Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => Bonneville General Chat => Topic started by: duocentodownunder on July 19, 2016, 04:50:10 AM
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First Post, so please be kind! Building a car for the salt (Studebaker Avanti) and was considering galvanising the chassis for protection from the salt. Worthwhile?
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Hi Ian. I replied to the idea already in your introduction before I came across this posting.
My recommendation is don't do it. I stated the reasons in the other post but basically galvanizing and welding don't get along well together.
Pete
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My advice, build your chassis, lightly sand blast it and use POR15 as a base coat. Then top coat it with the color you want. POR15 breaks down in sun light. It is one of the best metal coatings out there. It does not chip easy and it is impervious to moisture. I talked to the POR15 guys at PRI and they were really interested in Bonneville because of the harsh environment. I like products that work and ones where the people connect with their
http://www.por15.com/ (http://www.por15.com/)
My 2 cents.
BR
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I agree with Pete, especially if you are using galvanized material to build with. If your talking post weld galvanize, that opens up a whole new can of worms. Galvanizing is a hot dip coating process that can re-leave residual welding stresses, so are you going to have a chassis when your done, or a pile of spaghetti.
Smaller parts can be cadmium plated, not sure how well that would hold up thou.
Rouse
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Fumes when welding are pretty toxic too aren't they ?
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Yes, the zinc fumes are toxic. Even in small doses it gives you symptoms that are similar to a case of flu.
Regards, Neil
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Fumes when welding are pretty toxic too aren't they ?
Welding fumes can be somewhat toxic but nowhere near what zinc fumes are. There are lots of us who have welded for years without any detrimental effect. Smoking is generally much more toxic and exposure to zinc fumes for even a few minutes can result in zinc chills which feels like a really nasty case of the flu.
Pete
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Salt water is especially harsh on zinc plating.
It depends on how many years you will be racing. My bike is on the tenth year and I would be hours of work and $ ahead if the frame was made from stainless steel. The higher initial cost would be more than offset by the lower maintenance.
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Two Word's: Powder Coating. I built My Studebaker in 1997/98 and had the entire chassis/roll cage/and all suspension parts powdercoated and they are the only parts that have held up. Now headers is another story. I have had four sets of headers done (two by Jet Hot) and nothing works if your exhaust is as close to the ground as mine. The best results have been aluminum metal spray which is basically a giant oxy/acetelene torch with a big air compressor and a wire spool that feeds to the torch and is melted into droplets and blown on to the parent metal. It is commonly used to repair large diesel blocks and heads to build journals back up.
Back to the powder coating, if I was starting over I would powdercoat the entire car, body and all. In fact, when I croak I intend to have MY body powdercoated and given to Stan Back for His living room. O.R.B., out................................................................. :wink: :roll:
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I'll remember that Bob since I'm going to live forever, what color would you like to be? :-D
Sid.
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Back to the powder coating, if I was starting over I would powdercoat the entire car, body and all. In fact, when I croak I intend to have MY body powdercoated and given to Stan Back for His living room. O.R.B., out................................................................. :wink: :roll:
Capital idea! :mrgreen: That would give him a great way to store the "hat" you made him! :evil:
Mike
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Too bad O.R.B. already promised himself to Stan, he would have made a great raffle item for Landracing.com.
:roll:
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Probably the same color as all of my Bonneville T shirts, coffee stain/50W oil brown............... :-P
ORB, out...................................
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thanks Guys for the input.It was more about whether any body had tried it. I am aware of the toxic effect of the fumes when welding gal however I had no intention of reworking the frame after dipping, it was just about maintenance and perhaps kicking a goal early when its down to her bare bones. I will stick with plan A and blast,etch prime and powdercote . might help the poor guy who resurrects the car in 20 years and attempts to put it back on the street!
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"...the poor guy who resurrects the car in 20 years and attempts to put it back on the street! "
Well, that's one way to look at it. :-D
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"the guy who resurrects" If anyone is going to do that, they have to get over "SALT FEVER" first. I've never heard of anyone being cured permanently without relapses.
Ron
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I'd recommend using an epoxy primer after sandblasting. I used a 2-part zinc chromate epoxy primer from Aircraft Spruce and a polyurethane topcoat on my chassis. It hasn't been on the salt yet, though.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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If/when you have to make a change to the chassis, powder coating is a real bear to get off enough to weld properly and difficult or impossible to paint to match. With Neil's solution, touching up is a piece of cake.
Ron
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You mite look at Rust Rocket (RR) too. I used it on a rusted rear deck of my auto and has not displayed any sign of rust since (over four years). RR says it is good for more than ten years. Not sure how long it would last on virgin steel. One downside; it is a bit too thick to spray. Maybe it could be thinned but not sure what it would do to properties. Some that have used POR15 say RR is better.
John
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I've successfully used a product called Hammerite "Rust Cap". It's made for industrial equipment (rusted or not) and was designed to use in the field. It's very thick and can be brushed on (although they also sell spray cans -- it doesn't go on as easy or thick) and dries and sets up to a "hammered metal" finish.
I can't get it in California any longer. I bought it at an industrial supply supply house and later Home Depot carried it. It was available in about six finishes -- a couple of grays, black, aluminum and bronze. I used a couple of colors on all the chassis parts not chromed plus the roll cage. It's easy to use and didn't present any problems when we modified the cage after a couple of years.
It's held up for 15 years -- I think it's a great product if still available.
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Stan, are you ill or something? Everything okay?
You appear to have made an entire post without calling someone a dorky name or being a snot at a non-roadster guy or something. This just ain't you.
Whatsamatta? :roll:
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(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee171/4-BarrelMike/Miscellaneous%20stuff/rotfl.gif)
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Well, it needs to be well ventilated -- so I'd guess it wouldn't work on coupes.
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Out of respect for the Newbie from Down Unda, I refrained from saying this earlier.
Now that the sites two "Official Grammatical Dictators" have spoken (They being Mr. Slim and Mr. Back) I would like to announce that Galvanize is the proper spelling according to Webster's New World Dictionary. One wonders how much they have now forgotten.
Zank You Very Much,
Oldz One Run, out.....................................................
:roll: :wink: :-D :mrgreen:
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Bob, you know as well as I do that I remember a good many things from the 60s and 70s. Dozens of things, I bet.
And one of 'em is that it's very common for Brits and others to use an n"s" instead of a "z" when spelling words such as "galvanis/ze". Out of courtesy to a newcomer that obviously had a valid question that I thought should be posed undisturbed I didn't mention the error of his ways -- posting in the landracing.com Forum with first receiving written permission from Stan and or me to use alternate spellings.
Will they never learn, Stan? Okay, everyone else -- coffee break is over -- back on your heads. :dhorse:
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I did finish paint a race bike 3 times ... never planned on welding it again either
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Another consideration to take into account is that galvanizing is "slick". If you have 2 fretting surfaces that are dependent on friction to stay put, it will not.