Morris Minor Owners Club

After welding on a chassis leg, what is the best paint to use to stop it rusting?
Do you get rid of the powder coat that it comes in, or leave that on as the base coat?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks, John.

Hi John. I had my chassis legs replaced in the 1980s. To stop them rusting again I painted all that I could reach with a hard Paint such as Hammerite. Then I sprayed/painted everything with Waxoil. In the thirty or more years since I did this they remain as good as day one. I also use silicone brake fluid and as such I do not worry about brake fluid spillage in the driver's side leg. Good luck,

Thank you Kenny.
Did you paint the Hammerite onto the powder coated layer? Or bare metal?

The matt black paint on repair panels is just a minimal coat to minimise rusting while they are held in stock. It is not suitable as a base coat and should be removed completely before any other coats are applied. I doubt very much whether any suppliers would be using powder coat, which is a relatively expensive process and overkill for the intended purpose.

Don

all the repair panels come sprayed with this black protective its not even good enough for primer since the first coat should be etch primer onto bare metal, I once made the mistake of priming and spraying a mini quarter panel on top of this it peeled off after a couple of months.It may be safe enough to cover with waxoil or similar ,not sure I would put hamerite ontop it may not stay on and these days hamerite is no where as good as it was(changes to formulae).I would strip it off and paint the bare metal with any red oxide ,then a good coating of waxoil.inside and out.

Thanks. I thought, (wrongly) that they were powder coated.
Thanks for the advice.

To be honest, John, it was so long ago I can't remember. It is something I have wondered about myself, but knowing how lazy I am I would not have removed the black paint (assuming it had any) and just painted it with the paint I had at hand. Red oxide is good for an undercoat. I get mine from Wilko. These panels rust out from the inside so the waxoiling is essential.

As said the paint most panels come in is just a protective layer for transportation, it usually wipes off with cellulose thinners, the best paints around now are epoxy primers, they stick far better and are tougher than the older generation of paints like hammerite plus they are not hydroscopic like most primers. You can go over the primer with something like teamac or spray on stone chip to finish off.

waxoil is designed to self heal,it never sets so a chip or scratch(theoretically)closes up,if put on properly it will protect for years good luck with it,but like everything else probably not as good as it was.

Waxoil will only self heal if it is kept soft.
If you leave a patch of Waxoil it will harden and crack as the solvent in the Waxoil evaporates.
Every so often apply a light spray over of white spirit to revitalise the Waxoil.
I always find that when applying Waxoil it is best to thin it down with white spirit. The additional white spirit then acts as a carrier and gets the Waxoil into those hard to get corners. You can always apply more than one coat of Waxoil if necessary.

Good tip! Thanks phil.