Chassis acid dipping??

[F.J.]

Morning all,

After years of wanting one I've finally become a Land Rover owner!!! It's an 'L' reg disco commercial 200tdi, for it's age and mileage it goes great and isn't that bad condition wise. It does need welding to the body mounts and also has a small hole in the chassis so I will be taking the body off while I work on it. The axles have recently been overhauled although I'll be checking them over myself but my main area of concern is the chassis. I'm half expecting to find more corrosion once the body is removed and have heard good things about acid dipping being the best way to clean the chassis of all rust?? I was going to blast it myself but obviously the inside of the chassis rails won't get touched this way.

Has anyone ever had a chassis acid dipped before and if so what kind of prices can I expect to hear and is it really as good as I have heard? If it works so well then I'd like to send mine off to see if it's worth repairing or replacing?
Thanks

 

[CompoSimmonite]

If you get it galvanized then they acid dip automatically as part of the preparation. In fact I've had parts just dunked in the acid bath to derust them and gets rid of virtually everything other than the occasional very deep pit of rust scale. I'm lucky that mate is foreman of a galv plant

 

[F.J.]

If you get it galvanized then they acid dip automatically as part of the preparation. In fact I've had parts just dunked in the acid bath to derust them and gets rid of virtually everything other than the occasional very deep pit of rust scale. I'm lucky that mate is foreman of a galv plant

I asked the local Galv firm yesterday but they wouldn't just dip it for me, they said they would have to Galv it too but I jut want it stripping back so I can see the repairs!! Don't suppose your mate works at Widnes Galv does he? Wink wink!

 

[Fazerruss]

I asked the local Galv firm yesterday but they wouldn't just dip it for me, they said they would have to Galv it too but I jut want it stripping back so I can see the repairs!! Don't suppose your mate works at Widnes Galv does he? Wink wink!

Tell them you do want it galvanized too but you need it back in between to do some welding.

 

[Kent]

why not blast it to see the repairs then do them and get it acid dipped and galved? to be fair your going to a lot of trouble doing that for an already rusty chassis though. I should skip all that go over it with a hammer and old screwdriver find any bad spots and repair then good old fashioned waxoil etc. I assume you aint paid a lot so why let it stand you at a lot

 

[Kent]

Tell them you do want it galvanized too but you need it back in between to do some welding.

They are unlikely to do that as they acid dip just prior as they don't want trash in the tank

 

[awemawson]

If you've gone that far buy a new galvanised chassis and re-build it on that. By the time you've blasted it, welded what's apparent and waxoyled it you still end up with a chassis that has been rusting from the inside outwards so is thinner and weaker.

 

[Kent]

If you've gone that far buy a new galvanised chassis and re-build it on that. By the time you've blasted it, welded what's apparent and waxoyled it you still end up with a chassis that has been rusting from the inside outwards so is thinner and weaker.

obviously the best way if your prepared to spend and want it right. as many say though far better to not buy rusty cars

 

[MattF]

as many say though far better to not buy rusty cars

Slight logic/thinking flaw there though. It's a Land Rover. They won't come in any other form.

 

[colnerov]

Slight logic/thinking flaw there though. It's a Land Rover. They won't come in any other form.

How very dare you!! It's called patina.

 

[F.J.]

why not blast it to see the repairs then do them and get it acid dipped and galved? to be fair your going to a lot of trouble doing that for an already rusty chassis though. I should skip all that go over it with a hammer and old screwdriver find any bad spots and repair then good old fashioned waxoil etc. I assume you aint paid a lot so why let it stand you at a lot

I restored two classic mercs a while back and loved doing it, it was different work from what I do on a daily basis and off roading seems to be getting popular round my area. So with my passion for both restorations and 4x4's I thought I may go a bit overboard on this as a form of advertising for myself to see if I can pick up more of the same kind of work.

I may just do what you suggest though, blast the outside, carry out the repairs then get it dipped and galv'd. I'll have to see if doing that is more benificial than just replacing it altogether

 

[Kent]

I restored two classic mercs a while back and loved doing it, it was different work from what I do on a daily basis and off roading seems to be getting popular round my area. So with my passion for both restorations and 4x4's I thought I may go a bit overboard on this as a form of advertising for myself to see if I can pick up more of the same kind of work.

I may just do what you suggest though, blast the outside, carry out the repairs then get it dipped and galv'd. I'll have to see if doing that is more benificial than just replacing it altogether

