Ron Lang
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 05:49 PM |
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Chassis Refurb
Does anyone have a view on reconditioning an existing chassis. I have access to a zero chassis (powder coated) which has never been used but has been
built up. The builder was a little overexcited with the drill in my opinion and I am thinking of having all the holes welded back up and
repowdercoated (at the same time as having a lowered floor put in). The powder coat is also quite scratched in places so would benefit from a new
coat. Would this be worth it or would you just scrap it and by a new chassis? Seems like an awful waste of material seeing as the chassis is straight
and true.
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CosKev3
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 06:00 PM |
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All depends how cheap the chassis is!
If you can buy it,get the holes welded up and re-powdercoat for a good saving compared to a new chassis then it's worth while
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 06:02 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by CosKev3
All depends how cheap the chassis is!
If you can buy it,get the holes welded up and re-powdercoat for a good saving compared to a new chassis then it's worth while
I'm unsure how much a new chassis is tbh.
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CosKev3
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 06:06 PM |
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Drop GBS a email and find out 
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Fatgadget
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 09:25 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ron Lang
quote:
Originally posted by CosKev3
All depends how cheap the chassis is!
If you can buy it,get the holes welded up and re-powdercoat for a good saving compared to a new chassis then it's worth while
I'm unsure how much a new chassis is tbh.
How about posting some pictures! 
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alfas
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| posted on 1/8/17 at 09:41 PM |
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complete starter kit costs 2345,-
http://www.greatbritishsportscars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/GBS_Zero_Ford.pdf
so the chassis might have a vlaue of 1000,- in the kit?
Tiger is asking around 850,- for the raw avon-chassis
MK around 1350,-
so not worth doing any effort on a 2nd hand chassis, especially as i would not trust a re-welded, formerly perforated, chassis.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 2/8/17 at 12:14 AM |
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Expand on your 'over excited with the drill' observation. Most chassis' get extensively drilled for panel rivets. These in turn
reinforce the chassis by filling the gaps with rigid panels. Consider each river as triangulation. How bad is it really?
Mistral Motorsport
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 2/8/17 at 06:26 AM |
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Yes, mainly rivets for panels but I'd want to bond on the new panels so these would be left unfilled. There are also some rivnut holes which
have been drilled in the wrong place for bonnet pins. I'm leaning towards building up an Indy now...if I could ever work out what's
included in each of the kits they sell! Will have to make a trip down I think.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Expand on your 'over excited with the drill' observation. Most chassis' get extensively drilled for panel rivets. These in turn
reinforce the chassis by filling the gaps with rigid panels. Consider each river as triangulation. How bad is it really?
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40inches
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| posted on 2/8/17 at 07:46 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ron Lang
Yes, mainly rivets for panels but I'd want to bond on the new panels so these would be left unfilled. There are also some rivnut holes which
have been drilled in the wrong place for bonnet pins. I'm leaning towards building up an Indy now...if I could ever work out what's
included in each of the kits they sell! Will have to make a trip down I think.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Expand on your 'over excited with the drill' observation. Most chassis' get extensively drilled for panel rivets. These in turn
reinforce the chassis by filling the gaps with rigid panels. Consider each river as triangulation. How bad is it really?
As loggyboy said, if you are bonding on panels, the Sikaflex will fill any unused holes and the panels will add strength.
And GBS are not that far from you
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nick205
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| posted on 2/8/17 at 09:37 AM |
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I'd have thought a new chassis would be a better option.
Surely resurrecting the old chassis will involve blasting off the powder coat, welding all the holes up (possibility of introducing heat distortion),
blasting it clean again and then re-powder coating. Transporting the chassis around during this process will introduce further effort and potentially
costs.
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filstu
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| posted on 2/8/17 at 07:12 PM |
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If your bonding on the panels, you wont need to drill any additional holes. therefore there would be no reduction in strength as you would have the
same holes you would have had anyway.
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ReMan
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| posted on 3/8/17 at 07:21 PM |
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I'd just rattle can over it if its still sound Jd much cheapness
www.plusnine.co.uk
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 28/8/17 at 07:56 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Expand on your 'over excited with the drill' observation. Most chassis' get extensively drilled for panel rivets. These in turn
reinforce the chassis by filling the gaps with rigid panels. Consider each river as triangulation. How bad is it really?
