Anodized Chassis

Anodized Chassis:


Has anyone anodized their SLC chassis and how necessary do you folks think it is.


I live in Arizona, no snow and very little rain and no pollution. My car will be garaged and will most likely see less than 3,000 per year. Also, does any one know if the Corvette ZO6 aluminum chassis comes anodized from the factory?


Thanks for the in-put,
Jim
 
I've had the same thought about some sort of protective coating over bare aluminum. I've even looked into setting up a home ano system (not that hard, just need a place to store acids and dye and we do a lot of ano at my work, so I have suppliers I could ask for info). I thought I recalled a post here about someone putting clear protection of some kind on parts, but I can't find it. Matte black ano would be pretty evil!
 
I used Rust Bullet on areas that would get wet, and Busch's Aluminum polish on other areas followed by a wipedown with Ballistol. No oxidation present in three years.

I'm not sure if any coatings are really necessary with the alloy. It will form a self-protective oxide anyway. Always consider powdercoating too. A large coating company near Canaveral had quoted me $800. to powdercoat the entire mono. Simply decided to try my DIY coating methods. Busch's polish is some fantastic stuff!
 
My basic understanding of anodizing suggests that you would require a very large container to fit the SLC chassis suspended from hangers so as not to touch the sides! Next, you would need sufficient battery acid to submerge the entire chassis. Then you will need enough lead anode material and sufficient DC current (and "x" amount of time).....
 
When I got mine I was going to powdercoat it.

Then anodize it.

Then i settled on sharkhiding it (rub-on sealent for metals). Honestly, waste of time, I wouldn't do it again and would just let it age - it turned out to be a PITTA when doing welding on the chassis.

If i look at, for example, my cheapy aluminum ladder that's sat outside all of its life (about 30yrs I'd wager), it isn't rusting and falling apart, so I don't see why the chassis would. it's not like you're driving it through salt water.
 
When I got mine I was going to powdercoat it.

Then anodize it.

Then i settled on sharkhiding it (rub-on sealent for metals). Honestly, waste of time, I wouldn't do it again and would just let it age - it turned out to be a PITTA when doing welding on the chassis.

If i look at, for example, my cheapy aluminum ladder that's sat outside all of its life (about 30yrs I'd wager), it isn't rusting and falling apart, so I don't see why the chassis would. it's not like you're driving it through salt water.


Alex, your comparison to your 30 year ladder is excellent. That is exactly why I am interested in knowing if the Corvette ZO6 chassis is treated at the factory. My ZO6 is going on 7 years old and the chassis shows no signs of corrosion. The aluminum is just starting to show some slight signs of light tan discoloration/tarnishing. I planed on using my ZO6 as a yardstick to determine if I should treat my SLC aluminum but I don't know if it was treated or not. :huh:


Jim
 
I used Rust Bullet on areas that would get wet, and Busch's Aluminum polish on other areas followed by a wipedown with Ballistol. No oxidation present in three years.

I'm not sure if any coatings are really necessary with the alloy. It will form a self-protective oxide anyway. Always consider powdercoating too. A large coating company near Canaveral had quoted me $800. to powdercoat the entire mono. Simply decided to try my DIY coating methods. Busch's polish is some fantastic stuff!


Jack, did you decide to treat your chassis because of the sea salt environment in Florida or did you feel that is something that should be done regardless of were you reside?


Jim
 
Jim,
I'm sure the mono would be fine without any treatment. Just a "belt & suspenders" approach. Besides, it looks neat!

A little black coating here and there, polished aluminum elsewhere, looks good.
 
Keep this in mind, if you have to do a repair on the Chassis ? How do you repair the coating after? Powdercoat and Anodizing doesn't look very good after its been grind thru and welded on and paint doesn't like to stick to alum unless you use an epoxy primer. I would just leave it or get it wrapped it some kind of decal that can be replaced if you really feel the need to cover it.
 
Alex, your comparison to your 30 year ladder is excellent. That is exactly why I am interested in knowing if the Corvette ZO6 chassis is treated at the factory. My ZO6 is going on 7 years old and the chassis shows no signs of corrosion. The aluminum is just starting to show some slight signs of light tan discoloration/tarnishing. I planed on using my ZO6 as a yardstick to determine if I should treat my SLC aluminum but I don't know if it was treated or not. :huh:

Jim

Don't forget a factory car will have to stand up to way more environmental abuse than our cars ever will.

I'm sure we've all seen threads like this one - Ultima GT-R rusting through:

Rust inside the steel frame - PistonHeads

But there's definately something up with that and that would never happen to our chassis.

I have no idea about what happens if there's salt water in the air, but at least here (and also I imagine in arizona too) it's fairly dry and mild steel can sit outside for a decade, uncoated, only develop some mild surface rust. I can't think of any uncoated mild steel (or aluminum) objects i have sitting outside, in the raw elements, that have rusted through.
 
i will never use black oxide fasteners anymore, they rust too easily, and stainless costs just a little more.
 
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i will never use black oxide fasteners anymore, they rust too easily, and stainless costs just a little more.

Except stainless isn't as strong as black oxide.

It's just surface rust, no biggie; wipe wipe and it's clean.

besides, when I was researching grade 12.9 black oxide vs plated fasteners, apparently the plating process can weaken it a bit, so an unplated black oxide bolt will be strongest.
 
i have never heard of ballistol, and i did a lot of trapshooting with high end guns and tried a lot of metal protectants, some worked, some didn't. makes me wonder how this stuff would have worked. i might find some just to compare, all this stuff usually has a distinct smell.
 
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