Oh, back in my twenties I was the man with land rovers and off - road driving. Rebuilt a few from scratch lost my shirt on every one of them and series landys were mega popular then and dead easy to sell (in auto mart Thursday and gone by sat noon) as long as they were SWB (especially the air portable) or LWB but only in the safari. New outriggers, back member a good clean out steam clean the engine etc blast of paint and 12mnths ticket and doubled my money every go so I learned never dig too deep on them
I totally get the advertising thing that's a cracking idea (round Canal st a big pink one might go down a treat) seriously though if you want a lot of that sort of work it could be good but an advert in the club mags might be even better? Getting noticed on the steet is akways good though its like a mobile sighn and will stand out among the sea of transits. I suppose you full well know what your getting into from your previous occupation? And have your eyes wide open to the real facts but my mrs came home the other night and mentioned a new contact she met through work who was well into all that stuff and was asking her "if" I? Got to be honest I did wince. As a chassis or rolling chassis fine, a bulkhead that can sit in the shop etc. but the rest of the crawling under stuff I cant be doing with . In fact I have mentioned rear cross members on series work before on here I likely shouldn't do one now unless it was a really great new chassis that got smashed - just lift the floor and do a back section from the get go. Too many nightmare midnight jobs I suppose

What I did do on bare chassis that worked ok was sandblast (I got this cheap as I transformed a waggon into a mobile blasting unit for a guy) actually he was an iddy biddy new start company then Today 20+ years latter the firm is a bit mega. sort any remedial work and paint with "Galvafroid? paint" looked recent you cant seem to get it and then paint with this rubbery type black paint - cant remember the name! then pump it full of waxoil. The new ones though I have never really worked on, the first 90 I drove I broke the prop about 50 yards into a field and it put me off.

 

[julianf]

If its a disco, then the chassis is the least of your worries....

 

[F.J.]

Oh, back in my twenties I was the man with land rovers and off - road driving. Rebuilt a few from scratch lost my shirt on every one of them and series landys were mega popular then and dead easy to sell (in auto mart Thursday and gone by sat noon) as long as they were SWB (especially the air portable) or LWB but only in the safari. New outriggers, back member a good clean out steam clean the engine etc blast of paint and 12mnths ticket and doubled my money every go so I learned never dig too deep on them
I totally get the advertising thing that's a cracking idea (round Canal st a big pink one might go down a treat) seriously though if you want a lot of that sort of work it could be good but an advert in the club mags might be even better? Getting noticed on the steet is akways good though its like a mobile sighn and will stand out among the sea of transits. I suppose you full well know what your getting into from your previous occupation? And have your eyes wide open to the real facts but my mrs came home the other night and mentioned a new contact she met through work who was well into all that stuff and was asking her "if" I? Got to be honest I did wince. As a chassis or rolling chassis fine, a bulkhead that can sit in the shop etc. but the rest of the crawling under stuff I cant be doing with . In fact I have mentioned rear cross members on series work before on here I likely shouldn't do one now unless it was a really great new chassis that got smashed - just lift the floor and do a back section from the get go. Too many nightmare midnight jobs I suppose

What I did do on bare chassis that worked ok was sandblast (I got this cheap as I transformed a waggon into a mobile blasting unit for a guy) actually he was an iddy biddy new start company then Today 20+ years latter the firm is a bit mega. sort any remedial work and paint with "Galvafroid? paint" looked recent you cant seem to get it and then paint with this rubbery type black paint - cant remember the name! then pump it full of waxoil. The new ones though I have never really worked on, the first 90 I drove I broke the prop about 50 yards into a field and it put me off.

I understand where your coming from but it's also down to my nature of 'if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it as it should be'. I've patched many a sill and chassis but I wouldn't want it like that on mine. Saying that, a lot of people don't want to pay so could look like I'd charge too much so if I repaired it the way I've repaired others (to a customers budget) at least they can see the quality of one of my 'budget' repairs?
I'm not after selling it after it's done but to use it for work and the odd but of green laning so I will also be doing a few mods to it (again possibly opening up a few doors to more work). It will be getting a full respray and kept clean just like I do with my van. I believe a vehicle is just as good an advert for the type of work you produce rater than turning up in a battered old banger

 

[F.J.]

If its a disco, then the chassis is the least of your worries....

I know, the previous owner has replaced the sills with box section and the boot floor with chequer plate but it also needs 4 body mounts replacing. I am hoping to start stripping it out next week so I will see just how bad it then.
I can see a big thread coming for this one!!

 

[Spark plug]

The main areas to look at are the rear crossmember and body mounts they are always the first bit to go. Then look at the big crossmember ware the rear axle a frame bolts on, usually they rot inbetwen the guessets on top of the chassis.

 

[Kent]

I understand where your coming from but it's also down to my nature of 'if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it as it should be'. I've patched many a sill and chassis but I wouldn't want it like that on mine. Saying that, a lot of people don't want to pay so could look like I'd charge too much so if I repaired it the way I've repaired others (to a customers budget) at least they can see the quality of one of my 'budget' repairs?
I'm not after selling it after it's done but to use it for work and the odd but of green laning so I will also be doing a few mods to it (again possibly opening up a few doors to more work). It will be getting a full respray and kept clean just like I do with my van. I believe a vehicle is just as good an advert for the type of work you produce rater than turning up in a battered old banger

Defiantly on agreement with the Van thing. I run a new Pick-up in bright red all signed up and I do get stopped and asked, so far strangely though I haven't won one of those jobs but I suspect they are people wanting to poach an employee for a foreigner they do that a lot you know I started paying my fitters 5% commission on those leads and suddenly got loads in to quote