Has anyone had their frame galvanized? Thoughts?

[t01blaze]

I was thinking of having my frame blasted, and then acid dipped and galvanized, before painting or coating it black. I was wondering if any of you have had this done and what your thoughts are. I've read a few threads on some other forums about this and think I am going to go this route. I'd never have to worry about the frame rusting.

 

[rustyroger]

I was thinking of having my frame blasted, and then acid dipped and galvanized, before painting or coating it black. I was wondering if any of you have had this done and what your thoughts are. I've read a few threads on some other forums about this and think I am going to go this route. I'd never have to worry about the frame rusting.

Not quite true, galvanising works by the zinc coating sacrificing itself to protect the ferrous metal underneath. Once the galvanised coat has gone rust will start. This will take a long time though.
I'm not sure how galvanised steel will cope with flexing of the frame, there are other methods of preventing rust available nowadays which may well be better than galvanising.

Roger.

 

[pencero]

Waste of money. When I ran the back of my hand against the frame to my caddy just 4 years ago at the dealership and it was so smooth black and shiny like a chalkboard I too thought 'this car cant rust out' because of the ziebart coating it had - so that was 1 of the only reasons I actually bought that car. I drove the car through two seasons without giving the frame a second thought. I felt 'secure' w/ the ziebart coating riding under me. Suddenly an air ride shock I had JUST INSTALLED a few years earlier became detached from it's mount. Now it was two years later we put the car on the lift and I almost passed out I was so depressed. I found the reciept where the previous owner had spent nearly $2,000 getting the frame coated and I threw it away. You could no longer tell the frame had EVER BEEN COATED. What was once lackluster black was brown and if you run your hand against the bottom of the frame now some spots would probably cut your hand as small rust flakes fall off because 2 yrs later its now even worse. The rust is about the same as 2 years ago because I did not drive the car more than a few times in the snow this last year so it didn't progress. I also suspect a few suspension parts that had failed over the last few years broke because the frame had become brittle in some spots rather than flexing when it ought to over potholes. So my conclusion is this: Was the life of the car extended - Absolutely Yes it would have already been at the junkyard by now after those last 2 Indiana winters without the coating present. Was money saved? No - rear suspension components broke prematurely possibly due to the frame not flexing as much as it was originally designed to. Also, I think people have the misconception that doing this to the car will make their car invincible in the snow - when in fact it's not even the snow causing all the problems - it's the salt and chemicals the county put down on the roads and especially in more severe roadways I crossed such as the PA turnpike for example the amount of salt/ chemicals on the road in some locations was excessive. The salt wore off the coating and cleared the path for moisture to get right back up on the frame and wedge itself between the coating & the frame causing the frame to suddenly start oxidizing rapidly. So my opinion is that these treatments are a false type of insurance since using them does not make your car invincible during the winter months and are only effective in preserving the frame if you have a nice heated garage - in which case you would not actually NEED to perform this service. It's unfortunate to face the facts that most likely the only way to avoid rust is only to choose to not drive the vehicle during winter months period and put it in the garage under a cover. Otherwise, rust is just inevitable and there is nothing you can do but continue to renew your parts over and over again. A different solution to delaying rust a friend of mine is doing is every fall he hits his frame w/ some scouring pads and rubs off last years coating of pickup truck bedliner (I think he uses Rhinoliner but I forget which brand) back onto the frame. This at first sounds like a stupid white trash effort to resolve a problem which would not work at all or not work very well, but he has been doing it for about 4 years straight now and it seems to be working well to my surprise. Is his frame rusty? Yes but it took about 4 years to start getting there and it's not as bad as my caddy. He has extended the life of the frame to the truck for about the same amount of time as the ziebart coating extended the life of the caddy frame - but at a fraction of the cost. A fraction indeed... bedliner is not very expensive at all. It starts falling right back off the moment you get it on, but you can just scour it off when it gets thin taking out a little microscopic layer of rust and then just go do it again the next season for very cheap. Of course, this is just an opinion and I'm only 26 years old and not quite finished getting my rocket science degree yet, so lets hear some more opinions on this whole thing:

 

[williamattop]

I was thinking of having my frame blasted, and then acid dipped and galvanized, before painting or coating it black. I was wondering if any of you have had this done and what your thoughts are. I've read a few threads on some other forums about this and think I am going to go this route. I'd never have to worry about the frame rusting.

