chassis cavitiy protection questions and info

Hi all,

Q: Are there suppossed to be drain holes in the chassis on the underside of teh chassis itself?
The low points of the chassis are the midsections between the wheels but no drain holes underneath?
There is a 20mm or therabouts hole in the side of the chassis in the mid section but other than that, no drain holes on mine (1991 110 defender) except for a few 5-6mm holes dotted around the place on the sides which provides no access for the 8mm tube off the shutz style gun i have.

On another note I found some interesting information on box section and chassis protection in germany where someone called mike sander's has been been using a grease formulation effectively - the links follow:
Cavity Wax
WATJAG Ltd - Derek Watson - Independent Jaguar Specialist
ClubCalibra | Mike Sanders Rust Prevention Grease "Cliff Motorsport Edition Nr.321"
may be worth trying this out!

edit: apart from hot dip galvanising for internal chassis protection would I be right in assuming that marine grease might be a viable option (if thinned with with a solvent ie; white spirit or cellulose thinners for ease of application ?) for internal chassis protection?

There are lots of products, lots of ideas and even more opinions on preventing chassis corrosion. All of them have some merit and you will never get agreement on which is the best solution.

I personally use waxoyl products, they work for me, others will tell you waxoyl is rubbish and Dinitrol is far superior etc etc. At the end of the day, whatever you decide to use, apply it to the best of your ability, redo it every year and you will stave off the inevitable rust for a few years but nothing works forever if you actually want to drive it.

And if you haven't got enough holes to get your chosen product in or let water run out, drill some more.

should be able to find plenty of existing holes/entry points to insert a tube a spray your preferred product - mine is ankor wax as it is easier to spray and disperses water - just my choice!

Station House said:

should be able to find plenty of existing holes

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yep, especially the ones that are not factory made.
All land rovers have access holes retrofitted by a company called "red oxide", or "r.u.s.t.".
They've propably done yours too. They come in different shapes and forms all over your chassis, most popular front outriggers on series vehicles

philvy said:

yep, especially the ones that are not factory made.
All land rovers have access holes retrofitted by a company called "red oxide", or "r.u.s.t.".
They've propably done yours too. They come in different shapes and forms all over your chassis, most popular front outriggers on series vehicles

Click to expand...

:doh: :hysterically_laughi

On my old Series I plugged all the holes in the chassis and then filled it with old engine oil, ran it for a few days and then drained it off.

20 years later, the chassis is still in perfect condition internally and externally because, after draining the oil it was sprayed on the outside.

However, if you have a tub of Alvania 4, it wouldn't do any harm to paint the outside of the chassis with it. I wouldn't try to thin it as that would diminish the properties somewhat!

OSD

The first thing you need to do is determine how much muck is in the chassis, waxoyle on top of damp mud doesn’t help at all, it just traps moisture.

When I got a new takeoff chassis some years ago I knew it was good and clean inside so I was lucky also it was a rolling chassis so easy to apply, all I needed to do was start pumping waxoyle in one end, and when a brown mist starting coming out the other end I knew it was about done! In all seriousness I pumped about a litre into each chassis rail and into any hole I could find and another litre or two on the outside of it.

Every 2 years or so since I did that I have just jet washed the chassis inside and out, left it to dry for a week or so in decent weather and topped up the box section and given the high risk areas (outriggers, rear crossmember etc) a good recoat.

Looking back now, if I had thought about it I would have primed and painted the chassis first with a good tough paint, then waxoyled it.

So if I was you I would get the chassis as clean as you can inside and out (stick a hose into the chassis rail and move it about and let it run till the drain hole water runs clear. Let it all dry out and refrain from driving it through big mucky puddles and things for a while. Then I would get some KURUST or similar and spray that inside the chassis, ideally enough to get all the lower rails coated in the stuff and stop/convert rust. Do the outside too with this.

Let this treatment dry out for a few days (it says you can paint over 15m after if I remember correctly but it takes longer in the chassis without a good airflow), if you are lucky enough to have a garage tidy/big enough to put it in that would be ideal with a bit of heat applied too.

Now I would paint on a good quality paint, or primer/topcoat combo onto the outside of the chassis, get a couple of coats onto the outriggers and rear crossmember, dab it into areas like the seam where the two C sections are spot welded together. Work it into holes on the chassis so that the edges of it are all coated and even some inside the chassis to stop them from rusting out.

Once that has dried then get your choice of black gunge and fill it up, and cover the exterior too.

It’s a fairly long process, but I believe that it’s the best at preventing the longer, more expensive, more MOT failing issues that will inevitably arrive one day!

waldershelf said:

There are lots of products, lots of ideas and even more opinions on preventing chassis corrosion. All of them have some merit and you will never get agreement on which is the best solution.

I personally use waxoyl products, they work for me, others will tell you waxoyl is rubbish and Dinitrol is far superior etc etc. At the end of the day, whatever you decide to use, apply it to the best of your ability, redo it every year and you will stave off the inevitable rust for a few years but nothing works forever if you actually want to drive it.

And if you haven't got enough holes to get your chosen product in or let water run out, drill some more.

Click to expand...

Cheers for that - found the lower drain holes in the main chassis -cant beleive I missed them:doh:
If I do feel the need to drill more holes I assume I have to be careful of wireing that may be in the chassis?

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lol philvy.... mines not so bad yet just a little at the back near the crossmember
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Oldseadog, discomania - thanks for your advice will clean it internally as best I can and fill it up