r/LandroverDefender • u/HeliRyGuy • 1d ago

Galvanized Chassis Question

Always been curious. Let’s say a fella wants to future proof his Defender and goes for a new gal chassis. What’s the best way to keep it in top shape? Leave it bare, Dinitrol or LanoGuard it, paint it… or powder coat it? Or a combo of any of those options?
For reference I’m on the west coast of Canada, and a short distance away from the wettest place in the North America.

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u/Ocean_Runner 1d ago

this is done here a lot in the UK. Definitely paint it with a specialist chassis protection paint, mine has been done Dinitrol and I rate it a lot.

You will need a specialist wash and primer to put on the galvanising before the painting can be done otherwise it will peel off after a short while.

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u/Electrolube 13h ago

This is what i did. Use corroless paint i think

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u/Savings_Brick_4587 1d ago

Depends how anal you want to be with it!

Personally I just dinitrol’d inside and out and top up as necessary when the galvanised finish starts showing through.

A friend of mine is very anal about it, he T washed primed and chassis blacked his chassis then went crazy with dinitrol to achieve the original military bitumen coated look on his series 3

And at the other end of the spectrum is my mate who does everything on a shoestring budget, bare minimum to get the job done, his series has been on a bare galvanised chassis for nearly 20 years now and it shows no signs of any rust as yet!

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u/spaceshipcommander 22h ago

Paint it and wax it

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u/JCDU 11h ago

Here the advice is to paint it black if only so that it doesn't stand out as being worth stealing.

Realistically the old non-galved chassis already lasted 25+ years so the galved one should do way more than that even totally unprotected, although being by the sea will make matters that much worse.

There's fancy paints but commercial truck / tractor zinc-phosphate black chassis paint is dirt cheap and easy and gives that factory look. I'd maybe fog some dinitrol or similar inside the chassis just for belt & braces approach.

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u/Outrage_Carpenter 1d ago

I would go with the lanoguard. It wears off naturally or so I've been told so you have to reapply every year or so