Galvanising chassis and painting experience?

[thomfr]

Hi,
Currently I'm restoring a 65 Volvo Duett (PV544 station wagon)

The car has a separate chassis and via a business relation I could dip it in their galvanic bath to get it plated.

It is tempting because no rust any more in the future.
Does anybody have experience with having a (used) car chassis galvanised?

How about paint afterwards (it should become black again)? Only option powder coating (can I do it myself with a small hobby kit?) or are their other paint options?
Thanks,

Thom

 

[roguegts]

You'll kill yourself trying to get powder coating to stick to hot dipped galv. There is a very extensive process and meticulous detail needed for it to work. As in, diesel truck exhaust transporting it to the PC facility ruins it all. If you leave it galv as a finish it will work. For anything else, don't do it.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Galvanized will "heal itself" after it is scratched. If you are seriously thinking of powder coating (not DIY, you need and oven to bake it) you probably don't need galvanizing if you are careful with the re-assembly.

You can paint galvanized, but you will likely see the "spangle" through it.

 

[thomfr]

You can paint galvanized, but you will likely see the "spangle" through it.

Ok, thanks for the fast reactions so far!
As being the chassis of a to use classic (family trips etc. during the non salt season) I do not look for a concours finish but a durable solution. Two minds but a bit different. Do I need special paint or a special primer to make it black again?
Sorry for my questions guys!
Thom

 

[FJ 432]

To my knowledge this model never made it to the US. Can you share your plans? Cool wagon.

 

[mrolds88]

Here is some info. http://www.galvanizeit.org/specific...ifying-duplex-systems/preparing-hdg-for-paint

 

[astroracer]

If I were doing this I wouldn't worry about having it galvanized. Are you going to have the entire frame derusted? Outside AND inside? If not then you are just covering up rust and that is not good. Any moisture that gets into the frame will reactivate the rust and the galvinizing just makes a mess when you try to fix or repaint.
I would clean (sandblast) as much of the frame as you can then bury it, inside and out, in rust converter. Let that kick off per the instructions and then paint it with satin black chassis paint.
Go to Eastwoods site and look through their restoration supplies...
Mark

 

[airrj]

I have another link for you. Pete over at Team Chevelle had two of his frames galvanized about 13 years ago. Checkout his thread. I am sure that he can help you out on this subject.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16138&highlight=galvanized+frame

Here is a link to his frame modifications.

http://www.einstyn.com/einstyn-hardtop-02.htm

I chatted with Pete about his frame and he has done 6 or 7 of them now in galvanizing and with the painting techniques that he lists on the website the paint will hold up fine.

Good luck.

 

[racingtadpole]

Galv coating it will work, but it may create more headaches than it solves. Its a thick coating and may not be even depending on how its fixtured for dipping, your bolt holes, threaded inserts, and any other holes will fill with the coating and you will need to clean them up by removing the coating. Powder coat and galv plating are not compatible. Metal is blasted with some sort of abrasive media prior to powder coat to enable it to stick to clean metal. It can be painted, but to get best results you need to use a two stage priming process and a top coat that is compatible with both primers. You will end up having to spray an etch primer, then a regular primer, then your top coat. The etch sticks the primer to the galv, the primer holds the colour on. By the time its been painted over galv plate there may also be a significant increase in dimensions that may create some alignment issues for you.

Having said all that, if its rustproofing you seek and are not fussed about colour then dip it and put it back under the car.

Hope that helps

 

[Strouty]

We have galvanized a truck frame, the place we use has colors as well. They are not like paint or powder coating, more like a tint, but I thought it would be neat. As far as the rust removal, as long as you get big chunks of and all the grease off you should be good. They will acid dip it before galvanizing it and that takes care of most if not all of the stuff you miss. Unless you take the frame down to individual pieces you will always have some places that just can't be perfect. Think riveted pieces or bolted pieces.

If you leave the frame outside for 6 months or so it should be paintable, you will need to clean it well. If you try and paint freshly galvanized steel it tends to "soap", basically the paint falls off in chunks. To be honest having a nice galvanized frame will get you more attention than any powder coated one. It ends up being a conversation piece.

 

[Strouty]

If you are worried about fitment, you can pre oversize any holes, threaded inserts are easy enough to tap out afterwards. Talk to the person that is doing the dipping, but we were told it adds about one 32 of an inch to the surface.

