Leepea

Leepea

Member
OkaY... I've read the forum(s) LOTS and lots and I get it, DONT waste your time on the old chassis get a new galvy spanky new one, the inside is rotten, you will never fix it etc, but.....
I don't want to, I want to fix up my old chassis and preserve it for all time, weld it to perfection and paint it waxoil it love it, keep it original without the nasty galvy shiny shiz..
But seriously I really want to cut out any manky bits and weld new bits in and do a nice job followed by preservation for however long I can. I have been deliberating over this for 2 years and keep going around and around without ever making a decision.... Please help
 
Leepea said:
OkaY... I've read the forum(s) LOTS and lots and I get it, DONT waste your time on the old chassis get a new galvy spanky new one, the inside is rotten, you will never fix it etc, but.....
I don't want to, I want to fix up my old chassis and preserve it for all time, weld it to perfection and paint it waxoil it love it, keep it original without the nasty galvy shiny shiz..
But seriously I really want to cut out any manky bits and weld new bits in and do a nice job followed by preservation for however long I can. I have been deliberating over this for 2 years and keep going around and around without ever making a decision.... Please help
Click to expand...

I don't think it is so interesting you need to post 2 threads about it, mate. ;)
 
Cease thine prevarication! If the Landy wants you to fix it, go for it, can always galv it after fixing it and then waxoil the bejeezus out of it
 
You could plaster a chassis that is rotting from the inside out with Waxoyl.

The question remains..

How much do you cut out!

A galv chassis can be painted if you detest shiny stuff so much.
 
It's not so much the shiny but more what it means. Almost the easy out, undoubtedly the best option but I am looking for somebody to say.... No, fix it well and it will last forever the inner rust is a myth and a well patched chassis is authentic and worth the effort. Or, your a cheapskate just replace it..
 
Leepea said:
It's not so much the shiny but more what it means. Almost the easy out, undoubtedly the best option but I am looking for somebody to say.... No, fix it well and it will last forever the inner rust is a myth and a well patched chassis is authentic and worth the effort. Or, your a cheapskate just replace it..
Click to expand...

Weird logic I must say..

Covering a rotting chassis with plates is surely more of a cheapskate option than replacing it?

Ehh..

What do i know.
 
source.gif
 
Thank you, deep down I knew it but I suppose my real question is, should I keep and restore an original chassis to as good a standard as I can and would it be more authentic and appealing.. Does a new and better galv chassis give more value than originality?
 
Leepea said:
Thank you, deep down I knew it but I suppose my real question is, should I keep and restore an original chassis to as good a standard as I can and would it be more authentic and appealing.. Does a new and better galv chassis give more value than originality?
Click to expand...

Galv chassis.. OBVS..
 
I had a similar dream to restore my chassis, but that idea swiftly disintegrated, like my chassis.
Once i got a few plates welded in, and many hours of work, I realised I'd still be welding the fekin thing today, and that was 2 years ago!

Alas, a galv chassis it was.
 
Leepea said:
.... No, fix it well and it will last forever the inner rust is a myth and.......................
Click to expand...

Inner rust is no myth, it's guaranteed that if you can see it on the outside there will be a ****load more on the inside.
 
windy81 said:
I had a similar dream to restore my chassis, but that idea swiftly disintegrated, like my chassis.
Once i got a few plates welded in, and many hours of work, I realised I'd still be welding the fekin thing today, and that was 2 years ago!

Alas, a galv chassis it was.
Click to expand...
A local welder did a deal with our garage to take old chassis for renovation each time we did a galv-change. After 2 he decided that it was a lot more work than it would ever be worth! :eek:

Doing it in-situ would be a total nightmare!!! :p:p
 
The galvanised chassis soon loses its shine and goes dull and chalky. Still looks good though and well worth the trouble of fitting new over old and patched. Option of new is gone if you cannot afford one, then patching will be the way to go.
 
Leepea said:
OkaY... I've read the forum(s) LOTS and lots and I get it, DONT waste your time on the old chassis get a new galvy spanky new one, the inside is rotten, you will never fix it etc, but.....
I don't want to, I want to fix up my old chassis and preserve it for all time, weld it to perfection and paint it waxoil it love it, keep it original without the nasty galvy shiny shiz..
But seriously I really want to cut out any manky bits and weld new bits in and do a nice job followed by preservation for however long I can. I have been deliberating over this for 2 years and keep going around and around without ever making a decision.... Please help
Click to expand...
Are you a welder? Or can you weld to a professional level with guaranteed good welds?

You could send it to a steel fabricator for an overhaul.

If it was me and I was being mad for a bit, I would take the chassis off, send it for blasting - then see just how bad or not is it. Then make a sensible call. I don't want to drive along a motorway at 70mph with a patchwork quilt, I like your sentiment but just get the new one. However, if it is OK, then I would jig it and cut out the rot - I would make CAD drawings of all the parts I need and have them laser cut for perfection.

I would then weld them in using good MIG wire and really take my time - even better I would have my friend TIG it all and it would look like a work of art. You will probably spend about as much fixing a rotter up properly as just doing a swap. You will also spend more money unless the chassis is really in OK condition, in which case you would not be on here worrying about.

The issue is that to do this properly you need to take it off - once it is off, if you had a new chassis the rebuild would commence, however, once your chassis was off, that would only be the beginning of an uncertain road.

Mark Evans once took a Range Rover chassis to make it into a 100inch Defender, find the video of the chassis prep and welding/galv stage and you will see that even with a fairly decent, in his case, chassis, it took a lot of effort and he had the backing of being in a fully kitted out workshop, access to trailers to move the chassis about, experts who came and taught him how to weld (and no doubt did most of it off camera).
 
Last edited:
Leepea said:
Thank you, deep down I knew it but I suppose my real question is, should I keep and restore an original chassis to as good a standard as I can and would it be more authentic and appealing.. Does a new and better galv chassis give more value than originality?
Click to expand...
As a Materials Engineer, with a PhD in Corrosion, and a great deal of interest in Landies, when I had to choose what to do to protect the chassis of my new 6x6 it was a no-brainer. Painting the outside with fancy epoxy-based coating systems is all well and good, but after 25 years all that's left is the paint! Painting the inside never works because no-one can ever prepare the surface suitably for the paint system to work. Galvanising by hot dipping is the answer. The chemical dips before the zinc bath ensure removal of all the nasties we don't want to be there, and the zinc finds all the little holes, corners and hard to reach bits that paint systems can easily bridge over.
The secret to any protection is always preparation. Unless a surface is prepared properly, whatever protection you put on will be of limited use and benefit. Manufacturers claim all sorts of benefits and life extensions, but that is almost always for virtually laboratory prepared samples with short terms tests extrapolated to many years. The real world is different! As a colleague of mine used to say "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're not!"
Go Galvanising, or Rover-Chrome as I've heard it referred to!
 
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