Inner sealing of Engine Frames

[AshM]

Can I validate my thinking please.

Here are my beautifully painted original engine frames ready for re-fitting. Before I do I would like to apply Dynax internally.

As can be seen, only some of the tubing have access holes in the end plates so I should only worry about sealing those tubes? My thinking being that the tubes without holes are vacuums and therefore cannot rust internally.

Alternatively I could drill small access holes for the Dynax tube and do all of the tubes.

As always, value your views.

cheers
Ash

[christopher storey]

Whatever you do, don't drill holes in any of the tubes themselves, as this a.weakens them mechanically , even if not by much, and more significantly can create stress concentrations from which fatigue fractures can propagate. I suppose it might just be permissible to drill the endplates which I suspect are mild steel, but I think most of these have holes already so there's not much point

[politeperson]

The only way of doing it is a few more holes in the endplates Ash.

10mm for the probe.

James

[Mich7920]

Holes in the endplates is the only way.
I did this with no problems.

[johnetype]

Ash, since the volume of the tubes isn't very large I didn't use a probe, I created a warm environment and for each tube in turn taped up any outlet and with that particular tube vertical, just filled it with Dynatrol, Dynax, Waxoyl, whatever your poison.

After a few minutes I inverted the tube and drained out the contents and reused that for the next tube and so on.

Perhaps a bit OCD but you can be sure the wax has got into every nook and cranny.

[E600]

Done mine late last year using waxoyl.



Gave each tube a good blast, shook it around and let it settle. Having done this on my other e types I can comfirm that waxoyl leaks out on hot days for years after its application.

[chrisfell]

I recall seeing a sequence of photos and a description on Chuck Hadley’s site (monocoque-metalworks.com). I think he opens out holes in the end plates and floods the tubes with red oxide paint. Waxoyl (other brands are available) is, as Pat says, a good choice.

[rfs1957]

Ash,

Drilling holes in the end-plates is not an issue.

If you're confident you've got a good and consistent 360° spray out of a probe then pulling it through the length of the tubes will be fine.

My probe and spray-gun from RustBusters, who couldn't be bothered to supply advice/instructions/guidance, has never filled me with consistent delivery and 360° confidence, so what I will do with my frames - when they're ready for treating - is to do what I did with the Mini rear-doors, much as John suggests above.

I blocked off all the holes but one, then poured half a litre of warmed and thinned Waxoyl (maybe 10% white-spirit, can't remember) into the door.





Turning the door around and over in all directions gives a wonderful sloshing to everything and then you pull out the hole-bungs and let the excess drip out.

(And like our friend E600 says, if you park it in the sun in August you still get the occasional burp - note, this may be harder to reproduce in Edinburgh !)

This is sort-of how I did the doors on the Jag too, with an excess that I ran into all the intersteces and then drained off.

I've always thought that it was treating the key areas on my 1978 Mini Van to similar excesses in the early 1980's that has resulted in it being the only Mini I've ever seen that is still on original sills and sub-frames ?

[AshM]

Thanks all - great responses as always.

I have some work to do!

cheers
Ash