wishbone / suspension heavy surface rust

[ailwyn]

...BTW it`s not exactly a Major project

Steady on Jay; it might not be a daunting task to a spanner like you

If you think the mods are rude you should see the admins (eh Specky?)

[Sy V]

Oi!

I've been misquoted...

[GeoffSmith]

...BTW it`s not exactly a Major project

Steady on Jay; it might not be a daunting task to a spanner like you

If you think the mods are wide you should see the admins (eh Specky?)

I've been misquoted...

So's shaggy

[Enright]

I am about to clean my front wishbones etc. They appear to be solid but have a good coating of rust.
I was thinking of cleaning them with a wire brush on a drill with handwork on the hard to get at places.
I was wondering if using hammerite paint (several coats) would work. It would hopefully last longer
than waxoil if it didn't chip off. Does anyone have experience/comments on this please.

Colin

Bolsom,
I use Hammerite and Waxoyl, however it doesn't last longer than a year or so. This winter I'll try por15 (http://www.por15.com/) & Bilt-Hamber (http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosionprevention.html) instead.
Have a look at these threads:
viewtopic.php?f=79&t=13794&p=178593&hilit=por15#p178593
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=7512&p=85370&hilit=por15#p85370
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=6181&p=69806#p69806

John

I've nuked the other thread.

[bobbrown]

Any one considered sand blasting the components and then applying a flame spray zinc coating?

Bob

[Sy V]

Sounds good, but it was sand blasting that holed my old wishbones!

[bobbrown]

I doubt it was the sand blasting that made the hole it was probably already rusted to the extent that when it was sand blasted it just revealed the hole or the lack of metal.

[John_W]

I doubt it was the sand blasting that made the hole it was probably already rusted to the extent that when it was sand blasted it just revealed the hole or the lack of metal.

Sure did!

[bobbrown]

If the component is that badly rusted then it is time to replace it.
I was thinking more along the lines of people with parts that are still good but want to preserve them.
The advatage or hot spray zinc is that it does not distort the component as hot dip galvanising does and it almost as good, it can also be applied with out the need to remove the bushes.
Major draw back is you can not acess void spaces so they will need Waxoyled but externally this is a good treatment.

[theelanman]

in theory you shouldnt galv after its been welded up.....
once in the hot bath the air will expand and not only distort your bone but maay possibly 'blow' it......usually goes bang and splits the weakest point....

[bobbrown]

in theory you shouldnt galv after its been welded up.....
once in the hot bath the air will expand and not only distort your bone but maay possibly 'blow' it......usually goes bang and splits the weakest point....

I do not quite understand "in theory you shouldnt galv after its been welded up....." you certainly can not weld it after it has been galvanised as you would need to grind away the zinc coating and then what is the point of coating it in the first place as you have just ground it off.
With hollow sections they have to have vent holes drilled if they are hot dip galvanised, you have to complete the welding before it is hot dipped! Distortion may occur but this is due to heat rather than air expansion.
I have had complete chassis hot dipped by a local company and they do require vent and drain holes be drilled in to hollow sections, drain holes to let the zinc drain out of the hollow sections and vent holes to let the air expand.

Hot zinc spray does not suffer from the problem of distortion and neither does there have to be vent/drain holes drilled in to hollow section parts.
Hot zinc spray is usually applied after a part has been sand blasted to protect it and give a goood corrosion resisitant coating that is close to hot dip galvanising but does not get in to the inside of box sections as hot dip does.

http://rfiscreening.co.uk/default.aspx

[theelanman]

With hollow sections they have to have vent holes drilled if they are hot dip galvanised, you have to complete the welding before it is hot dipped! Distortion may occur but this is due to heat rather than air expansion.

yep thats what I was getting at....Ive never understood how lotus did it without solving this.....
Ive nere seen a wishbone with holes in (that were supposed to be there.... )......

[ailwyn]

Ive nere seen a wishbone with holes in (that were supposed to be there.... )......

Pretty sure my S2 bones have drain holes in them

[GeoffSmith]

Ive nere seen a wishbone with holes in (that were supposed to be there.... )......

Pretty sure my S2 bones have drain holes in them

Mine definitely have.

[theelanman]

Ive nere seen a wishbone with holes in (that were supposed to be there.... )......

Pretty sure my S2 bones have drain holes in them

Mine definitely have.

thatll explain the ability to galv them then........
in that case....wot about the ones from SW ?......(when they had em!!)

[Sy V]

I've got some of them - they have drain holes too.

[Bolsom]

John_W

Many thanks for the Info. I shall follow the same path sometime in December when I get my car back from the garage. I put it in to have a leak
checked. After attacking the rad with a screwdriver he said 'there's the leak'. I now await its return from the UK after reconditioning.

Colin

[Freelander]

I'm in the middle of a chassis and suspension overhaul and have dealt with some heavy rusting particularly on suspension parts.
After seeing that one of the wishbones had been repaired with mild steel angle and 'amatuer' welding leaving pinholes and pigeon sh*t everywhere, I've little option but to strip and rebuild the suspension and replace both rear wishbones.
All other suspension parts will be descaled, treated and repainted.
My preferred practice is
Descaling with the pneumatic needle gun - very effective in identifying less than adequate metalwork.
Shotblasting with aluminium oxide grit to produce a paint ready surface
Apply Metal Ready (etching primer) - helps to neutralise any remaining rust
Apply zinc phosphate primer - belt and braces approach
Apply 2 coats POR15 - limited choice of colour but can be overpainted
Waxoyl all internals prior to reassembly.

[Paul69]

i have had my wishbones sand blasted by a local blaster, i would like to point out they often look a lot worse than they are, lotus originally coated them with a plastic coating which was quite frankly c"""""p and came off,, hence the galv on the S2 models , but after removing them at sinclairs wayne said to me they,ve had it,, reluctant to spend the money on them i got some advice and the gent at the blasters said there ok plenty of metal on them just clean them inside and out treat and should be o,k,, the guy drilled small holes top and bottom, as advised by steve at SJ sportscars they actually rust from the inside out i, would like to add the blasting cost me 30 quid and the galvanising cost me 60 quid the new bushes cost the most about 100 quid if i remember correctly, but they are as good as new see new system thread minor projects for a picture,, ps only job i struggled with was removing the bushes, in the end i just cut them out, also removed the old camber caster h sections bar and replaced with the later S2 rod type which were galvanised from the factory, these cares are aour pride and joy and should be preserved ,, also i,m a big beliver ion doing a job right the first time ,, i,e then you won,t have to do it again a few months down the road

above all good luck