RCR guys - show us your chassis

[Randy V]

I had originally planned on polishing the chassis and using a clear powder-coat. Those plans have been dashed. The bodyshop where my GT was stored had gone out of business and had little in the way of environmental controls - and the roof leaked badly.
My entire chassis was already starting to corrode and mold was forming on the body when we pulled it out of the shop 1 year ago and had to tow it home on an open trailer. Salt spray on the roads pretty well took care of any other notion of polishing.
Almost the entire chassis and suspension is etched / corroded. :shocked:

If losing the bodyshop wasn't bad enough, the shop that I paid to do the Powder Coating also went out of business and so that avenue is gone.

So it looks like I will have to paint the chassis and probably glass-bead and powder-coat the uprights and wishbones / control arms and radius rods.

My first inclination is to use something like Zync Chromate primer and oil based enamel like Rustoleum and spray the entire tub.. Also thinking about maybe doing a truck bedliner coating on the bottom of the tub as well the inside of the front and rear clips.

Like the bodywork, I can't bring myself to pay *again* for this work, so I get to do the bargain basement "Budget" job as best I can... :stunned:

So I am looking for inspiration here - What have you guys done with your chassis and suspension components?

Here are some pictures of what I have to deal with.

Thanks guys...

 

[TSR]

It can be saved, give it bath with warm water no soap, get rid of salt. Secondly need to separate the different metals, you have galvanic reaction going full bore.Once the Aluminum is bare you can polish it the way you wanted it, you will have to start out with a coarser polish and work up to a mirror finish and seal with the clear before an more oxide's build up. For the steel hardware that the cad or zinc plating is rusted through. Save your self time and replace it. PM me if you have any more questions - Tom

 

[Randy V]

Yep, it's already had it's bath.. Couple of them actually.. I used baking soda as well, but it didn't seem to help. I'm past the point of wanting to polish it now - particularly since the powder coating will cost me another thousand bucks that I refuse to pay again. So really, I'm looking at paint only and bed-liner at this time.
As soon as I get the bodywork done, I will be removing the body for paint, then disassembling and addressing the chassis, but that will be another 6 months the way I figure it. Meanwhile, hoping to keep the galvanic reaction from getting worse by using WD40 on it..

 

[Jack]

Randy, I have used Rust-Bullet on the bottom of my chassis. Works a treat!
As Thomas mentioned, replace the rusted hardware.
Some 400 grit on a DA should clean the rest up okay, then to a polish.
For polish I use Busch's aluminum polish (on-line) which can be done by hand or buffer. Haven't found anything better yet. The aluminum is still bright after several years.

 

[Dean Lampe]

No reason to powder coat after its polished. I had a GT40 chassis polished almost 8 years ago and it still looks good. The big advantage is that if it gets looking bad, its pretty easy to polish it again.

I also think black looks great. You will still need to do you prep work.

 

[TSR]

Sharkhide, truckers use it on there polished fuel tanks. Allan uses it in his builds. Baking soda is caustic (BAD). Separate the steel from the aluminum before the corrosion goes inner granular. Remove surface corrosion,pitting on aluminum, then seal it. LPS3 works well for slowing thongs down and storage. If you want to zinc Chromate it get a fluid resistant 2 part epoxy.

 

[Randy V]

I had always heard that Baking Soda was neutral PH and therefore neither acidic or caustic. I used it to help neutralize and sort of acid created by the galvanic corrosion process.. Perhaps I shot myself in the foot?

I do have SharkHyde (expensive) and had not thought of that. Good point.

Dean, you're right that I will need to do the prep anyway..

Jack - thanks for the tip on Rust Bullet and the polish!

I may change my mind and go back to the polished route for the exposed alloy..

Polished alloy in the wheel arch area might be a bit distracting though...

I would like to see pictures of what you guys have done if you don't mind...

 

[Luke S]

I think at this point beyond the financial hit, your suffering an overwhelming since of disaster. I would, looking at it! Since you have to "prep" the surface no matter the direction you go, why not just get a small amount of polish and choose a defined surface area you'd really not want to paint. Go through steps on that and see your results.

Stop, re-analyze work:reward ratio and then re-evaluate your daunting task. Just remember to spend enough time with sanding and coarse grit and to not go to polish too quickly. It'll end up costing you more time and get only a frosty appearance at best. Sadly at this point you kind of have a restoration going on rather than a purely new build. In the end, you'll still want the same results.

BTW, I agree that a really nice black chassis could look awesome if the work to restore outweighs the need to go bling. "baby steps"

Best of luck!

 

[Jack]

Randy, I also applied the Rust Bullet to the front areas of the tub that make the inner
"wet" areas, along the sides but ending at top of the footbox.

