first coat to be in red oxide with the top coat being in contrasting aluminium, this meant I was forced to buy 10L in total
4. The guy at SML Marine responded with this.... "Just buy a bottle of red tint as this means you only need one 5L tin, simply tint the first 2.5L to create a red oxide version of the Jotamastic 90 Aluminium with all it's additional impact resistance and direct to steel corrosion inhibiting benefits, then overpaint it in the remaining 2.5L of untinted paint to give the TVR factory silver/grey finish".
This advice has saved me roughly £50 in paint we would never have used, and by having a chat with the expert I ended up with the better Jotamastic 90 Aluminium too. These 2K epoxy mastic industrial oil rig/ship hull paints aren't cheap but I'm told Jotamastic 90 Aluminium offers 20 years protection in salt spray marine environments, so it should protect my TVR chassis even longer than that.
In my opinion it's way way better coating choice than chip prone powder coat which only really wraps the steel rather than truly bonding to the substrate as my two component epoxy mastic paint will.
In summary while buying online is definitely very convenient, you just can't beat a phone call and getting advice from a highly experienced human being, great service from SML Marine
https://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/home
Following his advise things have changed slightly, but for the better so I thought I'd share what I've learned.
1. Firstly the guy at SML Marine clearly knows these paints, I wanted a zinc phosphate primer but he advised two coats of Jotamastic would work better
2. He then suggested I may want to consider upgrading from the Jotamastic 87 I'd selected to the Jotamastic 90 as it's a superior new formula that's a development of the 87, he suggested this would be a useful upgrade and as it was the exact same price as the 87 this seemed like a no brainer
3. The next thing I learned was the Aluminium colour I originally chose because it very closely matches my silver/grey chassis actually offers better protection than the other colours, happy with that!
I discussed that buying in 5L quantities was going to leave me with a lot of wastage as I want my first coat to be in red oxide with the top coat being in contrasting aluminium, this meant I was forced to buy 10L in total
4. The guy at SML Marine responded with this.... "Just buy a bottle of red tint as this means you only need one 5L tin, simply tint the first 2.5L to create a red oxide version of the Jotamastic 90 Aluminium with all it's additional impact resistance and direct to steel corrosion inhibiting benefits, then overpaint it in the remaining 2.5L of untinted paint to give the TVR factory silver/grey finish".
This advice has saved me roughly £50 in paint we would never have used, and by having a chat with the expert I ended up with the better Jotamastic 90 Aluminium too. These 2K epoxy mastic industrial oil rig/ship hull paints aren't cheap but I'm told Jotamastic 90 Aluminium offers 20 years protection in salt spray marine environments, so it should protect my TVR chassis even longer than that.
In my opinion it's way way better coating choice than chip prone powder coat which only really wraps the steel rather than truly bonding to the substrate as my two component epoxy mastic paint will.
In summary while buying online is definitely very convenient, you just can't beat a phone call and getting advice from a highly experienced human being, great service from SML Marine
My diff is already poly bushed chaps as are my anti roll bars, but for suspension I'm a metaliatic bush man just as I firmly believe rubber bushing is the way forward on the coil overs which is why I run Ben Lang's Mk4 Bilsteins in Tuscan S spec.
To be clear what I've gone for here is not a full nut & bolt chassis restoration, its a body off outrigger replacement with a chassis clean & paint in 2k epoxy mastic for not much more than many quote just to replace the outriggers with the body left on the chassis, lets call it a very comprehensive chassis refurbishment rather than a full restoration.
It's certainly going to be way more comprehensive than the conventional body on outrigger replacement most go for, removing the body gives unparalleled access to inspect, de rust, and protect the rest of the chassis; it also means perfect 360 degree welds are guaranteed something I still can't fully accept is 100% achievable with the body still sat on the chassis
Here's one Alex Wheatley did earlier, mine will look the same but in silver/grey rather than the white we see here....
I believe its the right job for the right money that will give my chassis many more years life without breaking the bank, and lets be honest here the job TVR did protecting it originally wasn't great but it's did last 23 years. I fully expect to get at least as many years again out of the upcoming work, and probably more than 23 years given the seamless tube used for the outriggers, the paint products I've selected, and the way Alex is approaching this refurbishment.
Watch this space
To be clear what I've gone for here is not a full nut & bolt chassis restoration, its a body off outrigger replacement with a chassis clean & paint in 2k epoxy mastic for not much more than many quote just to replace the outriggers with the body left on the chassis, lets call it a very comprehensive chassis refurbishment rather than a full restoration.
It's certainly going to be way more comprehensive than the conventional body on outrigger replacement most go for, removing the body gives unparalleled access to inspect, de rust, and protect the rest of the chassis; it also means perfect 360 degree welds are guaranteed something I still can't fully accept is 100% achievable with the body still sat on the chassis
Here's one Alex Wheatley did earlier, mine will look the same but in silver/grey rather than the white we see here....
