I notice in a lot of pictures in the magazines that the beautiful metalwork of chassis, suspension, tubework, etc. appears to be unprotected from rusting to show off the welds, heat penetration, etc.

Is this just for show, or is there a protectant or clearcoat on these to keep them from rusting?

It seems like a lot of work to totally assemble these trucks, take the pics, and then disassemble again for painting....

In the arid Southwest where most desert trucks live, rust is not a huge issue. Plus, by leaving the chassis bare it is easier to spot cracks in tubework and repair the damage.

I am battling this issue myself right now, I want to leave my car bare metal but live in Missouri. Will I regret not painting/powdercoating the chassis? I thought about tearing it down and clearcoating it but I would rather leave it bare metal.

WD-40 and a Scotch pad. I was checking out the KOH winner on Friday night. Really nice car but the thick powder coat could certainly hide a crack and if you bend a tube etc, it has to be tough to replace and look right.:p

Serious? No protection at all? Damn! That's brave. I would hate to do such a nice job of building a chassis, and then see it start getting flash rust right before my eyes. Up here in Washington that would be orange in the first week just from moisture and condensation.

Why not just put a coat of clear on it? Wouldn't that work?

These cars are tore apart alot and have alot of repairs done to them between races so its not worth having them clear coated. And there are always people who want to be part of a desert racing team so its not hard to find volunteers to scotch brite and wd-40 the whole chassis.

paint weighs too much:flipoff2:

Serious? No protection at all? Damn! That's brave. I would hate to do such a nice job of building a chassis, and then see it start getting flash rust right before my eyes. Up here in Washington that would be orange in the first week just from moisture and condensation.

Why not just put a coat of clear on it? Wouldn't that work?

As people already said, because they don't rust. My rockcrawling buggy was 3 years old before I painted it. The chassis never had rust on it.

I am battling this issue myself right now, I want to leave my car bare metal but live in Missouri. Will I regret not painting/powdercoating the chassis? I thought about tearing it down and clearcoating it but I would rather leave it bare metal.

Paint it. With all the mud and bullshit out east you will probably regret not painting it. My KOH car wasn't painted and after one trip to Colorado and a trip to Dayton there was rust on it the wasn't going to come off without a good sand blasting. If you don't paint it make sure you get it washed and WD-40'd as soon as you can after getting mud on it.

Serious? No protection at all? Damn! That's brave. I would hate to do such a nice job of building a chassis, and then see it start getting flash rust right before my eyes. Up here in Washington that would be orange in the first week just from moisture and condensation.

Why not just put a coat of clear on it? Wouldn't that work?

They are almost all coated in WD40, boiled linseed oil, tranny fluid, or some other metal protectant. That goes a long way in keeping them rust free.

There are a bunch of different clears out there, and they all suck. None of them will hold up, at best you'll get a trip or two before they start looking like shit, which is about the same as you'll get out of WD40.

I asked this question to Damen Jefferies at the Baja a couple years ago when i noticed his prerunner was painted but none of the Trophy Trucks or Class 1 cars were. his answer was simple "these cars live in the shop in pieces" after every run, or every race they tear them down to the frame, clean, repair, and prep for next time. Before the race the team wipes them down with wd40 about 10 times a day.

Gibbs for baremetal if you ever think you are going to paint or powdercoat it.
http://www.getgibbs.com/


WD40 works, not as well as Gibbs. Also WD40 will fisheye the fuck out of a paintjob whereas Gibbs will not. That’s why most autobody shops wont let a can of WD40 on the premises.

Gibbs for baremetal if you ever think you are going to paint or powdercoat it.
http://www.getgibbs.com/


WD40 works, not as well as Gibbs. Also WD40 will fisheye the fuck out of a paintjob whereas Gibbs will not. That’s why most autobody shops wont let a can of WD40 on the premises.

I keep meaning to buy this stuff as my ways on my mill and burn table rust in hours after use.
HOLY FAWKING EBAY shipping. $12 a can plus $10 to ship it:eek:
Still need to get some, as $20 a can is cheap if it works compared to a mill and a table:laughing:

Derek, no way you can leave that bare. I'm 10 mi. from MO, and my tube rusts in hours with the coating it comes with already on it:shaking: Stupid humidity

Totally depends on the climate, bare metal will develop surface rust here within 2 weeks.

Most of them are all made out of cromo tube, and cromo tube does not rust as bad as regular DOM tube.

I've seen/read a lot of discussion on "Clear" coating (paint) and "Clear" coating (powder) lately.

I have cleared (paint) bare metal before and its pretty good to an extent. The clear will yellow, and anywhere the paint cracks due to pliability you'll end up with "spiderwebs" of rust under the clearcoat. Additionally the paint clear doesnt really end up clear, it ambers up a pretty good bit.

As for Powder coating clear, I have no experience, but from the examples I've seen it looks pretty good and has its place.

Most of them are all made out of cromo tube, and cromo tube does not rust as bad as regular DOM tube.

:laughing:

Not true at all, but good try!

I just noticed Gibbs's website has a 248 area code... They are local to me! Maybe I can save some shipping and get another can if I pick it up! One perk that michigan has going for it, I havent found many others. :laughing:

I've seen/read a lot of discussion on "Clear" coating (paint) and "Clear" coating (powder) lately.

I have cleared (paint) bare metal before and its pretty good to an extent. The clear will yellow, and anywhere the paint cracks due to pliability you'll end up with "spiderwebs" of rust under the clearcoat. Additionally the paint clear doesnt really end up clear, it ambers up a pretty good bit.

As for Powder coating clear, I have no experience, but from the examples I've seen it looks pretty good and has its place.

Clear powdercoat typically has a yellow/bronze tint to it as well.

Have done many customers projects in clearcoated powder coated steel...usually darkens up the color as well.

Clear powdercoat typically has a yellow/bronze tint to it as well.

Have done many customers projects in clearcoated powder coated steel...usually darkens up the color as well.

We have had good luck painting the tube work with grey Rustoleum. It protects the metal from rust, with the light color it is easy to spot cracks, and for field repair the paint comes right off with a skwirt of brake clean.