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Chassis
Nov 4, 2010 18:24:04 GMT 10
Post by wayfarerfan on Nov 4, 2010 18:24:04 GMT 10
after spending hours of reading I have noticed most restorers pull their van off and clean back and paint their chassis. We have had a bike rack fitted to ours and the guy told us it was all sound, but it is surface rusted. We have no intention of pulling the van off and redoing it all, but is it worth jacking it up and cleaning back, using a stop rust product and painting the parts we can see... Sorry for all the questions this is our first and we are learning heaps along the way but must admit we started out clueless
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Chassis
Nov 4, 2010 22:46:34 GMT 10
Post by Franklin1 on Nov 4, 2010 22:46:34 GMT 10
G'day wayfarerfan, Don't ever feel you have to 'apologise' for asking a question on the forum. One of the big benefits of this forum is the sharing of information, so the more questions asked, the more information is shared. The funny thing about a chassis is that the bits you can see are not really the problem bits. Sure, you can paint all the areas exposed to the eye so they look nice and flash, but it's the parts of the chassis that are hidden to the eye that will eventually come back and bite you in the b..b...bottom lip. You see on your van where the side aluminium cladding covers the sides of the chassis?... Given that your van is covered in silicone sealant, I suspect that means there have been a number of leaks in the van over the years. And I suspect if you were to lift the side wall cladding away from the side rails of the chassis, you would see something like this... or this... So yes you can bust your guts cleaning all the bits of the chassis that you can see, and then painting it so it looks really shmick... ...but from my experience, if you don't pay some attention to the likely problem areas, you would be painting the wrong bits. And you thought you only had to worry about silicone sealant?! Ha! cheers, Al.
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Chassis
Nov 5, 2010 20:13:43 GMT 10
Post by frankidownunder on Nov 5, 2010 20:13:43 GMT 10
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Post by overlanda on Nov 7, 2010 8:19:05 GMT 10
You people are only looking at the good chassis ;D ;D As over the years i have seen a lot worse, back in the late seventies on some of the old circus vans they were very average. We often wondered how many more patches they could fit on a piece of steel ;D ;D ;D Regards Gerald
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Chassis
Nov 9, 2010 19:25:04 GMT 10
Post by wayfarerfan on Nov 9, 2010 19:25:04 GMT 10
thanks guys, I think lol, you might see this money guzzler at the tip one day.
Tell me, can we take the van off the chassis down the track without ruining the interior....said by one very impatient wife ready for a summer trip.
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Chassis
Nov 9, 2010 20:25:50 GMT 10
Post by Franklin1 on Nov 9, 2010 20:25:50 GMT 10
Ummm...no Well, at least not easily. The whole kit and kaboodle is locked together, so you kinda have to separate a lot of the bits out from each other. Not an easy job to do, and one worth avoiding if possible. To ensure you get a summer trip away in the van, just make it leakproof now, and pack your stuff in it as it is. And off you go! ;D ;D If you use a sealant that allows you to easily pull the aluminium shell apart again in the future, then you can worry about doing something with the chassis next year. Or the year after. Or the year after that. Sealants like Selleys Butyl Mastic, or a couple of the Sika sealants, can be pulled apart at a later date. Even some of the gap-filler sealants, such as "No More Gaps" would give you a couple of years protection, and would be relatively easy to remove again at a later date. (I'm sure we've already mentioned to you, NO SILICONE sealant. ) It's very easy to get bogged down with trying to "restore" these vans. One thing leads to another. Weeks and months start passing by. "When will it ever end??!!" The van has survived 50 years so far without falling apart, so it's not gonna suddenly collapse over the coming months. Best to get out and enjoy it whenever you can!! ;D ;D cheers, Al.
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Chassis
Nov 9, 2010 21:12:23 GMT 10
Post by overlanda on Nov 9, 2010 21:12:23 GMT 10
If you want a second opinion on you chassis I will be more than happy to come and look at it and advice you how to go about it to get it to a save maner so it can be used. PM me if you like . Regards Gerald
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