19 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

after making up some stainless steel battery trays under advice of my local VW restorer for my camper







why can't we get sills and other bits that rust out quickly for our minis ?

[xBR4DLEY]

Expensive to make

[AVV IT]

Ever lasting sills on a mini???? ... now where would the fun be in that???

[Bungle]

come on how much metal is in a mini sill

it's what just over a meter long buy 20cm

[xBR4DLEY]

come on how much metal is in a mini sill

it's what just over a meter long buy 20cm

But then we have to buy different welders to weld them to our cars ;o

[mini13]

stainless probaly isnt suitable for structrul areas, IIRC i work hardens and becomes brittle.

[Bungle]

i did wonder that but could you just up the thickness ?

[blue blood]

i did wonder that but could you just up the thickness ?

bungle i think you offer up a very good solution to a topic but there are several down falls. Stainless steel in recent months has sky rocketed in price! Once you get over the cost of buying it initially you need to have tooling done to make the right shapes which costs a lot of wonger (you could ask to use formers that have already been used but as you say to up the thickness it would not be as simple as using the old formers!) then as someone else pointed out different welding materials would be needed! It seems like a very expensive mission but in a perfect world it would be a very goof option. Alternatively you could use fibreglass maybe? I've got a minus myself so i don't really have your problem!
I think in a really perfect world everything for a mini should be made from titanium, aircraft grade aluminium, fibreglass and carbon fibre
Regards Blue

[Midas Mk1]

nah Bungle ,
surely you must have realised it'd make your car need an IVA, as the structural areas wouldn't be to the standard factory specifaction! LOL

[Ivor Badger]

As in "nice sills, shame about the mini". Start with bi-metallic corrision. As you can get 1.2v across mild steel to stainless in salt water, if you can connect up the panels in series it will save you buying a new battery while the roads are salted. by the way, the sills will remain, but unfortunately the vehicle will disappear. When are you holding the wake for your camper? If you go camping and sleep in it naked, we might see your twanger sooner than you think

[Bungle]

so electrolysis is the reason why we don't have stainless steel parts fitted onto rust prone areas

i thought there had to be more in it that cost of the steel

hopefully the camper is ok as i'm bonding them on as the battery trays are not in a structural area

[Shifty]

I've always thought it was because stainless is more brittle than mild steel, it just doesn't deform as well. Also joining it to mild steel will give a weak joint.

[Ethel]

nah Bungle ,
surely you must have realised it'd make your car need an IVA, as the structural areas wouldn't be to the standard factory specifaction! LOL

I believe "owned" is the expression

Mr Delorean proved it isn't impossible. Biggest drawback I can think of is welding stainless sills on to a mild steel shell and what it'd do to the structure. Dunno about the galvanic corrosion either, in theory it ought to be better - it's the very reactive chrome in the stainless that protects the iron. Though even stainless has it's limits - you won't find much on sea going boats where it would be submerged in salty water, possibly not all that different to the inside of a Mini's sills in winter?

[ibrooks]

There are many reasons. The main ones have been touched on.

It's very difficult to weld dis-similar metals together without messing with the properties of both (with stainless and mild you find that the joints become more susceptible to corrosion so you'veshot yourself in the foot for a start).

Galvanic corrosion - dis-similar metals in electrical contact will result in one of them becoming a sacrificial anode (there's that gun going off in the direction of your foot again).

Properties of "stainless steel". There are many different grades of stainless and they are all a compromise. The truly "stainless" stuff won't rust when exposed to salt water (even in and around the sea) but it's a brittle as a brittle thing and work-hardens the first time it flexes in any way. The grades that are more tolerant to a bit of flexing (and they still won't get close to mild steel) simply aren't that corrosion resistant.

It costs more.

DeLoreans got around the first two here by having the whole monocoque made from the same grade. The forth one they got around by having the government pick up the difference between what they could charge and what they really cost (and when the government put their foot down aparently he tried drug-dealing to make ends meet instead).

To compromise between corrosion resistance and work hardening they went for the grade with the best corrosion resistance they dared and did quite a bit of work on the design of the monocoque to try and reduce flexing - how well they did the job never really got tested as they went under before the warranty period on most of the cars was up and they became collectors items so quickly that few ever really did the same amount of work as a "normal" car and they were tucked up in garages by enthusiasts and collectors.

[danrock101]

nah Bungle ,
surely you must have realised it'd make your car need an IVA, as the structural areas wouldn't be to the standard factory specifaction! LOL

LOL briliant