WITW - Ricky's van attack

[gninnam]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Rustoleum combicolor

Used that on the underneath of my VW van after replacing most of its panels and chassis rails - good stuff

[Audifan]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Rustoleum combicolor

How does this stuff compare to this stuff that we have here in the States?

[MikkiJayne]

POR15 is a bit rubbish tbh. I read great things about it and tried it on some motorcycle parts, but not only is it ludicrously expensive, it goes off in the tin before you can use it all. To top that off, by the time it had dried, there were little bubbles of rust on the surface of it! Its supposed to encapsulate the rust and use any moisture in it to cure, but it seemed to do the exact opposite.

Rustoleum is much easier to use, cheaper, and stays liquid in the tin. I painted all the steel work in my workshop with it and 5 years later its all still perfect. That's American too though

[Audifan]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Cleaning up the replacement subframe tonight, prior to sandblasting hopefully tomorrow, then re-paint on Friday.

I'm working on the principle that the car is recoverable and can keep this subframe therefore it might as well be a nice one. If that doesn't work out, at least I have a clean subframe for something else.

I removed as much of the loose rust and paint as I could with a wire wheel on the grinder which hopefully should make sandblasting quicker and therefore more likely to be squeezed in tomorrow

Holy moly is that rusty! This might be a dumb question but is there anyway to custom fit a front and rear aluminum subframe from the D3 cars?

[Audifan]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

POR15 is a bit rubbish tbh. I read great things about it and tried it on some motorcycle parts, but not only is it ludicrously expensive, it goes off in the tin before you can use it all. To top that off, by the time it had dried, there were little bubbles of rust on the surface of it! Its supposed to encapsulate the rust and use any moisture in it to cure, but it seemed to do the exact opposite.

Rustoleum is much easier to use, cheaper, and stays liquid in the tin. I painted all the steel work in my workshop with it and 5 years later its all still perfect. That's American too though

Interesting.... I've never used it, just heard about it.

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by Audifan

Holy moly is that rusty! This might be a dumb question but is there anyway to custom fit a front and rear aluminum subframe from the D3 cars?

The D3 front subframe is completely different so no way with that.

The rear is almost the same, with just one bushing in a different place but that could be cut out and welded back in. That's been done before, but I'm not sure its worth the effort tbh. I don't know what the weight difference is, if any.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The D3 front subframe is completely different so no way with that.

The rear is almost the same, with just one bushing in a different place but that could be cut out and welded back in. That's been done before, but I'm not sure its worth the effort tbh. I don't know what the weight difference is, if any.

Do you have any sources or links for this? I'm crazy enough to try it

[MikkiJayne]

Its somewhere in the first 250 pages of this thread on resja.nu. Get your Google Translate on

I'll try and remember to weigh the D2 subframe before I put it back on. I doubt there will be a significant enough difference in weight to the D3 unit to justify the work.

The C5 R/S6 had aluminium subframes whereas the A6 had steel, but the fronts at least weigh exactly the same. I believe Audi used aluminum for the R/S versions simply because it was cheaper to make a small quantity that way, rather than tooling up to make steel ones. Potentially its also stiffer, but the amount of rubber they put in the suspension would negate that anyway.

By the way, I have finished for xmas now (yes, how very dare I? ). Back on it on the 27th when the fuel tank comes off in preparation for welding up the crack on the 28th.

[David's8]

Well, you shutting up shop means one thing less of anything worthwhile watching over xmas .....
But have a good one MJ and I hope Santa is good to you

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Its somewhere in the first 250 pages of this thread on resja.nu. Get your Google Translate on

I'll try and remember to weigh the D2 subframe before I put it back on. I doubt there will be a significant enough difference in weight to the D3 unit to justify the work.

The C5 R/S6 had aluminium subframes whereas the A6 had steel, but the fronts at least weigh exactly the same. I believe Audi used aluminum for the R/S versions simply because it was cheaper to make a small quantity that way, rather than tooling up to make steel ones. Potentially its also stiffer, but the amount of rubber they put in the suspension would negate that anyway.

By the way, I have finished for xmas now (yes, how very dare I? ). Back on it on the 27th when the fuel tank comes off in preparation for welding up the crack on the 28th.

half way down page 10. steel subframe is 30kg and aluminium one is 20, they had to modify some bracket and bushes too, too much work.

enjoy your time off!