The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Galvanizing a frame

I did a search on here for galvanize and found that people have talked about galvanizing the bed strips mainly but I don't think anybody has flat out talked about galvanize a frame. I found where people have said they had it done on forums and stuff but was wanting to see if anybody on here has ever done it. I haven't got the body completely off the frame but so far have gotten the bed off. Only reason I'm asking about it now is that i'm trying to get my ducks in a row so I can get it done as soon as the body is off the frame. I don't plan on boxing the whole frame, unless somebody persuades me otherwise, but probably will only box what I feel like is needed, around the motor, tranny, rear end, etc. So either way has anybody ever had their frame galvanized and if you have what are your comments on it?

my old 88 land rover was

great if you can do it.

Sounds like a great idea, anything you can do to keep the dreaded 'tin worms' away has got to be good!!

well from the metals i have worked with galvanizing sounds good but on the stuff i have worked with that has been out in the weather it oxidizes fairly badly, i have it in my plans on my truck frame to rhino line mine, with the hope i will never have to worry bout weather or any other natural corrosion

rhino lining sounds interesting. however, the gripe w/ the rhino lining is that it is a spray on UV inhibitor that clouds after time. another company Line-X combines the inhibitor in the lining product and eliminates the cloudiness. have had a Line-X spray in the bed of my 05 sierra since new and it looks like the day i had it done.

FYI,

If you decide to galv the frame and you box some of the frame, those areas must not be closed. They need to be open so the galv material can get to all sides of the frame. If there are any closed areas the galvanizers will torch holes in the boxed in areas.

bigedpa,

I have though myself about either Rhino lining or Line-x but people have said that it's a bad idea as bolt lengths won't be correct, etc, etc.

Lonnie

Thanks for the info i'll definally keep that in mind. Way you talk it looks like you've done your research on this?

I'm thinking about Rhino lining or Line-Xing the frame, floor of the cab, and the bed of my '70 GMC. I'm still debating bout the frame, but if not I'm getting it powder coated. I could see what's being said about the bolt lengths, but you can always grind this stuff down to fit. My dad's truck has a liner in it and it's tough, but you can grind it down a little.

bigedpa,

Thanks, it is just professional knowledge from work.

Lonnie

I for one will still apply a good paint job to a frame. It's older than I am now and it will still outlast me if I paint it, and probably last better than factory paints. When I'm dead...I won't care if it needs paint again, if it rusts, or if it is melted down.

Reedster,

That is true about grinding down the Rino lining or Line-x.

Builder,

The only problem is that my soul won't be able to rest in peace if I knew when i passed it down to my kids and then hopefully to my grandkids that would have to go back and redo it. I guess, and this might hurt the pocketbook on my project, that I'm the type of person that when I do something I'm not going to be one to cut corners or half way do something. If I do it, I'm going to do it right the first time.

Gudday.......
Can't offer too much info on the Galvo frame.
Unless you live in a highly corrosive area, there would really be no need to go this far with a frame.

My 73 year old Chev Pick-up has only the factory painted frame.
This was used heavily as a shire/road repair truck and yet is still in like new condition.

Believe it or not, my cab has been galvanised!
Don't know if HOLDEN done it originally or if it was contracted out to be done when the truck was purchased new.
Don't be fooled though, the cab still has rust where the galvo has not gotten into the joints and seams along the front of the cab.
It can only protect what it actually covers, nothing will stop it from rusting in un-reachable areas.

All I can say is......frames are big and don't rust easily, bodywork is thin and disappears quickly.
If I were to get anything Galvernised.....look at doing the body.

Problem is, it aint cheap and adds a fair bit of weight to parts once done.
Do some research and decide what is best for what you want.

All the best............Doc.

Just a word to the wise, if anyone were actually thinking of galvanizing body sheet metal.

The heat from the galvanizing process would warp the sheet metal. The body work to get it straighten out would not be worth the protection of the galv.

There are spray on zinc rich paints that will protect as well as galvanizing.

When I boxed the frame on my 54, I painted the insides of the boxed areas with cold galv. paint.

If anyone is interested; do a Google search of cold galv products. You will find some products that will provide great protection from the elements.

Well I got some bad news from my brother-in-law about two hours ago. He works at a metal shop that sends stuff to get galvanized, hence who gave me the idea, and he just got off the phone with one of the galvanizing places in Birmingham, AL. He had already talked to one of his co-workers earlier today who talked to one of the guys in Jackson, MS, whom simply said no. Well the guy in Birmingham said he would do it either but gave a explanation of why. I'm taking it that he's tired to do it before is why he gave such good detail. He said that since my frame is a C channel frame and due to the fact that the Zinc they put it in is 800+ Degrees that when he put it in the cold water it would wrap it really bad. He said that if it was a tube based frame that he would do it with no problem as there would be some wrapping but not enough to know. My brother-in-law asking him why it was we were seeing people on the internet do it and his reply was that the frames either were done in pieces before the frame was welded together or the frame had already been galvanized before. My brother-in-law didn't ask him what if I were to box the frame completely so I'll ether go that route or I'll just Line-X or Rino Line the frame and either get longer bolts where needed or go with Reedster's idea of grinding it down.