 

[manwithtools]

Hot galvanize? Better be prepared for a whole host of issues. Any completely enclosed areas? They need vent holes to prevent blow out. Tapped holes need plugged with high temperature silicone prior to dipping or they will be filled with galvanizing to the point that you can't clean it out. I've made many large galvanized assemblies and it's a pain if you don't plan ahead.

I'd powder coat an automotive frame if I could choose.

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[Strouty]

You are correct about completely enclosed areas, not that common on a frame, all you need to do is drill a hole in it and that solves it. This would also be the same for overlapped steel that has been welded on all sides, but again it is not usually an issue on a frame. As for the threads, I have never come across that issue, are you talking small threads? Like sub 1/4" or what? Usually any galvy that gets into a hole can be fairly easily broken out.

 

[dutchgray]

My Landrover has a replacement Galvanized chassis under it, which was painted black but its mostly fallen off now. It wasn't a new rebuild when I got it in 2003 and there is still no rust in it now, this is with our wet winters and tons of road salt. Unfortunately the rest of the sheet metal that is steel has issues now so it needs to come apart really now.
Galvanized is the way forward in a wet climate.

 

[SteveH-CO]

Powder coating can trap in water, and let rust spread under it. I would either galvanize or paint with a paint-over-rust product, such as Hammerite. If you're not going to drive it much in the winter, it's rusting days should be mostly over.

 

[manwithtools]

You are correct about completely enclosed areas, not that common on a frame, all you need to do is drill a hole in it and that solves it. This would also be the same for overlapped steel that has been welded on all sides, but again it is not usually an issue on a frame. As for the threads, I have never come across that issue, are you talking small threads? Like sub 1/4" or what? Usually any galvy that gets into a hole can be fairly easily broken out.

If it's a blind hole it can be 1" or more and it will be a mess. No galvenizer I've dealt with will guarantee any usable thread after their process. Blind or otherwise.

I'm speaking of hot galvanizing. It depends a lot on whats been in their tanks recently. It's just not a well controlled process like other finishes.

 

[Strouty]

I have galvanized a lot of radiator core supports and the welded in threaded parts were easy to clean out. I never realized it was an issue, with anything. This was hot dipped as well.

 

[countryroad82]

I'm with Strouty and airrj. It will work give it plenty of time to cure out before painting it will be fine. A lot of people freak out about galvanized coatings, I'll never understand why. As long as you prep it right, it will hold paint just like anything else. Like anything else prep is key!

Btw OP I've got a cousin who lives over there. Poor soul had to go halfway around the world to find a girl over there that could look over his homely looks and she married him.

 

[EdT]

It's lasted 50 years in your climate with whatever came from the factory originally. Maybe that would be worth a look.

 

[thomfr]

It's lasted 50 years in your climate with whatever came from the factory originally. Maybe that would be worth a look.

Well it came from Sweden (it lived there until last year) and they do not use road salt there.. ;-)

I decided to go for a proper chassis paint (3m) which stays flexible.

Btw. This is what the result will look like (only no white walls) hopefully coming summer

(copyright unknown)

A rather small number of these Duetts made it to the US via Volvo but most of them where bought by the Swedish Post and Railway companies (mine was also original "Swedish Post Orange").

Thom

 

[Nor'Easter]

I think your choice is the best one.

Are you implying you will drive it in the winter on salted roads?

Ouch.

 

[Tedley]

Btw. This is what the result will look like (only no white walls) hopefully coming summer

(copyright unknown)

That board is backwards. [emoji32] Seriously.


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[thomfr]

I think your choice is the best one.

Are you implying you will drive it in the winter on salted roads?

Ouch.

Thanks to the very good feedback here.

No! no salt roads but it will see some rain sometimes.

Thom

 

[jtmcclain]

Just so you know, here at the plant where I work we galvanize the poles we make. We use PL400 construction glue on threads to protect from galvanizing. Anything under 1" and you put it on the threads of a bolt and put the bolt in the hole. Anything over 1" and you smear it on the threads real thick. The zinc burns it off. Run a tap through quick and you are good to go.

Any enclosed spaces need a hole drilled for drainage, otherwise the enclosed space will explode. There are steel plates on the walls to protect the workers from flying zinc. We had an accident here when they dipped an assembly that had a large enclosed space. The galvanizing was a wave and sloshed over the end and covered a guy. Not good.

We also powdercoat and paint after galvanizing. The way we do it is to preheat to 400 degrees. Then send it through a blastec (steel sandblaster) machine set low to scuff up the galvanizing.