Found a donor D2 frame in good condition save for worn paint and one small rust spot. Asking price $700. Located in North Carolina. Im buying a trailer wiring harness and ball this weekend and plan on renting a u-haul auto transport trailer. More than happy to make the round trip but the rust spot worries me.

 

That's nothing. Sand and paint it.

 

Ditto on the rust, that's about 5 minutes of work.


That price though... you can buy entire discos for $1000. Wouldn't give more than $300 for just a clean frame.

 

That rust spot wouldn't bother me at all, especially, since it is located on a welded plate section. Looks mighty minor to me. As far as price goes, you may be able to beat him down a bit, but he did all of the hard work...getting the frame out of the other vehicle...and that's worth a ton IMO.

I'd get it, send it to a blaster (media) and have it sprayed...it would be like new.


Brian.

 

All things considered for a DII, that's "ZERO" rust, it just sucks that's the weld that is failing. You can see on the vertical weld that the paint is also starting to crack, so it's "stressed". And I maybe crazy, but it looks like someone left some welding wire on the top left corner.
The price us great....but personally before I would take the drive, ask the seller to hit that area with a wire brush/pick and shoot you another pic. Not an unreasonable request. Good Luck!

 

Buy it, sandblast it then take it to Duncan Galvanizing in Everett, MA and have them dip it for you. It'll probably cost about $500 to do but in the end you'll save a fortune over a galvanized chassis from Rovers North.

 

I was talking to Don Trudeau and he thought a galvanized job would cost well over 2k... But I will give them a call. What about waxoyl as an alternative? I was thinking about sanding the entire frame down myself, then using some special rust prevent paint coating on the entire frame, then undercoating it with waxoyl every year. Would this method hold up as well?

Also Im moving out of New England at some point in new future. Either WA or Alaska and neither use salt on the main roads...

 

I haven't used Duncan in years but the last time I did they quoted a price based on weight. I think it was something like $400 for up to 500 pounds. The frame doesn't weigh anywhere near 500 pounds. Call them and see what they charge. Even it if was $1000 it would still be a bargain.

Personally, I would always prefer galvanizing to waxoyl. You won't have to worry about regalvanizing like you will redoing the waxoyl on a regular basis. Also, if you go the galvanizing route you may be able to have them dip a few other items in with the chassis to make up the flat rate based on weight.

 

I've always seen good results with sand blasting and then POR15. Then whatever kind of paint or rubberized coating on top of the POR15 you desire.

 

It does make you wonder about the quality control at LR... but then again its no secret that the Discovery mark consisted of poor tooling and parts bin parts...

I will probably end up sanding the frame down myself and apply some rust preventing agent (forgot what its called but supposedly its better than waxoyl). Ill have my mechanic examine the weld and if need be strengthen it up. Thanks for pointing it out. I can sand out that wire piece myself. I probably wont get down there until sundown and Ill be in a rush to get everything squared away.