clubstylus

Since I built my Stylus in 1999 , I've always checked under the car for any powder coat being chipped or peeling off but recently had only looked at the tubes from within the engine bay. While replacing the tow strap and cleaning up dried grass from the Madgewick spin at Goodwood / 26th May , I could see that rust had got under the powder coat from various scratches along the chassis tubes.
Today it just had to be done after putting it off for weeks . The front lower 50x25'' tube and all other 25x25'' tubes from front to bulkhead were in various stages of rust. Stripped off the powder coat with a blade then sanded it all off to metal , applied two coats of Bilthamber Hydrate 80 , 30 minutes apart ready for black smooth Hammerite tomorrow .
Whilst about it I also painted the lower wishbones gold again and the under flipfront pale grey , where stones had been hitting the body causing star cracks on the outer bodywork. I don't like the normal underbody paint to prevent this as it adds weight.

Once the paint's on the chassis tomorrow this should keep it rust free for a year or so , providing that I don't spin off again over the rumble strips which is likely what scratched up the tubes

My chassis is a '98. I must say the quality of the powder coating is pretty dire. I have done exactly as you (with Hydrate 80 and POR 15) - most of the front chassis has been done, the rear needs it too - all this from a car that's only done 15k summer miles!.

Still, mine is needing more than just a lick of paint - still haven't attached those lower arms I bought from you, finished front end re-modelling to relocate rad, now working on a new tank that incorporates a rear diffuser (I've cut the back end of the car away) and then its a new roll bar with forward reaching diagonal bracing to do. Although the reinforcement plates for that are made ready to fit. Oh and then it'll want the ally front hubs and zero offset minilites fitting, which will of course means arch extensions, the list is endless - forgotten the last time I drove it!

Don't feel too bad, chaps. The powder coat on my '06 car is rough around the edges as well. I thought it was perhaps something I'd done, but I guess not reading your experiences.

Finished painting this morning with the chassis 3 inches from my nose and Hammerite running down the brush a bit , three sides of all front lower tubes. Checking back in my Stylus '' jobs to do '' diary , I note that I last did this in 2006 while the engine and box were out going from 200bhp to 231bhp --- complete engine bay chassis end on all sides of tubes plus the bulkhead .
This time all upper faces of the tubes were fine so not bad really because the rust was from scratches under the car , over years of competition with jumping kerbs and one or two off's . It only takes one mark on a tube going through the paint to set the peeling off or previous paint and my car is VERY low at 70mm's under the front lower rail.
When I did some touching up before 2006 on front and rear chassis , it was down to the powder coating process being done on a '' not very clean '' chassis , probably stood outside before treatment and didn't bother thoroughly cleaning it first. You could tell because there were no scratches as the chassis was 150mm's off the ground in those days and the powder coat just fell off --- that was in 2003

If I were building another kit now I wouldn't bother with powder coating , as you just cannot trust it will be prepared properly . Far better to clean , treat and paint it yourself plus it's so simple to touch up if you make any modifications with welding involved. Another point that ''Andy Bailey'' made me aware of after I'd built my car , was that if it had been painted in a light grey paint as his Stylus was rather than powder coated , --- then you could easily have seen any chassis cracks appearing after a track incident etc as dirt fills those cracks and so easily seen. That's just experience that you get from being a chassis engineer at Mclaren though --- RIP Andy HINDSIGHT is a great tool if only it was the first tool you picked out of the draw

Rob, how do you deal with the complex bits up the front of the car which seem to need the most attention but are surrounded by all sorts like the steering rack, rad hoses, brake lines etc etc etc?

I'm not sure there's much I can do short of basically stripping everything off to make sure I can reach all surfaces easily, but that seems like a big job (and big jobs get procrastinated on ) - it's sods law that the easy to get to bits of chassis are good as new!

Photo from this morning when I finally got a chance to refit the bonnet hinge support:

That looks as though it could be done to be honest without too much bother. Obviously you need to clean it all first then use a small 1/2 inch brush around everything. I didn't strip mine to do it , it just takes time so you have to be committed.
Jack up and remove wheel -- clean first keeping it dry, possibly remove the lower shock bolt and swing shock away from the pivot. Use a torch underneath with blade or small wire brush ---- that's it really. Bilthamber x 2 coats -- Hammerite the next day. It's a pain so don't attempt it all in one go , do another area another day etc .

Cheers Rob - I think the worst bit I think will be the underside of the rail above the steering rack, but I guess doable with some patience and diligent masking of stuff that doesn't want paint dripped on it!

Resigned to the fact that the chassis will be patchy but sound so I just need to get on and do it

Made a start on this today - car's up on axle stands as all 4 wheels are off for new tyres on Tuesday so it's an ideal opportunity. Quick once over with a wire brush, then a bit of coarse sandpaper and degreased. Will get some Hydrate 80 on it tomorrow if the weather isn't too cold, otherwise I'll clean up another section. Coilovers are coming off to be refurbished and dyno'd which will make things even easier.

Riveted aluminium undertray to steel chassis.... oh dear oh dear, what a galvanic mess where the road salt's got to it.

Also cut some nice new rubber floor mats to replace the chequer plate which rattled incessantly.