Does anybody have an idea of about how much something like this would cost?

 

[t01blaze]

I'm talking about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwCyq06aatA

The hot dip galvanizing (zinc) should last 75 years or so.
Then with some chassis black over top so I don't have a silver frame.

If you don't get your epoxy frame coating or powder coating inside the frame rails and inside every little crevice then the frame starts or continues rusting there, and can even leave some rust streaks along the nice black finish. If I galvanize the whole thing and then paint all that I can reach or just what you can see, I think it would work well.

From what I have read on the internet they charge based on weight, and I'm expecting to spend anywhere from $250-$600 for the whole process. I need to call someone local and get pricing.

 

[565bbchevy]

Seems like an interesting process as long as you can find someone locally that can do it at a reasonable price.
I would definitely do a lot of reinforcement to the frame prior to getting it galvanized, like closing most of the c channel and doing a frame notch if you want added tire clearance and fill in the areas that the factory did not weld or weld well.
Once it is galvanized welding will be a real pain since you have to grind it off in the area of the weld and the fumes are toxic so wear a respirator.
And from what I have read frames will typically be under the minimum weight so might be able to get two frames done for not much more than the price of one.
Also most paints will not stick well to galvanized coating but maybe use an adhesive promoter to help.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Waste of money. When I ran the back of my hand against the frame to my caddy just 4 years ago at the dealership and it was so smooth black and shiny like a chalkboard I too thought 'this car cant rust out' because of the ziebart coating it had - so that was 1 of the only reasons I actually bought that car. I drove the car through two seasons without giving the frame a second thought. I felt 'secure' w/ the ziebart coating riding under me. Suddenly an air ride shock I had JUST INSTALLED a few years earlier became detached from it's mount. Now it was two years later we put the car on the lift and I almost passed out I was so depressed. I found the reciept where the previous owner had spent nearly $2,000 getting the frame coated and I threw it away. You could no longer tell the frame had EVER BEEN COATED. What was once lackluster black was brown and if you run your hand against the bottom of the frame now some spots would probably cut your hand as small rust flakes fall off because 2 yrs later its now even worse. The rust is about the same as 2 years ago because I did not drive the car more than a few times in the snow this last year so it didn't progress. I also suspect a few suspension parts that had failed over the last few years broke because the frame had become brittle in some spots rather than flexing when it ought to over potholes. So my conclusion is this: Was the life of the car extended - Absolutely Yes it would have already been at the junkyard by now after those last 2 Indiana winters without the coating present. Was money saved? No - rear suspension components broke prematurely possibly due to the frame not flexing as much as it was originally designed to. Also, I think people have the misconception that doing this to the car will make their car invincible in the snow - when in fact it's not even the snow causing all the problems - it's the salt and chemicals the county put down on the roads and especially in more severe roadways I crossed such as the PA turnpike for example the amount of salt/ chemicals on the road in some locations was excessive. The salt wore off the coating and cleared the path for moisture to get right back up on the frame and wedge itself between the coating & the frame causing the frame to suddenly start oxidizing rapidly. So my opinion is that these treatments are a false type of insurance since using them does not make your car invincible during the winter months and are only effective in preserving the frame if you have a nice heated garage - in which case you would not actually NEED to perform this service. It's unfortunate to face the facts that most likely the only way to avoid rust is only to choose to not drive the vehicle during winter months period and put it in the garage under a cover. Otherwise, rust is just inevitable and there is nothing you can do but continue to renew your parts over and over again. A different solution to delaying rust a friend of mine is doing is every fall he hits his frame w/ some scouring pads and rubs off last years coating of pickup truck bedliner (I think he uses Rhinoliner but I forget which brand) back onto the frame. This at first sounds like a stupid white trash effort to resolve a problem which would not work at all or not work very well, but he has been doing it for about 4 years straight now and it seems to be working well to my surprise. Is his frame rusty? Yes but it took about 4 years to start getting there and it's not as bad as my caddy. He has extended the life of the frame to the truck for about the same amount of time as the ziebart coating extended the life of the caddy frame - but at a fraction of the cost. A fraction indeed... bedliner is not very expensive at all. It starts falling right back off the moment you get it on, but you can just scour it off when it gets thin taking out a little microscopic layer of rust and then just go do it again the next season for very cheap. Of course, this is just an opinion and I'm only 26 years old and not quite finished getting my rocket science degree yet, so lets hear some more opinions on this whole thing:

