New chassis treatment

[512BB]

Good afternoon Gentlemen,.........and Ladies
I am interested to learn of your thoughts re treatment of a NEW chassis, that is at present in the buff, see Ebay item no.130283172231, and whether your suggestions could be carried out in my own workshop, I have basic spray equipment, or would have to be carried out professionally, together with costs for the process. I would not want it to be hot galvd. to avoid any possibility of twisting it.
Thanks in advance,
Leslie

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Leslie
I'd be tempted to get the chassis e-coated, then painted 2 pack in black or red primer colour. I think that this could provide a stonger base than powder coating for a chassis, and should out-last the rest of the car...you can also put the 2 pack on yourself (outside!).

Have a look at this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E-Coating-Bodyshe ... 240%3A1318

Mark

[CBUEB1771]

I would not want it to be hot galvd. to avoid any possibility of twisting it.

I recently purchased a new galvanized chassis for my +2. The chassis was sourced through Miles Wilkins and is serialized, in other words as proper a Lotus replacement as there is. I have been checking all dimensions and so far can find no evidence of twist or any other deformation that would affect suspension, engine, gearbox or final drive mounting and alignment. There is some "oil-canning" of large, flat panels, particularly the vertical wall of the backbone on the exhaust side. However this seems to have had no measureable effect on the important dimensions. My only serious complaint is excess coating in several areas. This appears to have been caused by the coating solidifying before it could run off when the chassis was lifted from the vat. This is a pain as it will take many hours with the die grinders and abrasives discs and drums to clean it up. I will post a table of specified and as-built dimensions along with images when I finish measuring.

[cabc26b]

First degrease the metal to make sure no oils silicones etc are on it. I use PPG DX330 aka Acriclean.

Wipe with damp cloth to remove residue. ( dry thoroughly)

Next if you can. ( semi optional) surface convert if you are using a system they will have a recommended product.

I like a epoxy and have been using PPG's DPLF. if you can find a old quart of the stuff lead this is best way to go. The PPG is sandable , not all epoxy's are so if you plane to coat over the epoxy keep this in mind also if you brush you can deal with any runs.

[Emma-Knight]

If that is kataphorese dip coating it would be very fine. It is done in a zink/something water emulsion and used on all modern cars. Its not hot or corrosive and will supply coating even in inner frame tubes etc. After coating it should be painted without sanding because coating is very thinn.
My daily driver is one of the first cars to profit from that - 1983 VW Polo
"pig-taxi" as it is called in Germany. Still no paint / rust problems, living without garage in well salted german winters. These coatings are available in light grey or almost black and will survive even without other paint coats

Anna

[rgh0]

I bought a bare metal chassis from lotus 30 years ago for my Elan rebuild and did the following

1. Cleaned and degreased and wire brushed to give good metal surface for paint to key to.
2. 2 coats of inorganic zinc primer brush applied - high metalic zinc loading in a resin binder works as well as galvanising at preventing rust even if surface is scratched.
3. 2 coats of alkyd enamel - brush applied- flexible hard chip resistant and oil resistant finish. These alkytd enamel top coats are formulated to key properly to the inorganic zinc primer

This has lasted 30 years with no problems. Have touch up the front of the front cross member as it suffers from stone chips when racing but otherwise no issues or rust. However Australia is a low corrossion environment so I would expect it to last indefintely here. The paint system is what is used in industrial plants for weather exposed structural steel and piping and works well. You can buy this sort of system at any paint shop that has paints for metal.

regards
Rohan

[512BB]

Thanks for replies so far. I know that i said that i had spray equipment and was capable of carrying out any painting myself, but is there any reason stove enamelling has not been mentioned? What are the pros and cons of this method of treating a chassis, and would SE be compatable with the process that Mark mentioned above, as the two seem like a bolt and braces approach? There wouldnt be any danger of twisting the chassis with SE would there?
Leslie