I believe its the right job for the right money that will give my chassis many more years life without breaking the bank, and lets be honest here the job TVR did protecting it originally wasn't great but it's did last 23 years. I fully expect to get at least as many years again out of the upcoming work, and probably more than 23 years given the seamless tube used for the outriggers, the paint products I've selected, and the way Alex is approaching this refurbishment.
Watch this space
Moose v8 said:
Chimp on gas, good article myself I used Rustbusters epoxy 2 pack didn't know of marine grade otherwise would have used , as for polybush yes did mine fully. The diff is a t### of a job but worth doing 
Hi Moose v8,Apparently the Rustbuster 121 epoxy mastic you used is rebranded Jotun Smart Pack epoxy mastic, which is their 50/50 mix version of the Jotamastic paint I'm using.
So I'd be interested to know how well the Rustbuster 121 epoxy mastic painted items on your car are holding up?
Thanks,
Dave.
Hi Alun,
The manifolds are removed before the body is lifted, those cooked top tubes are therefore fully exposed ready to be the subject of much attention, Alex has confirmed on every Chimaera body lift he's completed these top tubes have required refurbishing so this work is expected.
If you zoom in on the above photo you'll see these vulnerable top tubes that get toasted by the exhaust manifolds are a different colour, the charcoal grey finish looks like a high temp coating to me, the thing is while I'm super OCD myself and can be a bit of a micro manager every time I query such details with Alex it turns out he's already thought them out long before me and developed an intelligent proven solution already.
To address your other points Alex offers a menu of options, the work can be taken to different levels depending on what's found once the body is off and the customer's budget, in the example of the above chassis the owner chose for his his Bilsteins and wishbones to be refurbished too. In this case the wishbones were powder coated but if I select this additional work mine will see more Jotamastic 90 Aluminium 2k epoxy mastic as we now have plenty of this paint, and I stand by it being far more durable than powder coat.
In my case my Mk 4 Tuscan S spec Bilsteins are only three years in service and still look tidy so I do not anticipate these will require attention, my front wishbones have also been replaced and looked like this after the Waxoil was removed and the Dinitrol was applied some 8 years ago...
But that was a while back so it'll be interesting to see how they've faired when that Dintrol gets removed in a few weeks time, after steam cleaning my rear wishbones looked like this before getting that Dinitrol treatment, they were also pretty good to be honest but 8 years on there will clearly need to be some de-rusting and painting work especially around the wishbone brackets and chassis welds.
Other than the fact we know the outriggers will be replaced with new thicker wall seamless tube and we are epoxy mastic painting not powder coating, at this stage it would be unwise to specify the full extent of the work. The sensible approach Alex adopts is to remove the body, completely degrease the chassis and then to make a full inspection, at this point decisions will be made as to what's needed.
The objective here is to deliver quality long lasting job without letting costs spiral out of control, we are not trying to make a concourse show winning smooth powder coated beauty, we are going for proper durability without breaking the bank. I would wager many of the smooth powder coated chassis we see while looking wonderful the day they're done may actually last no longer than TVR's original effort, I should also point out theses epoxy mastic paints are not especially self levelling, this means I am not expecting Alex to achieve that super smooth finish you see with powder coat.
However, I'll take the superior durability of epoxy mastic over the smooth & initially pretty but chip prone finish of powder coat every time, I drive my TVR and I drive it regularly in all weathers, I do not go to car shows and put mirrors under my car to show off my chassis. The only people who ever see my chassis are me and my MoT man, so its all about a lasting job for me using proper industrial marine grade epoxy mastic rather than trying to win a chassis beauty contest.
So before we get too carried away we should let the professional lift the body and remove all that sticky Dinitrol, from there we see what horrors sit beneath it and design our plan of attack, To me this is the right way to do things, what I can also tell you is Alex has very high standards so the results will be of a very high standard with excellent attention to detail and all executed by a true automotive engineer who understands costs must be carefully controlled but who does not accept compromises.
Here's another one Alex made earlier....
I'm very confident I have the right guy on the job
The manifolds are removed before the body is lifted, those cooked top tubes are therefore fully exposed ready to be the subject of much attention, Alex has confirmed on every Chimaera body lift he's completed these top tubes have required refurbishing so this work is expected.
If you zoom in on the above photo you'll see these vulnerable top tubes that get toasted by the exhaust manifolds are a different colour, the charcoal grey finish looks like a high temp coating to me, the thing is while I'm super OCD myself and can be a bit of a micro manager every time I query such details with Alex it turns out he's already thought them out long before me and developed an intelligent proven solution already.
