Homebrew rust protection for chassis

[Shayne]

I've read all sorts about about Dinitrol and Waxoil and lots more about homemade concoctions usually involving old engine oil and remain unconvinced any of them will last long enough to make it worthwhile .
Trying to think outside the box i am tempted to try using pure Tung oil which can be thinned with white spirits . Liberon do a spirit based wood dye in ebony which i would guess should mix with the tung ok resulting in the desired effect of a black waterproof coating which dries like paint but is in fact a natural resin like finish and so should meet legal requirements .

Any thoughts or comments

 

[Towpack]

May or may not work but I reckon Tung oil would dry to a finish that is too brittle and would chip easily. Ideally you need a flexilble, chip proof coating but the problem with rust protection, as always, is getting rid of or neutralising existing rust first, otherwise any coating you apply, no matter how resilient it is, will just flake off as the rust emerges.

 

[Shayne]

Despite going hard tung never really dries , rub it with white spirit and it becomes liquid again , plus its a favourite on wooden boats which flex all the time so it must have some elasticity .

We use stuff on fishing boats to remove rust but i've been using it so long i cant remember what it says on the label ? sure its called elbow grease or something , i will find out tomorrow . Its very like acid brick cleaner you could spray it on with a bathroom squirty bottle and blast it off with a jetwash , obviously the worst spot (of which i have few would need a wire brush before the acid was applied but i can think of no better way to prepare the surface for protection .

 

[Shayne]

dychemltd.com do Super Limate degreaser and rust remover i would recommend it to anyone preparing the undercarriage for rust protection .

 

[Shayne]

Guess i will just have to try it and see .

 

[Roy Duffy]

Hi Shayne, im going to dinatrol my 80 series. But the route your doing sounds interesting. Keep us informed of how it goes!!

 

[Shayne]

Will do Roy , i have no doubt Dinitrol is the best off the shelf stuff for your truck , what makes me want to try something different is my dubious mind telling me manufacturers don't profit from temporary fixes that last too long .

Believe it or not a company managed to produce a virtually indestructible pound note a few years back - within 2 years they went bankrupt because their customers didn't need any more . the Isle of Man Government had to buy them all back at £1.50 each to get them out of circulation

My Mrs went to an optician and came home with a pair of spectacles , her eyes got worse and worse , i begged her to ditch the glasses and go to her NHS doctor for an eye test because he doesn't profit from making her wear them . Helen was referred to a specialist who informed her there was nothing wrong with her eyes apart from the fact they were weak as a result of using spectacles she didn't actually need !

80% of the original underbody paint is still there 15 years on so i don't think stone chips etc will be an issue . Beside all but the rear axle is protected by the plastic underbody protection panels fitted (i assume) to all 90's from new .

 

[Shayne]

If we can't paint chassis in the UK why can we buy chassis paint ?

M.O.T UK mentions painted repairs here in section 11 which suggests to me paint may be discouraged but might not actually be illegal ?

http://www.motuk.co.uk/mot_appendix_c.htm

 

[moggy1968]

My Mrs went to an optician and came home with a pair of spectacles , her eyes got worse and worse , i begged her to ditch the glasses and go to her NHS doctor for an eye test because he doesn't profit from making her wear them . Helen was referred to a specialist who informed her there was nothing wrong with her eyes apart from the fact they were weak as a result of using spectacles she didn't actually need !
.

I'm an optician

If you really think the optician was taking the piss, report them to the GOC. prescribing unneeded specs is an offence and you can get struck off for it. Don't go to a multiple either, they have targets to hit for dispensings. I don't work in the industry anymore but when I did we prescribed specs on 50-60% of eyetests. most multiples the figure is 70-80%.

most doctors know jack shit about how to test eyes and get a prescription, their job is to check for medical problems,not prescribe for specs so most are very bad at it! They have minimal training or experience in it wheras an optician has trained for 4 years just to do eyes and has spent their entire career doing it. We used to have loads of problems with hospital prescriptions.

My advice would be, find a good independent optician who has been around a few years, there's probably a reason why they have.

As an adult, glasses don't weaken your eyes, thats a physiological fact! The wrong specs can cause other problems, but they don't 'weaken' your eyes

 

[moggy1968]

my chassis is painted, no problems with the MOT

I had a read through the above ref link but couldn't see anything saying paint wasn't allowed, have I missed a bit?

just avoid any coating that might drip (like oil or diesel sprayed on) as it makes the road lethal for other road users, notably motorbikes.

 

[Shayne]

Specsavers i think it was Moggy but that post was almost a year ago , the hospital said she doesn't need glasses . She bought a pair off the shelf £2.99 or something from Toy-r-us of all places for reading and that was that , if i asked her where they are now it would probably take her an hour to find them .

 

[Tractionman]

Interesting comments as I was given an advisory last year on appearance of under body corrosion. Up off the ground couple of months ago, jet washed/de-greased, attacked whole underside area and chassis, even where not required, with angle grinder/wire wheel, various hand tools, treated, undersealed body, re-painted chassis. Last month, M.O.T. man (who is strict and loves listing advisories, and obviously loves paperwork), said how nice it looked, - no comments about painting chassis not allowed, - happy days!

John

 

[moggy1968]

Specsavers i think it was Moggy but that post was almost a year ago , the hospital said she doesn't need glasses . She bought a pair off the shelf £2.99 or something from Toy-r-us of all places for reading and that was that , if i asked her where they are now it would probably take her an hour to find them .

needs a pair of glasses to find them!!

wouldn't touch speccytwats with someone elses bargepole!!

If all she needs is reading glasses ready readers are often fine

but it won't do any harm not using them, just hold it further away until you run out of arm length!! you only need them if you run into problems reading small print, concentrating for a long period or getting headaches when concentrating.