 

[marc]

Randy I know your focused on the body but if you need a polishing vibrator bin with abrasizes for your parts I can loan you mine. that will knock the rust off and make your bolts and bits fresh.

Marc

 

[Bill Musarra]

Randy,
In my build I had to contend with several different materials in the same area. In the front inner clip area I had steel framing, stainless cladding and plastic sealer for the top of the front clip to the body. The outside of the cladding was all stainless so that was fine. The inside and the sub frame were done with "Linex" spray on bed liner material. This is tough stuff and has been in place for many years, and still looks great. My only warning is that you have to be careful where any solvents or hydraulic fluid may pool from leaks. If you do any drilling through it and break the bond, the fluids will accentuate it. I didn't put the under panels on the front clip area til after the liner was applied. I had a leaking master cylinder and didn't notice til i did some repair work. It had wicked up along the sub frame and broke the bonding along one side. Fortunately it was in an area that can't be seen. Will add the rattle can stuff this winter to help keep the rust down.

Bill

 

[Bill]

If possible, I try to go with a treatment that soaks into the metal, instead of setting on top of it.

Shark hide soaks in and I've heard that it works well for a couple years, but it can darken the appearance and it needs to reapplied periodically.

I've been using Ballistal oil. It was developed to preserve gun metal, but works well on Aluminum as well. Just apply a liberal amount of Ballistal on with a rag, let it soak in for a few hours and wipe off the excess. A little Ballistal goes a long way, so you only need a small can to cover the entire chassis.

I applied Ballistal 2 years ago and it seems to be holding up. However, my SLC has not experienced the harsh environment that your GT saw.

 

[Jack]

Forgot that. Ballistol applied over the Busch's polish. Five years and still bright.

 

[Jac Mac]

Got any buddies who are AP's at the local airfield maintenance facility?,
Get them to give you a run thru of the procedure they use on panel corrosion and around dissimilar metals. Anywhere that bolts run thru alloy or into threads also need a coating at reassembly, or you could buy a basic airframe handbook from the local tech bookshops or down load off the net.

 

[Randy V]

Luke --
Thanks for your note. I'm over the - OMG This is JUNK - phase...
I'm also over the p!ssed off stage over the money, but well beyond the budget that we set for the completed car. Now I'm trading sweat for money that's already been burned.
You actually hit the nail on the head in that I'm now doing a restoration as well as an assembly. There are varying depths of corrosion and yes, you're right, if I don't go deep enough, the polished end result will look terrible.. This is actually one thing that is pushing me to paint it. I have plenty of time to think it over..

Jack --
Your picture looks like pure Auto-Porn!

Marc --
Thanks for the offer. I do have a vibratory polisher that the steel parts will fit in. I just need to get the right media and instructions..

Bill --
I have a ton of pictures of your car that I've collected over the years. The LineX looks really nice. I wonder if your leak was from the Wilwood brake fluid reservoirs?

Bill / Rumbles --
I've not heard of that brand of oil before. I will look into that. Sounds like it would also work well on my motorcycles!

Jack --
Thanks for the recommendations!

Jac --
I have a couple of friends that are A&Ps and they both just shook their heads when they saw my car. I don't know if the galvanic reaction will be an ongoing problem as long as the car is kept clean and in a somewhat controlled climate. I wonder if the Ballistol will help keep this corrosion in check if I used it as an assembly fluid?

 

[TSR]

For assembly to keep corrosion limited on aircraft the use of Cor-bon 27L is an assembly lube in critical areas with dissimilar metals.

 

[Dave]

Go the satin black Randy , always looks cool and old skool. A quick sand blast and spray...

 

[P Roth]

Most of the small aircraft manufacturers stopped zinc chromating the inside of the airframes and wings in the 70's. Unfortunately corrosion became a big issue with those aircraft. We started using Corrosion X on them. It works extremely well, it will creep into every crevice and not only prevents corrosion but stops it. Comes in spray cans for easy use.

 

[Randy V]

A bunch of great information here! Thanks for all the ideas and product recommendations.. I'm wondering if that CorrosionX is the same as Fluid Film protectant? FF is lanolin based. Does not smell bad either.
I do recall the Zinc Chromate primer being an option on the Piper Archer that I was ordering in 1978. As I recall, Piper recommended it only for aircraft used primarily in coastal regions.

 

[Jason Ferraro]

Randy, I paid Australian $750 to powder-coat the car here. This included a coat of powder primer first. Are you sure its $1,000? Everything is cheaper in the USA than Australia. I am pressing this as the completed powder-coat finish is the way to go. I don't regret it for a minute.

On the suspension, how about media blasting to get it looking good again?