Stainless Steel Chassis - Paint Or Not..?

[Guest Twoscoops]

At last I've just picked up my 2B and I was wondering.....I 've got the S/S chassis which I know you don't need to paint but has anyone tried polishing the rollover bar behind the seats, if so what with and how did you do it...???

[Guest Ant]

Wet and dry will polish up the rear bars, and tidy the welds up very gently with a flap wheel and angle grinder.

 

Some would say that you should paint the chassis on the welds. There is some debate as to whether stainless welding rods were used to not to make the chassis. Personally I haven't sealed the welds on mine as I was too far into the build when I came across the idea. It is mentioned on the last video I think.

 

Ant

[Guest daveg]

I didn't paint the chassis either, the roll bar comes up great, I used wire wool and a tube of polish I had in the tool box...

 

I intend to underseal underneath and leave the rest bare. If you do paint it you will scratch most off while fitting panels etc

 

Dave

[Joel]

If you do paint it you will scratch most off while fitting panels

 

I can confirm that. I have the mild steel chassis so I had no choice but to paint. I aint half depressing when you've spent ages getting a good paint finish only to see it all scratched off.

 

The good thing is when the car's finished you only see the roll bar, so just try and protect that as best you can.

[Guest DaveB]

I asked Richard if he used stainless steel wire when welding the SS chassis and he assured me that he does.

 

Dave B

[Guest daveg]

Unfortuantly...some stainless steel will rust so you would have to ask what quality the wire was and the chassis come to that

 

Dave

[Guest bloke]

ant

 

if you were goin to paint the welds, what would you use?

[Guest Julian B]

hi

 

Try a magnet on the stainless steel as it will give you an idea of how much iron is in it. And this might give you an idea of how it will rust, perhaps.

[Guest Twoscoops]

Thanks for your help.....and and I haven't even started assemblying the kit yet...!!!

 

I hope there isn't a limitation on how many posts this board can handle....may be quite busy over the next few months...!!!!

 

Thanks Again

 

Rich

[Guest Ant]

The magnet test tells you whether it's "austenitic" or "non austentic". This has nothing to do with rusting. ALL stainless steel will rust. The question is in which millenium it will happen!

 

But anyway, sealing the weld joints. Starting again I would simply prime them with a red oxide primer. It doesn't have to be neat as they're covered up once you fit the panels. The exposed ones on the roll-over bar and around the spare wheel I'd either just clean them up, or possibly paint the whole of the exposed part black like the RHE stainless / blue demo car. You could put an enamel top coat over the red oxide to make it neater if you like. The point is to stop the moisture getting in so anything will do really.

 

I've used a lot of hamerite in my build simply because it was already in the garage from painting the garden gates and stuff. It does chip really really easyily though so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

 

Ant

[Jon Bradbury]

Regarding the quality / type of the tubing used, my chassis has some markings on it that indicate the tube maker and some other stuff which might give a clue as to the grade of steel used. These markings are sprayed on in black using a dot matrix type print head, so they can be removed. ave a look round your chassis to see if you can spot anything like it.

 

Sorry I cannot tell you what my markings say (I'm at work at the momemnt).

[Guest TerryBarry]

The chassis is made using 409 grade stainless - this has a chromium (Cr) content of 11% and very little nickel (Ni). This material is used in the automobile industry for exhaust components - it is also used to produce cheap stainless cutlery.

The 18/8 grades ( 18%Cr 8%Ni ) are more rust resistant an example of this is 304.

316 grade contains 17% Cr ; 12% Ni and around 2.5% molybdenum.

My chassis stood outside for 3 months last winter (covered with plastic sheet) after this there was surface rust on a couple of HT bolts - there was a hint of rusting along the seam line of the tube where it was stressed by the bending process but no rust on any of the visible and untreated welds.

I also have an old BBQ which has a stainless steel back - no idea what grade but a magnet sticks like glue - this is still shiny after years of use - even the side that is not protected by a thin layer of grease.

 

To fill in those little gaps around the bodywork - especially firewalls and seat back panel I'm using 0.7mm S527 grade stainless (manufactured by Krupps) and some 0.5mm bright annealed sheet (grade & maker unknown) purchased locally - neither of these attract a magnet.

If I'd known how much additional material I needed I would have picked up an 8 x 4 sheet at RHE with the kit - it's a long drive to Mansfield.

Cheers,

Terry

[Guest Ant]

I agree on the 8x4 sheet. I bought one about 3 months into the build and have so far used it for panelling the inside of the side panels, making various gap filling pieces, and I'm hoping to panel the boot out with it, though I may run out before that happens! An 8x4 sheet is a bit arkward to work with, but it's well worth the 40 quid compared to scavenging tiny off-cuts and mixing in pieces of mild from the donor etc.

 

Ant

[Guest TerryBarry]

It's OK for those who live within an arrow's shot of Sherwood Forest Ant.

It's probably something that prospective builders should consider -chuck one in the back of the van.

£40 does not seem a bad price for 32 sq ft of sheet stainless.

However it would cost me around £33 in petrol alone to collect it - at that price I'll be down the local sheet metal works again.

As and when I line my boot out I'll probably use sheet aluminium - just so much easier to work with.

Terry

[Guest Julian B]

Sorry if the magnet thing was a red kipper.

 

But if the chassis is going to rust ( welds or seams ) whats the point of a stainless steel option?