I agree with most of your posting. To be clear, rust is a electrochemical process, much like a battery. Water is a mild electrolyte that causes rust while salt and other ice melters are more powerful electrolytes that rusts metals even faster than plain water. Plus salts tend to stick to the undersides of cars causing more problems. The best way to prevent rust probelms is just not drive the car on salty roads in the winter, either park it or move to someplace warm like FL or SoCal.

 

[Bonnewagon]

I think it would work out pretty well. After all, they have been galvanizing boat trailers for decades, and they last a long time even after getting dunked in Ocean water. My trailer is an '89 model, bought brand new. Before it ever hit the water I painted it with Trailercoat, which is a urethane paint made by Pettit Paint for extending the life of rusty trailers. No bad rust issues so far but I wash it off religiously after salt water gets on it. A few years back I ordered a 20' section of 3" square 1/4" thick tubing to extend and strengthen the frame. I sent it out for galvanizing and it looked great. However after the heat of the process, when it cooled it warped, so it came to me slightly twisted, about 5º. I had to compensate with shimming the roller mounts so the boat would sit flat. Might a flimsy G-body frame warp too? Then, road debris chips off the zinc/paint and rust begins. Another thing is wherever bolts pass through, water gets trapped and tries to rust. Road dirt and crud will also hold moisture and attack the coating. As stated, zinc is sacrificial and when it loses, rusting is rapid. I keep on it and touch it up with the Trailercoat and several times I repainted the whole thing, but that's easy when the boat is off. How would you touch up a frame with a car body on it? Also stated was that zinc doesn't like regular paint. You should read this-http://www.galvanizeit.org/images/uploads/articles/paintsteel.pdf I have had good results with the Trailercoat, but it's silver color like the zinc. Probably black POR-15 would work well, it's also a urethane. I guess you would need to add up the cost and amount of work and see if it was worth it to you. But be aware that spots will chafe, chip, and eventually start to rust no matter what. I couldn't help but notice that in the link you put up, that all those galvanized structures were free standing and had good drainage. Not so with a car.

 

[pencero]

Yes Clone, but these guys seem to be from down South. Perhaps the difference in climate actually does justify the coating. Us northerners realize the cost of just rebuilding a newer frame and doing a frame-off will just end up being the same or most likely way less money at the end of the day. Even though I learned my lesson about the coatings not being fool proof from my experience I might still consider doing it to my rear end only if I already have it all the way off. I had also wondered if everyone in the Southwest was doing it to their rear ends to prevent that problem where sand gets in the differential?

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Yes Clone, but these guys seem to be from down South. Perhaps the difference in climate actually does justify the coating. Us northerners realize the cost of just rebuilding a newer frame and doing a frame-off will just end up being the same or most likely way less money at the end of the day. Even though I learned my lesson about the coatings not being fool proof from my experience I might still consider doing it to my rear end only if I already have it all the way off. I had also wondered if everyone in the Southwest was doing it to their rear ends to prevent that problem where sand gets in the differential?

Coatings work, but only for so long. They test coatings by spraying them with salt and seeing how many hours they last. Up in Canada they have shops that spray oil on car underbodies yearly and it seems to work pretty well. Sadly they do not offer such services state side, but a lot of people just fill cheap paint guns full of oil and coat their underbodies. I read rust was not a problem with cars until the 1950s when they started using salt during the winter time. NJ anymore salts roads from early Nov until well into March, they really oversalt roads to the point where the roads themselves rapidly decay from oversalting.

My Regal has undercoating from the dealership when it was brand new and has held up well. But then again the car hasn't seen salt in 14 years either.

I know of a guy who owns a DMC-12 who was so concerned about frame rust that he had a custom replacement frame made out of stainless steel for his car.