Wanted to respond to this now I've stripped down a little more. Couple of examples:
 
Chassis Damage 2
 
Chassis Damage
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 30/8/17 at 07:51 PM |
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I'm waiting with bated breath for someone to answer the "how bad is it really"...
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sebastiaan
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| posted on 30/8/17 at 07:56 PM |
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That is repairable, but in steel almost anything is. If you can (learn how to) do the welding yourself, go for it. And 1k, that's 4 completed
cars, right? ;-)
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 30/8/17 at 07:58 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by sebastiaan
That is repairable, but in steel almost anything is. If you can (learn how to) do the welding yourself, go for it. And 1k, that's 4 completed
cars, right? ;-)
Ha! So we're led to believe!
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 30/8/17 at 09:44 PM |
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IF - it is straight and true - AND - you can weld it up yourself then that is what I would do. As a friend of mine who rebuilds cars said -
'It's only metal' I do not like powder coat as you often want to add a bracket or change something on a sevenesque chassis as you
develop the car and I think a decent paint job is better, easier to remove to weld, and easier to repaint.
And if you want to bin the chassis - let me know - I would fix it for myself
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 30/8/17 at 09:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ianhurley20
IF - it is straight and true - AND - you can weld it up yourself then that is what I would do. As a friend of mine who rebuilds cars said -
'It's only metal' I do not like powder coat as you often want to add a bracket or change something on a sevenesque chassis as you
develop the car and I think a decent paint job is better, easier to remove to weld, and easier to repaint.
And if you want to bin the chassis - let me know - I would fix it for myself
I certainly can't fix myself unfortunately as I can't weld - I will learn one day!
I think I'll be selling it but I have no idea what it's worth or how many parts to leave on it.
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 31/8/17 at 07:30 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ron Lang
[
I certainly can't fix myself unfortunately as I can't weld - I will learn one day!
I think I'll be selling it but I have no idea what it's worth or how many parts to leave on it.
Perhaps now is the time to learn. get a mig welder, a bottle of hobbyweld gas (little ones are too expensive) watch a few videos on the web, practice
on some scrap and have a go. Fill the small holes first then progress. You will surprise yourself, its not that difficult and you will learn how to
weld properly by the end. If you are not happy with the result then sell it!
Oh - if you decide to sell I'll give you £20 and collect
[Edited on 31/8/17 by ianhurley20]
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Ron Lang
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| posted on 31/8/17 at 12:07 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ianhurley20
Perhaps now is the time to learn. get a mig welder, a bottle of hobbyweld gas (little ones are too expensive) watch a few videos on the web, practice
on some scrap and have a go. Fill the small holes first then progress. You will surprise yourself, its not that difficult and you will learn how to
weld properly by the end. If you are not happy with the result then sell it!
Oh - if you decide to sell I'll give you £20 and collect
I think you're probably right on now being the time to try but unfortunately with work, two kids and a PhD to finish on the side, I'm
forced into an assembly only role lol...although I have spent most of my time disassembling of late!
One of the questions I have outstanding is what would I do about the powdercoating. Once I had [theoretically] welded up all the holes, would I just
paint over these bits...with me being so anal, it would be nice if it all matched.
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 31/8/17 at 12:20 PM |
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Difficult one to answer but from the pictures it seems those parts needing welding will not normally be on show so I would simply paint them a
matching colour and before doing so sand the powder coat so there are no steps and when painted these would hide reasonably well. Powder coating is
not cheap and to prepare the chassis for a new coat would probably involve stripping it back to bare metal again - that would not be cheap either.
Then again I am no expert and I am sure there are a few experts on this forum who will advise.
Are you sure you won't take £20
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jps
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| posted on 31/8/17 at 01:21 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ron Lang
with me being so anal, it would be nice if it all matched.
Unless you've done this before - I suspect that the experience of building a kit car will sooner or later bash that attitude out of you! I
started off with an impression of what quality of finish, etc would satisfy me - but have had to understand that there's a 'good
enough' position which will allow me to actually finish the car within my life time!!!
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