Leading on from New Chassis Quandry

[white90]

I see there are Galvanized ones appearing on ebay but these are old ones repaired then galvanized,

I already have an old one so don't want another, seeing some of the builds in Members vehicles would it be a better idea to make one/get one made rather than fork out for a new L/R one then get that galvanized.

what have you done?

[cieranc]

Ashtree seem to do the job properly. They do repair them, though I understand to a high standard.

http://www.ashtreelandrover.com/

How much does a new LR bulkhead cost, out of curiosity?

My 110 has had a new rear cross member fitted before I got it, and bulkhead repair corners and footwells done. But the rust is starting to creep through again. I'm not a fan of patching things/constantly chasing the rust around. As it is it's solid and has a good few years left in it, but is niggling me. So I have the same quandry as you: spend a couple of grand on a re-chassis and bulkhead, or sell it as is and put that money, and chassis/bulkhead money towards something else?

[white90]

£500 on ebay brand new

£775 is a hell of a lot nigh on a chassis price!

I reckon I could get one made in better steel and better quality

for a reasonable price,

[Aragorn]

I paid £200 for a brand new TD5 bulkhead from Craddocks a couple of years back (yep the 90 has taken this long!)

Dont seem to be about any more though at that price :/

[mike4444244]

I paid approx £50 for a second hand one, £20 to have it blasted, I then spent a day welding it up (I'm a philistine I don't like vent flaps!) then waxoyled/painted it to death, If I was doing it again I'd defo get it galved...

Mike

[English Gent]

I'm probably beginning to sound like I'm flogging this stuff, but honestly I'm not. There is a specialist anti-corrosion treatment called Zinga. It's aimed squarely at the industrial markets, but they will sell it and ship it to anyone. It's a paint which is roundabout 95% zinc (or 97%?) which is applied to shot blasted bare steel or abraded existing galvanising. I bought a pattern IIA bulkhead from Craddocks, brought it home and built a large box so I could grit blast it back to bare metal and then painted it. I used an extension probe kit with waxoyl to treat the internal sections. Once the Zinga was dried (very quick drying) my Dad brush painted the bulkhead in marine coachpaint (luckily he used to be a coach painter/sign writer). It still looked perfect when I made the hard decision to let her go.

Also I treated a set of secondhand sills by wire brushing all the surface dirt and oxide off and then gave them a coat of zinga at the same time as the bulkhead. I left those bare, but again, they still looked spot.

[bishbosh]

Zinga is just a zinc rich paint, like galvafroid and many others - you end up with some zinc on the surface of the steel. No real bond worth talking about.

Very good for touching up scratches / cut edges of galv'd steel, but don't be fooled into thinking it is anywhere near as robust or effective as galvanising.

[cieranc]

For newly blasted/bare steel, a good strong acid etch is the only thing I would use as a base coat.