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Hot dip galvanized old chassis


Gazzar

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I've been persuaded to get my chassis project hot dip galvanized. 

It's an old chassis, extensive repairs, lots of internal paint and rust.

So, not a typical job.

I'm based in Gloucestershire, does anyone have good experiences with galv outfits in this area?

G.

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No, but they will acid dip the chassis before zinc dipping as they'll not want contamination, so don't worry about paint and dirt inside - it'll be gone by the time they galvanise it.

As if they would be willing to suspend it over the tank to warm up before dipping and to cool above (an extended drain period), as the heat above the tank will give more gradual warm up and cool down which gives less distortion.  It shouldn't be a problem to leave it suspended just above the tank if they do it last item of the day.

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Double dipping is best, but more than doubled the cost. 575 plus vat.

So I'm going for single dip, and dinatrol/equivalent. 250 plus vat.

G.

 

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I had my chassis, still in good condition and with no repairs, grit blasted before having it hot dipped.  They dipped it in acid and I believe that they followed it with a caustic dip to remove any grease, but after my chassis standing outside for about three months there are significant rust stains coming from inside the enclosed channel sections.  Obviously the acid and caustic dips did not adequately clean inside the channels to allow zinc to be deposited.  I guess I'll be spraying some sort of oil/wax or underseal to slow down the inevitable internal corrosion.  Sorry the text is so small, I don't know what has happened or how to get it back to normal size:(.

Mike

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I'm talking to Hereford and Newport.

Newport are coming back with a price, but did respond to the email, Hereford didn't respond to the email, so I phoned.

G.

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I used Cardiff galvanisers. They picked up and delivered back to Somerset. They did not quibble and were very professional about the whole process. I phoned them and then emailed photo's of all the parts. They then gave me a rough idea of cost.  I paid £370 for the chassis, bulkhead, gearbox cross member, sills and pillars and other parts back in 2012. 

http://www.cardiffgalvanizers.co.uk/

They have fleet of vehicles and this shows the area they cover.

http://www.cardiffgalvanizers.co.uk/cardiff-galvanizers-fleet

I have attached two photo's so that you can see the quality of what they did.5ab162881c8bd_Peterlandrover(3).thumb.jpg.e3d74ef5adb66a3879e427d3923e9d63.jpg5ab16256602ee_Peterlandrover(1).thumb.jpg.b6bc60c798000d9ff742b3b4d92f41a9.jpg

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If your old chassis has had repairs done to it for what ever reason rust or damage you will not know where the weak bits are with more  rust not yet broken through and looking good on the outside but not knowing what is lurking on the inside.  Wait and do a new chassis or just keep fixing the old one.

I do a bit of off road driving in my 110 that could be doing with a chassis but the cost would rule it out and there is no way I would want to damage a new galvanised chassis off roading. I bought a mig and do repairs my self until the day I have enough saved for a new gal chassis and no off roading in the 110. If you have seen the inside of an old chassis you will have a good idea of what might be lurking.

Good luck with it what ever you decide. 

Mark

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I've had stuff galvanised through Chris at CLH Trailers. If I recall he uses someone in the Bristol area. Very competitive pricing but that was a number of years ago.

Possibly worth getting in touch with either Chris or Andrew there and seeing what they can recommend. Very helpful bunch. 

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Mike, when I had mine done I had to have the front outriggers replaced, the front dumb irons repaired and the rear cross member replaced. What however had made up my mind that I could have it dipped was the repair patch behind both sides of the gear box crossmember showed that the internal chassis was not in bad condition. Know what other repairs I had done, I thought I could trust the rest of the chassis.

Attached a photo of the b pillars from today. I can't to my untrained eye see any distortion. Also photo from the bulkhead painting from today. This is the wet filler primer over the acid etch after twashing. The streak marks from the galvanising are still visible. Not sure if they will disappear once sanded. If not, they will add character to the vehicle20180321_101329.thumb.jpg.bebf1b047d9caabc2c2d435d76e7826e.jpg20180321_162827.thumb.jpg.d6125dd55a3e76536aa595267c224750.jpg

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That bulkhead looks very nice.....

We had both a 17 year old chassis - with repairs done to it - and a 21 year old bulkhead done back in Holland a long, long time ago.

Friend with optic thingie came by last year and we had a look inside the chassis and the bulkhead. Looks good to me.

Obviously, new steel is easier to dip - but old steel is not impossible to do properly.

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I've done a lot of work on the chassis, it's about 33% new.

I'll get it shot blasted next, that will find any remaining problems.

I'm now thinking I'll just get it single dipped, and use tons of cavity wax.

That should do for a garaged toy.

Thanks.

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One advantage of a single dip is I can spray the chassis number with vht paint and it should survive the process of dipping intact.

Huzzah!

 

Can I paint epoxy on galv?

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On 21/03/2018 at 7:59 AM, Troll Hunter said:

A very good point, BW, about internal corrosion.  Apart from an ultrasonic thickness meter, and I just don't have one, I suppose the only tests for internal corrosion are the good and trusty hammer and screwdriver tests.

Mike

Boroscopes are cheap these days. They fit through the drain holes in the bottom, or you can drill some inspection points without weakening the chassis.

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The trouble with the cheap ones is the quality of the picture. It's very easy for it to make something look a hell of a lot worse than it actually is. I borrowed a cheapy one from work and poked it down a piece of new 16mm steel tube I was using for my oil pipe. It made the tube look awful. I know it wasn't as I'd cut a few sections up. Just something to be aware of.

On the other hand if you've got a spare £5-6K you can get the all singing all dancing ones with a crazily good quality picture and a movable head! 

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If you go to the shotblasters, can you leave the rear crossmember and front dumbirons off? That way, you could get them to blast the inside with a lance, then weld it back together and galvanize it. That would give you the best end result, even with a single dip. 

I have used Peterborough galvanizers and Southampton Galvanizers. The Peterborough one was absolutely brilliant, the Southampton one was garbage.

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