Board logo

holes in chassis
femster87 - 8/3/10 at 11:15 AM

hi, i noticed rusted holes gone through the whole steel section on the chassis about 6mm dia today. bought chassis off ebay a while ago, now quite worried about the whole thing under the paint. anythought on how to ensure the whole thing is safe, scrap and get new one?
cheers

ReMan - 8/3/10 at 11:25 AM

Might these be previously drilled holes that have been left unprotected and so rusted?

If so, probably OK, if really rusted through though, for the price of a new one and peace of mind you've gotta ask yourself what the quality is like as a whole....

[Edited on 8/3/10 by ReMan]

ashg - 8/3/10 at 11:29 AM

personally i would bin it. it takes quite a bit of time and abuse for box section to rot through so wouldn't trust it

blakep82 - 8/3/10 at 11:47 AM

how many holes? in how many tubes? if as above, its untreated pre-drilled holes, you might be as well getting the rusted tubes replaced.
saying that, its always going to be on your mind now, so look at the price of a new one, and weigh up the pro and con yourself

James - 8/3/10 at 02:22 PM

Got any pictures? Really hard to give an opinion without.

Is it a bare (painted I know) chassis or a whole car you've bought?

Because you could just strip the paint off the chassis (cheaply with angle grinder with wire brush) or get it shot blasted so you could see what state it's all in.

HTh,
James

femster87 - 8/3/10 at 05:24 PM

thanks for the reply, i just had a look again. looks like the joints were ground after welding, the 6mm one is the biggest and its right on the joint. there is 2 other pin size holes also where weld has been ground. i would take picture soon

MikeR - 8/3/10 at 06:48 PM

its very difficult to see a great deal from the picture. Any chance of a better quality pic??

The chassis does seem a little rusty and that hole looks very alarming. I wonder if too much weld was ground off and the .5mm that was left has rusted through?

How thick is the steel beside the hole? If its 1.5mm then its a cock up somewhere, if its 0.5mm then its also potentially either very rusted of ground too much.

femster87 - 8/3/10 at 07:18 PM

tried again hope its better

blakep82 - 8/3/10 at 07:25 PM

yeah, it doesn't look good to me. i'd be looking at a new chassis myself, or replacing all 3 of those tubes, and any other's that a bubbling under the paint like that

Strontium Dog - 8/3/10 at 09:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
yeah, it doesn't look good to me. i'd be looking at a new chassis myself, or replacing all 3 of those tubes, and any other's that a bubbling under the paint like that


From the little I can see of the other tubes, it looks like localised rust. If so, then replacing the rotten tubes would be OK but I would try to waxoil the tubes you don't replace. A small "tapping hammer" would be useful to make sure the rest of the tubes are sound. If in any doubt get some one in the know to check for you.

Strontium Dog - 8/3/10 at 09:28 PM

My Mate has a complete Tiger Avon chassis with some front bones he wants to sell (due to lack of time/comitment he has bought a nearly complete one instead).

U2U me for details should you feel the need!

femster87 - 12/3/10 at 05:58 PM

done, all box section with holes in them cut off now. anybody near me nice enough to let me use their mitre saw to cut new sections? even willing to pay

Strontium Dog - 13/3/10 at 12:36 AM

Good stuff. If only you were closer I'd happily chop some erw and weld it in for you but it's a bit far for you to come I fear.

you may have to resort to a hack saw and careful cutting!

hicost blade - 13/3/10 at 01:10 AM

Nothing wrong with a hack saw!

MikeRJ - 13/3/10 at 11:01 AM

quote:
Originally posted by hicost blade
Nothing wrong with a hack saw!


I actually found it easier since you can cut each side as a separate operation rather than having to set up the mitre saw and potentially get them all wrong in one cut.

femster87 - 13/3/10 at 11:47 AM

ok am gonna go try now and in the process build up some serious biceps