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Rust
cassidym - 3/7/04 at 09:56 PM

Hi,

Have'nt got the book yet, but doing lots of research and am planning to start building by the end of this year (our summer).

As I plan to build outside, I am a bit concerned that my chassis will start rusting very early on, especially since mild steel is used in fabrication.

I've got a feeling that a tarpaulin will only provide limited protection as we often have dense fogs that deposit moisture.

Any suggestions?

Apart from that what is the preferred method of treating the mild steel chassis to prevent rust?

If I can be forgiven for slipping another question in here - is the standard chassis strong enough for a cortina XR6 engine or does it need strengthening?

Mark Allanson - 3/7/04 at 10:02 PM

I had the same problem before I was allowed to take the car to work.

Yes, the chassis will rust VERY quickly. What I would have done in hindsite is to paint the chassis tubes immediately after delivery, when welding, clean back 1/2" and repaint straight after.

cassidym - 3/7/04 at 10:19 PM

That is what I was thinking as well.

I have come across some nasty examples of surface rusts in a few build pics.

Will galvanazing the chassis upon completion have any adverse effect?

Mark Allanson - 3/7/04 at 10:23 PM

yes, it means you cannot easily weld anything else to the chassis, it also weakens the whole structure as the pre galv acid dip will remove about 0.15mm from both sides of the chassis so the new wall thickness of 1.3mm

cassidym - 3/7/04 at 10:31 PM

Thanx Mark, dearly appreciate your input.

JoelP - 3/7/04 at 10:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by cassidym
Apart from that what is the preferred method of treating the mild steel chassis to prevent rust?


as mark says, painting is the thing to do when still building. When you have finished, and are really sure that there is nothing to add, you might choose to get it powder coated. I didnt, mainly due to the cost. For me, just a few layers of paint. Others have used up to 6 layers, finishing with household gloss! Rollers are advisable for later layers to avoid brush marks. If it chips, at least its easy to touch up! If you powder coat it you will throw up when you find a chip!

Mark Allanson - 3/7/04 at 11:12 PM

IMHO powder coating is a total nono. After about 2 years, all you get is a female mould of the chassis when the rust has worked itself underneath, totally undetected, and falls off.

Chris_R - 3/7/04 at 11:16 PM

my engine block's been sat in the garage covered in fresh engine oil to keep the rust off. the garage is particularly damp, but it's working a treat. A little white spirit'll clean it of when it's time to paint it too. Just a thought.

See avatar for current block condition.

[Edited on 3/7/04 by Chris_R]

[Edited on 4/7/04 by Chris_R]

MikeP - 4/7/04 at 12:20 AM

Don't be too worried about the rust evident in internet photos. For some reason it comes out looking a lot worse in the pictures than it is in real life.

My build is in a dry garage, there's very little rust on anything that's been kept dry, though it looks like there's much more in the pictures. Some if it got wet when I moved, those bits rusted very quickly, so being outside you will need to figure something out if you can't keep the chassis perfectly dry.