I am in the early stages of a van rebuild and working on the chassis, which was in a good condition when I got it having been stored in the dry for several years.

The chassis I am lead to believe is the first one Ken H did for a aks400 so its not galvanised.

- I have removed the surface rust that was in a few places and the dust and dirt.

- Used Davids inc 182 on th exposed bare metal.

The question is what to coat the underside with and the top?

Having read various articles and internet browsing the choice seems to be down to using Hammerrite Underseal (which contains wayoyl) and some make of bare metal paint on the top of the chassis or perhaps 'Chassis Black' but I dont know why this is so special?

Any views, alternatives or experience you can can offer?

Norman

Hi Norm

I've heard that a product called POR15 is pretty good for painting chassis. It goes on like paint but unlike hammerite it is flexible so doesn't crack over time and actually (apparently) hardens even more when exposed to the elements.

You can get it from Frosts http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... 28473ml%29

I haven't tried it myself yet but I've just picked up a new Citroen spec chassis for Mavis and I'll be trying it out on that.

Otherwise, I use waxoyl mixed with a dash of new (but cheap) engine oil and just slap it on all over.

Hope this helps!

Will,
you ought to read some recent posts over on 2CV-L from an Aussie friend of mine who's rebuilding his Charleston after 10 years of use.

Chris had used POR 15 on his OE Citroen chassis and when it came to cleaning the chassis off for some fettling, the high pressure water gun stripped off most of the POR, revealing rusty chassis underneath...

< http://www.flickr.com/photos/46885893@N04/?saved=1 >

Bearing in mind that Perth's climate is often referred to as being of this type...
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_climate >
perhaps POR 15 isn't all it's cracked up to be?

ken.

Norman,
where's that one been hiding since 1994/5?

It should originally have been painted with chassis paint from a place in Cleckheaton, one coat of primer and two top coats.
If the Dangerous Brothers were up to their usual tricks, they might have skimped on one of the top coats, unfortunately...

As long as the original paint is showing no sign of letting go, your best bet is to add more coats of a similar paint, followed by the Waxoyl product you've already mentioned.

ken.
( When I was working on refurbishing old wrought iron canal bridges, about 8 coats of paint were specified after grit blasting, with the dry film thickness of each layer checked as we went along. )

During my nearly 10 years in Perth working on 2cvs I have seen many 2cv’s with replaced original Citroën chassis. Due to the climate one operator didn’t rust protect any of the chassis he replaced and all chassis still looked good 10-15 years later. POR 15 suddenly appeared on the east coast of Australia and many people took to the idea of coating chassis with that stuff.
Years later, reports started to emerge that the POR 15 was flaking, cracking and coming off. I’ve seen it on some of my yearly repair trips around Australia and I can not recommend POR 15 as a bulletproof product. I don’t believe for a minute that POR 15 is needed down under. Most of the damage on Aussie cars was done back in the UK where the cars first saw daylight before they were shipped to Australia. We know today that chassis rust from the inside and out, not the other way around. Nothing beats a galvanized chassis, number 1 choice for sure. Coating an older chassis may prolong the life but not much can be done except accepting a chassis change at some stage. Maybe get some fish oil in to the chassis and if possible don’t drive in salty conditions. Ken what is your prediction on lifespan with galvanized chassis driven in UK winter?

182 years?

Neil,
have you been cheating?

Map here, pick your location, location.?

< http://www.hdg.org.uk/126_Corrosion_Maps.php >

Tough luck, seems I'm living in an 85 year zone, or is it 57 years?
If so, that's goodnight from me...
< http://www.hdg.org.uk/index.php?cms_id= ... gion=yorks >

Don't forget that's until 'failure' of the galvanizing, after that there's still 3mm of steel to go...

ken

[quote="ken"]Norman,
where's that one been hiding since 1994/5?

It should originally have been painted with chassis paint from a place in Cleckheaton, one coat of primer and two top coats.
If the Dangerous Brothers were up to their usual tricks, they might have skimped on one of the top coats, unfortunately...

As long as the original paint is showing no sign of letting go, your best bet is to add more coats of a similar paint, followed by the Waxoyl product you've already mentioned.

Ken

I bought the whole van from Dave Jenkin who had it for a number of years stored dry.

So to all intense and purpose the chassis is 'new'. There are some very small areas were its down to bear metal having been dragged or rested on the floor.

The original paint is solid but whilst I have the vehicle apart I thought it worthwhile to add some additional protection to the original paint.

ive been coating mine in a bilt hamber panel wax called dynax ub
its not listed on the site at the moment,its similar to the chassis wax which is meant to go inside the cavities
id do both inside and out as like someone said it rusts more inside
i just used the tin last week,you brush it on and its semi hardening so you can clean it off it need be
its meant to not dry or crack and is self healing so hopefully wont rust from underneath like the old bitumen based underseals