I don't think bed liner is a good idea on a frame, just can't find the words to explain why...

(Edit) Here it is, DeLorean frames were epoxy coated:
http://www.pearce-design.com/PFCheckForRust.html
"Did you know that your DeLorean may look and drive like new, while rust slowly destroys your frame? Your original DeLorean frame was coated with an epoxy compound to protect it from road debris and chemicals. However, over time this epoxy breaks down and cracks begin to form, allowing moisture to become trapped between the coating and the metal chassis. This causes accelerated oxidation - in other words, rust. Rust has weakened the structural integrity of some DeLoreans to the point where they actually collapse during normal driving conditions."



I had my frame powder coated, and I do think that is a good idea.

Bed liner sounds like a good idea on the undersides of the cab and fenders though, I've already talked to the line-x folks about that. They already coated the end of my aluminum fuel tank right at the rear tires.

Galvanizing sounds like a good idea if it can be done without distorting the frame. Don't think I'd want to box the whole thing just to get it galvanized though. Boxing a frame that wasn't designed originally as a box is complicated to do it right, if it can even be done right.

Grigg

powder coating is a great. we powder coat our race kart frames and they last and last. no chipping and the best part is dirt comes off with a water hose. they actuly spray fine plastic dust on the part to be coated with a special static gun and after that they put it in a oven and bake it untill the powder melts to the frame. they even have temper coatings that change color when you touch them. ive placed some links in case your interested.

http://www.finishing.com/Library/pennisi/powder.html

http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/powder_colors.html

Look under some older Ford trucks, mid to upper 90's and into the 2000's. They used powder coating on a lot of chassis parts including spring hangers and front suspension parts. The fleet I work on is so rusted now compared to the painted frames of the GM's, its hard to believe the are the same age. Even some of the school bus frames that were powder coated are really rusting. Once water gets behind it, the rust just takes off, it must stay moist or something. You can go out and pull off large chunks of frame rust!

Powder coat is great as long as it stays attached and dry! Once you break the seal , all bets are off........

Stick with a good paint, atleast the next guy won't have so much work to do cleaning off something that didn't work.

Joe

I've seen powder coated stuff rust where the powder coat has cripped or cracked. My own plan is Por 15 or a similar product. I don't know that it will be better than the other options, but I can do it myself with a brush.

Sandblast,black epoxy primer and topcoat either with anything from rustoleum to automotive paint (I prefer and industrial enamel that stays soft) and it will last and if it chips you can't see it with a black base coat. It will probably outlast the sheet metal. Most will never see salt not alone rain.

Good advice OldSub.......

POR 15 would be the ultimate way to go.
Cheap and easy to apply, hard as nails and will never deteriorate.

But now I'm confused with the galvanising
How did they manage to galvernise my cab and doors back in 1936 without warping them into useless junk?

The cab and doors are very straight, yet fully galvernised beats me how they done it.


Has any-one else ever seen a Galvernised Cab ?????????????

Doc.

There has to be more then one way to galvanize metal. One place I worked at had a bunch of Ice making equipment we had to keep coated. It went downtown to a large dirty shop full of tanks, they dipped it cold, or at least I thought they did. I didn't see any sort of heaters or spray guns, and the shop was cool. The parts were galvanized looking, but it could have been something else. Joe

There is electo-plate galvanizing, but I do not know anything about the process.

Well I think most of the people you talk to that has had a truck/car done for a while had their frame powder coated, which by no means have I ruled out. I know that my brother-in-law that has a 66 mustang fastback keep saying to do go the powder coating route so it is definitely a solution.

Oldsub mentioned Por 15, which I don't know anything about and once I hit submit I plan on doing some research about it.

Doc bob to answer your question no I haven't seen a galvanized body but do you know if it was a cold galvanized? Also could you send me a link to some pictures of your body? I would like to see it or was it panted over? I think cold galvanizing is what Lonnie is talking about with the electo-plate galvanizing but I'm not sure as I don't know anything about electo-plate galvanizing.

I will endeavour to try and post some pics.
It won't be easy to see as the body was still painted the factory colours.
It can be seen in all the areas where the paint has chipped or worn away, but may not come out in a photo, but I'll give it a try.

I can't beleive I forgot all about cold dip Galvernising!
I have heard and seen it many times, but appears thicker and not as shiny as the standard galvernised finish.
Maybe my truck was Electro-plate galvernised

Doc

Here is an artical explaining the galvanizing process. There is a comparison of hot dipped and electroplate. click here

Lonnie,

Thanks for the website on comparison of hot dip and electroplate. Here is another good link that acts like electroplate is a excellent solution for automotive: http://www.aksteel.com/pdf/markets_products/carbon/ElectroGalvanized.pdf . I also looked around the web and found another website saying that with electroplating and the proper preparation you can actually pant it for even better protection.