To address your other points Alex offers a menu of options, the work can be taken to different levels depending on what's found once the body is off and the customer's budget, in the example of the above chassis the owner chose for his his Bilsteins and wishbones to be refurbished too. In this case the wishbones were powder coated but if I select this additional work mine will see more Jotamastic 90 Aluminium 2k epoxy mastic as we now have plenty of this paint, and I stand by it being far more durable than powder coat.
In my case my Mk 4 Tuscan S spec Bilsteins are only three years in service and still look tidy so I do not anticipate these will require attention, my front wishbones have also been replaced and looked like this after the Waxoil was removed and the Dinitrol was applied some 8 years ago...
But that was a while back so it'll be interesting to see how they've faired when that Dintrol gets removed in a few weeks time
, after steam cleaning my rear wishbones looked like this before getting that Dinitrol treatment, they were also pretty good to be honest but 8 years on there will clearly need to be some de-rusting and painting work especially around the wishbone brackets and chassis welds.Other than the fact we know the outriggers will be replaced with new thicker wall seamless tube and we are epoxy mastic painting not powder coating, at this stage it would be unwise to specify the full extent of the work. The sensible approach Alex adopts is to remove the body, completely degrease the chassis and then to make a full inspection, at this point decisions will be made as to what's needed.
The objective here is to deliver quality long lasting job without letting costs spiral out of control, we are not trying to make a concourse show winning smooth powder coated beauty, we are going for proper durability without breaking the bank. I would wager many of the smooth powder coated chassis we see while looking wonderful the day they're done may actually last no longer than TVR's original effort, I should also point out theses epoxy mastic paints are not especially self levelling, this means I am not expecting Alex to achieve that super smooth finish you see with powder coat.
However, I'll take the superior durability of epoxy mastic over the smooth & initially pretty but chip prone finish of powder coat every time, I drive my TVR and I drive it regularly in all weathers, I do not go to car shows and put mirrors under my car to show off my chassis. The only people who ever see my chassis are me and my MoT man, so its all about a lasting job for me using proper industrial marine grade epoxy mastic rather than trying to win a chassis beauty contest.
So before we get too carried away we should let the professional lift the body and remove all that sticky Dinitrol, from there we see what horrors sit beneath it and design our plan of attack, To me this is the right way to do things, what I can also tell you is Alex has very high standards so the results will be of a very high standard with excellent attention to detail and all executed by a true automotive engineer who understands costs must be carefully controlled but who does not accept compromises.
Here's another one Alex made earlier....
I'm very confident I have the right guy on the job
So the LPG thing was discussed with Alex and he simply said...
"Well its just another fuel system, I have no issue with that"
He's right of course, TBH for the purposes of lifting the body its really not a complex thing at all, I'll run the gas down before I deliver the car and we can bleed off the tanks together before they get removed.
Other than that because the LPG system is delivery only there's just one high pressure Faro hose running the length of the car to deal with, being a feed and return system the petrol side is actually more complex than the gas system. There are a couple of extra earths here and there and the engine loom has 16 injector connectors not 8 (8 petrol & 8 LPG injectors), the vaporiser is mounted to the chassis but only has two coolant hoses (in & out) and one electrical connection to the safety solenoid.
So that's it, two LPG tanks to bleed off and remove, a few extra connectors to unclip around the engine bay, and the odd additional hose and earth cable here and there to disconnect.
Easy innit
"Well its just another fuel system, I have no issue with that"
He's right of course, TBH for the purposes of lifting the body its really not a complex thing at all, I'll run the gas down before I deliver the car and we can bleed off the tanks together before they get removed.
Other than that because the LPG system is delivery only there's just one high pressure Faro hose running the length of the car to deal with, being a feed and return system the petrol side is actually more complex than the gas system. There are a couple of extra earths here and there and the engine loom has 16 injector connectors not 8 (8 petrol & 8 LPG injectors), the vaporiser is mounted to the chassis but only has two coolant hoses (in & out) and one electrical connection to the safety solenoid.
So that's it, two LPG tanks to bleed off and remove, a few extra connectors to unclip around the engine bay, and the odd additional hose and earth cable here and there to disconnect.
Easy innit
The answer to my own question is the TVR silver/grey is lighter and more blue than the silver of the Jotamastic 90 Aluminum.
Here's my chassis before painting showing the original TVR silver/grey.
And now after painting with Jotamastic 90 Aluminum.
I think the match is pretty good, and as Alex has painted my whole chassis you'd be hard pressed to spot the difference.
Here's my chassis before painting showing the original TVR silver/grey.
And now after painting with Jotamastic 90 Aluminum.
I think the match is pretty good, and as Alex has painted my whole chassis you'd be hard pressed to spot the difference.
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