Under-side resto...?

Hi All,

I'm starting to plan the jobs that I'd like to address on Harvey over the next few months, one of which is a restoration of his under-belly.

As he stands he's in reasonably good condition, with no holes into the interior or rotten structural elements, however there is a lot of surface rust.

I assume the optimum approach would be to completely strip all remove able components, then media/soda blast the underside, then paint/stone-chip everything before re-assembly....?

So...

1. On the assumption that I outsource this...what should I expect to pay...?
2. Are there any short-cuts?
   1. Can it be practically be blasted &/or painted without fully stripping...?
   2. Can it be painted without blasting (I've seen some products that claim to be painted over rust)...?

Cheers

Paul

 

I took mine to a local sandblasted . £100 reasonable if you take off the price of equipment or materials you need to buy if you do it yourself. Plus you get it back in a couple of hours instead of doing it over what will feel like months.
He would have spray primed it for a further 20 pounds but I wanted to see the metal and do it myself .
He wouldn't blast near the tank area in fear of any spark.

 

£100 sounds a bargain! Drive in drive out?

 

How did the cables, brakelines, wires, heater pipe lagging stand up to that?

P.

 

So...further to this...I'm pondering the possibility of doing the work myself...

I had a poke around under Harvey at the weekend and he is very solid. There is some surface rust on the chassis rails, which should come off with a wire brush & some elbow grease. The outriggers, floor supports & the floor itself also have a little surface rust, but for the must part the original paint is intact and covered with the flaking remains of (either) the original under-seal or general road dirt.

The bottom line is that, for the most part, I think a good some good prep work to remove any flaking rust, paint or dirt should leave a solid base for a coat (or 2) of Rustolium.

However, even with Harvey's rather stratospheric ride-height, the above will be a right faff! I'm pondering the possibility of mounting him on a rotissary to ease access to his nether regions.

Has anyone used one on a Bay? Do they generally attach in place of the bumpers? I wouldn't want to tilt Harvey too much...maybe 45°, so could I get away without completely stripping him?

Of course, I'm assuming here I can get my hands on one. I'd prefer to rent one as I can't justify the expense of buying and TBH, I don't have the space to store one...

P.

 

You'll only be able to rotisserie it if you remove engine, gearbox and fuel tank as tipping it over will create a lot of spillage otherwise. I find it easy enough to get underneath compared to other vehicles.