Chassis paint and finally bolting things on…

Having unbolted essentially everything other than the engine itself, I prepped and painted the chassis and roll cage. Of course, I didnt do the upper part of the roll cage (or “greenhouse”) as several of those tubes are destined to get cut and replaced as we fit a body. I chose to use Chassis Saver, by Magnetic Paints for several reasons. First, this stuff is tough. Its designed to be used for exactly this purpose, so its good at resisting the gasoline, oil, brake fluid, and gravel spray that the undersides of this car are going to see regularly. Second, its designed to be brushed on, which saves a ton of time in prep. Last, its designed to chemically convert rust so you dont have to sand through to clean metal. As a matter of fact, this paint is the most tolerant of bad surface prep of any paint I’ve ever used. Like all paints it comes with a warning to not get it on your skin, but these people mean it! Seriously, dont get it on you unless you’re willing to dye that skin whatever color you chose for four or five days…ask me how I know.

In the lower right corner of this picture you can see the relocated battery tray. The four axle locating links are now bolted back on after having been painted a shiny black using Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy. Note also the little orange lines on the heads of the three bolts of the passenger side of the panhard bar mount? That is a product called Cross Check Torque Seal. It is a really good visual indicator of a fastener that has come loose or an assembly that has moved. Using it reduces between race “nut and bolt checks” to visual checks. Also nice to start putting little upgrades in, like the 4” long wheel studs to allow me to add wheel spacers to get the rear track width up to the legal limit.