MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

TR parts and Triumph parts, TR bits, Triumph Car Spares and accessories are available for TR2, TR3, TR3A, TR4, TR4A, TR5, TR6, TR7, TR8, Spitfire and Stag and other TR models are available from British car spares and parts company LBCarCo.

Triumph TR6 - How do you clean/repaint frame with body on?

My motor is out for rebuilding. I cleaned up the transmission with mostly gasoline, over a tub to catch the runoff. It looks really nice.

I know some of you guys have cleaned the frames of your cars without taking the body off. Practically, speaking, how do you do that?

My car is sitting up on jacks. The frame is in excellent condition, from what I can see. I was able to clean the cross member at the front, and under all the oil and crud, it still had traces of the black paint and no corrosion at all.

Do I have to get the paint traces off to repaint it, and if so, how?

And for the parts of the frame I can't get to from up above, what is a practical way to clean all the crud and stuff off them? I can't imagine laying under the car and spraying either grease remover or gas on the frame, but I also find it hard to think of scraping or even using a wire brush on a drill under there. I'm sure there is a better way.

John
JL Bryan

First of all, goggles. Protect your eyes, I speak from experience. Put the car on jackstands, as high as you can. Make sure they're secure before you crawl under there. Then get your worst clothes on, it's dirty work. And no more gas to clean stuff! There are safer ways to do this. One spark and you're off to the burn unit, and you come home to a damaged car. A good set of steel wire brushes (with handles, not for the drill) in different sizes is a good start. 80 grit sandpaper will get the bigger irregularities and crusty rust off. Then use finer grades if you want (it's under the car, but I've seen paint as shiny as on the hood of show cars, stripped, acid dipped, primed, sanded, painted with Imron). Do as much as you can stand and come back to it later. Maybe do a small area well, paint, do another manageable area later. That ought to keep you busy the rest of the summer.
Tom

Good advice Tom
John...GASOLINE...MAN!!!!!
Had (yes had) a friend who when he was 15 was cleaning his outboard motor in his basement with gasoline...blew himself up. No nicer way of putting it.

We would all like you to be around a little bit longer on this BBS.

With the tub still on, I would think it virtually impossible to get at the top side of the frame. Even if the tub was lifted up a bit, you would still not really see what you are doing/accomplishing. You might be further ahead to just leave the top of the frame alone and just do the 3 sides. After all, the top does not see much abuse other than possible areas where water could pool. Another plus for you is that your TR does not see road salt so your frame is in much better condition than us up north.
As far as traces of paint still on the frame...clean off as much as possible then IMMEDIATELY apply rust proof primer. Bare metal will corrode rather quickly:)
Have fun John
Rick C

Rick Crawford

Thanks for the heads up. I thought it was fairly safe out in the open, where fumes couldn't build up. But no more.

John
JL Bryan

John:

This subject has been beat up pretty well in the past, but I highly recommend the use of POR-15 on the frame. It looks awesome, is rock hard, and forms a permanent barrier against corrosion. The best thing is it's so forgiving that you don't need a pristine surface to get a good bond between metal and paint. They also sell a metal prep that converts light surface rust to a zinc phosphate substrate, but I only use it on finer stuff where I want a really nice finish, and didn't need it on my frame. At this point I use this stuff all around the yard and house wherever I want a black finish. You should wear a respirator, and absoluetly wear gloves and long sleeves because it does NOT come off.

Jim
Jim Vandenberg

I recently had a master brake cylinder leak which remove frame paint down to the shiny metal right near the fuel filter. I recently wiped the area down and applied rust proof paint primer and then rust proof paint to the area that was impacted. Do you think this was enough or do I still need the por 15. The rust proof paint was Rustoleum. Shawn
shawn

Shawn, it's probably enough until the MC leaks again. Paint will keep the moisture and oxygen away from the metal pretty well, preventing any further rusting (for a while, anyway). That's why a lot of guys use silicone brake fluid. It doesn't act like paint remover when it hits your $5000 paint job. But it's a pain to convert to that, so be happy.
Tom

Shawn
You are experiencing the number 2 reason for DOT5.

"But it's a pain to convert to that"...unfortunately a true statement. pain=$$$.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Shawn:

The Rustoleum is an OK temporary fix. However, if you want to paint your frame once and forget about it for the next 10 years, the POR-15 is the way to go. There is no comparison between the 2 paints for hardness, durability, and chemical resistance.

Jim
Jim Vandenberg

This thread was discussed between 15/08/2005 and 17/08/2005

Triumph TR6 index