Thread: Painting a Series 3 109 GS chassis

Originally Posted by Polizei

Hi guys,

I have looked at a number of threads discussing painting the chassis. There are a variety of suggestions on paints (POR-15 etc).

I intend to do this without removing the body, as I don't feel I have the time to tear the whole car apart. Furthermore there only appears to be a small amount of surface rust.

My question is can I do a reasonable job without removing the body?

Are there any tricks to make access a bit easier if not removing the body?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Definitely do a better job removing the body - but you can do a reasonable job without removing the body. An intermediate stage would be to remove bits of the body, for example, floor, transmission tunnel, mudguards, seat box covers, none of which are much work. As with any painting, preparation is 90% of the work.

John

I've been painting my chassis at the same time as I do a particular job on the vehicle. Fortunately my chassis is in excellent condition so doesn't need too much preparation in the "difficult to get at areas" I'm not brave enough to remove the body.

I also remove every small item and paint them seperately

I've been using black two pac with a slow hardener as I've brush painted the chassis. This gives just enough time to get a reasonable finish, the second coat is easier to apply. For the under floor and wheel arch areas I've used an underbody spray which is textured and then given it a clear coat laquer. This seems to give it a non stick finish and is easy to clean.

It is fiddly but can be done.

Thanks for the tips John and Jerry

I am leaning towards leaving the body on at this stage. I have been known in the past to pull things apart and not put the together so this pathway is probably better suited to me!

My plan is to give it a good clean this weekend and get under it and have a good look. There is still a fair bit of mud under there which is making it hard to see the current state of affairs.

and is there a standard finish ie. gloss, satin - wouldn't imagine black. From what i can see it might be Satin. I do like the POR15 or the aust equivalent that slips my mind the name of, which is gloss, but as long as you only leave it a small amount of time you can put other finishes on top eg. a satin - instruction for time is on the can but have done it successfully on a car door and able to put acrylic paint on after.

High pressure hose and degreaser did wonders.

So it looks like she's had a coat of olive drab over the chassis black at some stage.

My plan is to strip any loose olive drab paint and then just painter over the preexisting chassis black.

If you brush Penetrol over the rust, or the entire chassis, you will give yourself the best possible chance of not having to paint it again. Check their website,

Cheers Charlie

Looks like good stuff.

Do use it as a base coat/primer or do you mix it in with some type of chassis black?

Originally Posted by Polizei

.....

So it looks like she's had a coat of olive drab over the chassis black at some stage.
........

Normal. I suspect the olive drab happened in service, and hence the quality of preparation may be quite variable.

John