Chassis Paint

[peterg]

When I remove the fuel tank for repair I will have access to the underside of the car. I hope to take advantage of this to paint the chassis.

Can anyone advise on what paint to use? I want to use an all in one product and am looking at Dinitrol high build vinyl chassis paint. Does anyone have any experience of it and can advise how much paint is required? I will be using a paint brush and only painting the areas I have access to.

If successfull I will paint accessible parts of the body frame too. As with the engine compartment I propose to use silver rather than black to increase the light and better show where the rust is breaking through.

[Geoff Kingston]

Have a look on the Rust.co.uk site their epoxy paint is apparently very good though I have not used it, I have however used their Dinotrol and Mil Spec waxes and they are first rate products. I have used paint including POR15 which is very good but a bugger to get off your skin if it dries, so use gloves and a visor if you decide to use that product.
If I was doing this job I would not use silver paint , it just looks wrong, Black looks much better but Red us acceptable on the chassis but not under bonnet which on all Bristols was black ex factory. I would not rely just on a paint finish however , I don't like underseal but much prefer the Dinotrol waxes, these can be painted on with a brush but are better sprayed if you want to get total coverage, I forget the numbers but the lighter cavity wax is a good prep if surface rust is present followed by the heavier underbody wax, with a good application in wheel arches etc.
The underside really needs to be checked every year any trapped mud removed and wax re applied to any dry or exposed areas and under the wheel arches.
If you do decide to stick with silver then there are clear wax products available as well to give added protection to the chassis, Waxoil being one I can think of.

[David Olivant]

I used epoxy mastic two part chassis paint by rustmaster [or rust].
Superb. I used Fertan rust convertor first, then the chassis paint. As an overkill I then sprayed stonechip on top followed by wax, Not the prettiest or how it left the factory, but this time it'll last![?]
David

[peterg]

Looked at the Rustmaster site and the epoxy mastic seems to be substantially more expensive than Dinitrol. How much is needed for the underside of a Bristol?

[Giles]

I think i used most of a 5 litre pack on the underside and perhaps a few other bits of a 408. I thought it was good,but jotamastic is meant to be similar and is less expensive if you are buying a lot.

[peterg]

Thanks Giles, went for Jotamastic at half the price of Rustmaster in the end. Settled on silver as they say it gives the best protection and, why oh why, did Bristol cover everything in instrument black? Things just dissapear in the engine bay without extra light