Silicone the under battery aluminium?

[DJWalker]

Hi all

I’ve just started building my car and the first thing is attaching the under battery aluminium.

This seems like a silly little question, but the manual doesn’t say to silicone this piece, but it does say to silicone the under seat aluminium.

I’m assuming that both should be siliconed and that this is just a mistake in the manual, but thought I would just ask here to make sure that there wasn’t a good reason for not siliconing the under battery piece.

[Scott Meyer]

Hello DJ,

Enjoy seeing your IG updates! We applied silicone everywhere between our aluminum and frame before riveting. Are you applying any coating to your aluminum first? We did the pain stacking process of using POR-15 for everything that is visible. We have not done the floor sheets since we are coating the underside with Raptor liner (roll on) last.

Have fun with your build!

[DJWalker]

Thanks Scott. I was thinking that I would probably spray some/most of the aluminium with POR15 Top Coat. Is that what you mean when you say POR15 or did you use one of the other products?

I was looking at LizardSkin as an option for some bits - particularly the underside, but it looks like that might work out expensive.

[klawrence]

I used the metal prep then rust preventive coating then top coat/2k, it seemed to bond better starting with the rust preventer. For the underside and wheel wells I will eventually be applying the RAPTOR bed liner, just like I did on the underside of my coupe body and hood.

[Ajzride]

I made my own lizard skin on my 65 mustang, worked great.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=511370

http://www.hytechsales.com/insulatin...additives.html



I would lizard skin the interior side and raptor coat the exterior side.

[J R Jones]

Hi all

I’ve just started building my car and the first thing is attaching the under battery aluminium.

This seems like a silly little question, but the manual doesn’t say to silicone this piece, but it does say to silicone the under seat aluminium.

I’m assuming that both should be siliconed and that this is just a mistake in the manual, but thought I would just ask here to make sure that there wasn’t a good reason for not siliconing the under battery piece.

DJ,
My (2014) 818 has a steel pan for the battery, I have not installed the aluminum pan below, and may not. I have a top-laid-back Mishimoto radiator that exhausts down and out. Two issues:
I am concerned about crevice corrosion, especially below the acid filled battery. The laminates will not drain and dry. If I use the aluminum, I may cut out much of the material under the battery tray.

Not all POR is durable. I have used the gray, black and semi gloss black primers and find them very durable in all regards. Yes, exposed to direct sunlight they will color fade.
I tried POR spray top coat on another project car suspension bits, over POR primer. I got runs on the shock absorbers, and wet sanded them out. When I used pre-paint solvent (mineral spirits) prior to the second top coat the first layer of top coat melted and came-off on the rag. I had to re-do all the POR top coated parts with two part urethane clear. I will not use POR top coat on anything automotive.
BTW I spoke to POR customer service, they were in disbelief and blew me off.
jim

[DJWalker]

Thanks for everyone’s replies on this. I’ve decided to leave any painting for now and just get on with attaching the aluminium.it was 5 degrees Celsius (41F) in my workshop today, way too cold to be painting. The instructions on the POR-15 Top Coat suggests it should be at least 21 degrees (70F) which means I’ll probably be waiting until next June before it’s warm enough!