Willys chassis advice

[Rick W]

Just spoke to a company about taking the Willys chassis away to get it blasted as they do landrovers etc. I told the bloke I had planned to red oxide it once it had been blasted then paint it. He said that i shouldnt do that, instead what i should do is powdercoat the chassis or galvanize it. Galvanizing is a bit extreme for it, but was considering powdercoating it. But would you get the right OD colour match powdercoating. Any advice?

[Stormin]

Just spoke to a company about taking the Willys chassis away to get it blasted as they do landrovers etc. I told the bloke I had planned to red oxide it once it had been blasted then paint it. He said that i shouldnt do that, instead what i should do is powdercoat the chassis or galvanize it. Galvanizing is a bit extreme for it, but was considering powdercoating it. But would you get the right OD colour match powdercoating. Any advice?

 

I considered galvanising for my 101 chassis, but shyed away due to the risk of warping due to the heat of the zinc bath, I would advise you to do the same unless you have ready access to another chassis.

 

There's no reason why the powder coat couldn't be matched to any colour, depends on the company doing the work and whether they just want to stick to their standard stock colours. The level of heat required for powder coating is about half that of galvanising so no worrys there.

[N.O.S.]

Have you been following the comments about powder coating on 'Electroplating Fuel Tank' thread, Rick?

[Nick Johns]

Just spoke to a company about taking the Willys chassis away to get it blasted as they do landrovers etc. I told the bloke I had planned to red oxide it once it had been blasted then paint it. He said that i shouldnt do that, instead what i should do is powdercoat the chassis or galvanize it. Galvanizing is a bit extreme for it, but was considering powdercoating it. But would you get the right OD colour match powdercoating. Any advice?

Powdercoating is fine for hot rods and museum piece classic cars but NOT for a flexible Willys chassis, it will soon crack, or chip, water then penertrates under it, back to rusty metal again and have to strip it all off, they were originally painted with red oxide and survived 65 years of abuse why change it?

[sirhc]

Rick,

 

If you want to go one step further than the red oxide you might want to think about a zinc thermal spray coating. I work for a thermal spray company, although we do parts for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines and spray with robots so are comparativley expensive. You should be able to find someone local who does it manually.

 

Have a look here: http://www.t-bblasting.co.uk/zinc-metal-spraying/

 

Chris

[Rick W]

Thanks for the swift comments, I dont know why the bloke is so anti red oxide. I suppose it is the modern approach, but as Nick says, red oxide done them for 65 odd years and they didnt have powder coating then.

[Stormin]

Powdercoating is fine for hot rods and museum piece classic cars but NOT for a flexible Willys chassis, it will soon crack, or chip, water then penertrates under it, back to rusty metal again and have to strip it all off, they were originally painted with red oxide and survived 65 years of abuse why change it?

 

Powder coat should not have any trouble with flexing, indeed it's better than some paints. Powder coat is commonly used on wheels and bike frames and these flex a hell of a lot. Some of the poor reputation of powder coat is down to poor preparation of the surface. If applied to a freshly blasted surface there should be no problem. If applied over new steel with a polished or mill scale finish it's no wonder it doesn't adhere.

 

Having said that I would go for a paint finish myself as it's easier to touch up with a brush at home. You're bound to scratch it during the re-build or shortly after whilst driving.

[Richard Farrant]

Thanks for the swift comments, I dont know why the bloke is so anti red oxide. I suppose it is the modern approach, but as Nick says, red oxide done them for 65 odd years and they didnt have powder coating then.

 

 

Rick,

 

I agree with Nick, powder coating is not a good idea. You have numerous bolts and screw to go in the chassis, when tightening, the coating will flake at that point allowing moisture to get under the coating. Nowt wrong with a good quality red oxide, but it does not end there, you want to use a gloss synthetic paint before applying the olive drab and your chassis will be weather proof. We did my brother's Willys like this in 1984 and it is still good underneath.........even undersealed the bottom of the body before refitting it.

[Rick W]

Thanks again, what sort of gloss synthetic paint? Thinking about the powder coating issue anyway, it would not be a good idea as there are a couple of parts on my chassis which need welding, so powder coating out of the question.

On another note when I asked about the body tub there was a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone, "Oooo dont ever bother blasting a body tub, the metal is too thin and you will end up with nothing..." Has this guy got the equivalent of a the Hoover Dam as a shot blaster? Surely a decent blaster will be able to guage what is required?

[sirhc]

Rick,

 

If it is that bad that when blasted it turns to nothing, then there's not much hope! I would get it blasted by someone who knows what they are doing, before doing any repair work. The guy who does my blasting has blasted cars, planes, helicopters, even wood for film sets to make it look older than it is.

 

Chris

[Richard Farrant]

Thanks again, what sort of gloss synthetic paint?

 

" Has this guy got the equivalent of a the Hoover Dam as a shot blaster? Surely a decent blaster will be able to guage what is required?

 

Rick,

 

I use a gloss synthetic of same base as the top coat, ie Olive Drab, Light Stone, or whatever. Usually use Deep Bronze Green gloss under Olive Drab, it gives a good barrier.

 

Body blasting.....a good operator will be able to do car bodies without distortion. It is a question of right materials and technique. Of course it will still find holes if there is rust present.

[Stormin]

As others have said, find the right man and blasting the body shouldn't be a problem. Problem is most blasters are set up for quickly blasting stone buildings and heavy steelwork not lighter gauge stuff.

Many won't be interested as it takes a lot longer using lower pressure and smaller nozzles to avoid distortion and oveheating the panels. Expect the relative cost to be a lot higher as your paying for more operator time.

[alant]

Powdercoating looks great but all you need is a small hole or crack in the surface to let moisture in and you will end up with S.O.S. shine over S**t. We do not use it on any structural parts when rebuilding vintage aircraft as it can ruin your day if a part breaks.

A 2 pack epoxy is realy good but expensive.

Alan

[Bodger Baz]

grit Blast and red oxide is just the job for a jeep chassis. Thanks to the open design Jeep chassis do not suffer with rust issues Land Rovers do, so dont need quite as extreme rust prevention.

 

I can recomend a very good grit blasting service if your in hampshire?

[cripp]

I can only echo what others have said re the powdercoat/paint issue.

Paint is really the only way to go. Just my 2 cents.

[Rick W]

grit Blast and red oxide is just the job for a jeep chassis. Thanks to the open design Jeep chassis do not suffer with rust issues Land Rovers do, so dont need quite as extreme rust prevention.

 

I can recomend a very good grit blasting service if your in hampshire?

Not unless you come as far as North Bucks! Thanks all.