200tdi Chassis Swap

hey peeps
just started my chassis swap,removed rear tub ,roof and rear door in one go, bloody heavy though!!!!took 4 of us with 2 poles underneath to lift. also removed floor panels, seat box and front screen. omg you wouldnt believe how rotten she is, new galv chassis arrived on friday ready for the transfer, its good fun really just a pain in the a**e when some of the nuts have siezed even after 2 weeks of soakin` with plus-gas, gonna replace bulkhead also, shes rotten as a pear, picked one up from a place called autocraft just outside brum for £95. got some pics to post but not sure where to post them!!!!

Whats your landy? Ive got an 87 110 SW that i want to do this too. Let us know how it works out.

If i was you i would paint the chassis black, makes it look more original and less likely to be nicked.

What do you paint galvanised with? Do you have to prime it all first? Doesnt it all just fall off anyway?

woods767 said:

What do you paint galvanised with? Do you have to prime it all first? Doesnt it all just fall off anyway?

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Ye need tae get a primer for Galvie, it's kinda like etch primer but different if ye get what ah mean

summit like this..

HAMMERITE 48300 GALVANIZED & ALUMINUM PRIMER SIZE:QUART. :: HAMMERITE :: MANUFACTURERS :: Paint-Store.net

Aye - use special metals primer by Hammerite. I got a galv roller shutter and used that stuff to prime it, its water based stuff that you just paint on. Give it a good while to set, it seems to dry after a day but it REALLY dries after about a week.

If you can't wait a week and need to start getting the bits back on then at least paint the exposed areas so as said above it doesn't look like a galv chassis.

You could even waxoyle it too so it looks like a waxoyled chassis.

most acid etch primers will work with galv surfaces.

Regarding your bulkhead, get a can of seam sealer (any good paint shop/body shop) and seam seal EVERY single seam on the bulkhead - its these spot welded seams that are the killers. Once seam sealed give it a couple coats of paint, don't worry about the finnish too much, just get the pillar and vent area looking good.

I also painted my new bulkhead's exterior footwell panels with fibreglass resin. This area is where the mud and stones and water gets flung up from the wheels at the front, the paint chips and thats the metal exposed again. I did my bulkhead 6 months ago and the resin has done a great job, it also makes it easy to clean because its really smooth.

How rust proof is glav? I would have thought it would be a good idea to paint it or waxoil it anyway, as the zinc would corrode into a white powder oxide and look bad. I take it a galv chassis is galvanised inside too?

Aye the whole thing is dipped in bleeding hot zinc. Its rust proofed for life, a landy with one of these should see us all out.

The only time it should rust would be where someone drills a hole in it, or cuts into it, opening up the zinc layer, then rust can get in.

You actully want it to oxidize at that stage ordinary paint will work on it.

As disco sez - any break in the galv will allow corrosion - so make sure the zinc is well protected - waxoil or paint or anything to try and stop stone chips (chippies) or rock damage n stuff.

With a galv chassis, even when you put a bolt through it, if the hole has been made smaller by the galv dip, then you may need to drill it out, or the bolts will not go in too well.

It is advisable in these circumstances to put lots of copper grease on and around the hole and ALWAYS use washers, a washer with lots of copper slip on it, will act like a water tight seal. So no water can ever get at the broken galv skin.

Also, the different metals coming together can cause a galvanic reaction and cause corrosion (like the stuff you get between the ali and steel on the doors), so when you mate up brackets and things, although they may be painted, paint a layer of copper grease onto it, so where it mates it is sealed with grease - tank brackets, gearbox crossmember, engine/gearbox mounts the lot.

If it was me, I would probably paint the whole thing with some black spray paint. Once the landy was done I would do the whole thing, covering the bolts the lot with waxoyle to seal it all up.

woods767 said:

Whats your landy? Ive got an 87 110 SW that i want to do this too. Let us know how it works out.

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Hi
its a def 90 200 tdi on a 92 k plate, rotten as a pear, 12 hours in so far one wing and bulkhead to remove then the engine, beware of other bits to replace when you start as stripping off body reveals hidden nasties. all good fun tho!!!! taken loads of pics

Surely copper grease has copper in it which is a different metal to zinc or steel? Are you not compounding the problem of galvanic reaction? I remember using a copper anode or electrode along with a nail ( not sure which one is which ) in school experiments to make simple batteries.
Why not use clear silicone and galvied washers which will seal and still remain flexible?

CROWBLIND said:

beware of other bits to replace when you start as stripping off body reveals hidden nasties.

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I dont have to strip mine to find nasties, somtimes they just fall off and i find them on the drivway. (bump stops and bits of door to name a fiew)

Took a headlamp off the other day because it was loose, and the circular mount behind it was gone. Completly vanished, cept for a small section of ruts at the two top screw points.

Shifty1962 said:

Surely copper grease has copper in it which is a different metal to zinc or steel? Are you not compounding the problem of galvanic reaction? I remember using a copper anode or electrode along with a nail ( not sure which one is which ) in school experiments to make simple batteries.
Why not use clear silicone and galvied washers which will seal and still remain flexible?

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Mainly as its suspended in the grease. Copper grease on any steel surface would in theory cause a galvanic reaction but its doesn't.

You could use Zinc grease!

You'd be better off using something like Duralac. It's a jointing compound for joining dissimilar metals. I'm in the boat business and for us, copperslip is the angel of death. You should see what it does to aluminium outboards in sea water. I'm not quite sure what copper does to zinc. They are pretty close but there is bound to be some sort of interaction. You want to be a bit careful of silicone as well. Some of them give off acetic acid as they cure which can cause a bit of corrosion. Use a polyurethane sealant instead.

just found the battery box under the seat box and sill channel are rotted, anyone got them for sale????

YRM do replacements.