Rust hole in chassis

[Beastmavster]

I note that in the LH section of the Code of Practice the extended wheelbase stuff only has

"All welding carried out by a qualified tradesman"

and

"All welding complies with relevant Australian Standards"

If you can meet these two criteria (I think they have to xray test one of your welding samples" then you can probably get an engineer to approve it.

Dont be suprised if a lot of engineers still dont want to know about it - it's their careers they're putting on the line for you to save a grand or so worth of chassis.

[Cranker]

Well that's me I've been qualified for a long time and take pride in what i do.
If i plated it with, say, 3mm steel i don't think they would be x-raying a 3mm fillet weld.
Yeah they may still knock it back though

What do ya reckon guys. Cut out the rusted steel. Overlap the cut hole by at least 10mm all round and fully weld the new plate. I think 3mm plate would be suficient.

[Beastmavster]

Well how thick is the chassis steel anyway? 2.8, 3.2mm?

[mickyd555]

swap the chassis if you really want to fic it properly, it can be done relatively easily with the right equipment. See WHITEWIZARD's members thread, we got his done in 16 hrs or so.

[Nevyn]

I ain't no expert but when I asked about this for a vehicle I was interested in purchasing I found out it not that bigger issue.

I spoke to QLD transport and as said it needed qual welder, not me which is not me but is you. (Only reason I didn't get it)

Primary requirement was that rust is cut out and sealed properly and primarily there is a set and long overlap, ie the plate needs to be substantially longer in both directions from any damage.

As long as checks are done legit and you are honest with reciever, is the transfer job really worth it??

[Cranker]

yeah i here ya man,

Fixing the holes properly seems the easiest. Haven't got the know-how or the gear to do a chassis replacement.

I'm thinking i might offer to buy the vehical off my mate and use it for myself. He just wants to get rid of it.

Might put some huge lift gear on it and run it in comps

[sudso]

Sum dodgy barstards here

[Red Rover]

Find a new chassis at a wreckers and transfer the whole lot over.. ?

Looks kinda.. rooted...

Hmmm, thats a different approach on the issue.

I reckon it would be a bit of a job. What major issues would i have in doing that?

You would have a crapload more problems doing this, apart from the fact its a mammoth job, you will be changing the vehicles identity because the new chassis will have a different number to the compliance plate. The rego boys will have e feild day with this.

If the rust is mainly localised to that area, I would cut and plate. Make sure you cut all the flakey bits out first & then as mentiond by people earlier do some preventitive work & the plate. Use the same gauge or thicker as long as the welds are good then the strength will be there. The general rule for welding rust repair is that a minimum of 50% of the plate must be welded. The reason behind this is sometimes the welding can add stress to areas which need to flex. It is up to you to assess if 50% will be enough or you need to go the whole way around.

If the job is good the rego boys will look at it & assess weather the repair is good & usually pass it. Worst comes to worst they will ask for an engineers certificate to ensure strength. It is definately not the end of the world for this vehcle just yet. Yes rust will come again but thats life.

If your mate is concerned, trade it in or discount the price a little & tell the buyer it has had major rust repair in the chassis. That way you cover yourself because it is up to him to now go looking & you don't lose too much money then. The next owner might want something to bash up & down the beach on & if it already has a bit of rust he might not care.

Easy to change chassis and no problem with it being legal. You cannot remove the id tags from the vehicle, however you have to take the car to the local police station and they will give you a surrogate chassis number that will be matched against the body. You then have to put these numbers into the chassis and the old one must remain. When this is completed dept of transport just inspect the number and all is ok. Have done it before no problems

Otherwise I would get a good section of the same chassis and get somone qualified to graft it in. Similar to what they do with a chassis extension and repair.

[Mark2]

Thats right, a Surrogate VIN will be needed if number on ID plate and chassis dont match. Can be done easily enough.

I would plate it in accordance with the engineering guidelines so its roadworthy, spray some body deadener around and trade it. If the rest of the car doesnt look beachy, they wont look real hard underneath.

For the amount of work swapping a chassis, then explaining why it has a surrogate VIN when sold or traded you would be better of taking the drop in resale associated with a good repair job. Most dealers wouldnt pick it anyway when you trade it.