soda blasting vs acid dipping etc and recommended providers?

[dieselnutjob]

I need to start stripping down the 604.

My plan is to remove every removable panel (so bonnet, valance, bootlid, all four doors, front wings,sill covers) and strip them down to bare metal.

The shell of the car is pretty solid so I won't doing too much with that.

Some of my panels are used and are covered with an oily wax inside, but now that has to go so that I can repaint them.  Once they are repainted I can rewax inside everything.

I don't have time to be degreasing and paint stripping myself.

I would eventually like to paint them (or have them painted) with epoxy primer.

Is acid dipping the way to go?  Can anyone recommend a good company for this?  I can't find anything in London so I guess I will have to travel to the midlands, but to be honest I'm just off the A40 and sometimes it's quicker to get to the Birmingham than the other side of London anyway.

thanks.

[paulscavalier]

Have a look on YouTube at project bramble by Pete c cortina city. He has gone down the road of stripping his mk3 cortina shell and dipping that. I think he had his done at somewhere in Preston. But it has given him a very clean shell. It may help make your mind up what to do

[danthecapriman]

I’ve never used dipping, but I had my Capri (panels and shell) blasted. It’s very good as it literally gets through everything and reveals all, but I’d be extremely careful with blasting - it can lead to heat build up, particularly on large flat panels which can warp them! This happened to my bonnet and roof skin through the blaster Not being great.

It can be fixed, as mine was, but it introduces another problem you then need to fix.

Dipping will be gentler but just remember that it gets into every single nook and cranny so you will need to make absolutely sure the car gets painted and it’s cavities, seams etc etc properly protected after the dipping and repairs are finished otherwise it will rot out again in quick order! Often they can dip the repaired shell and panels again afterwards in epoxy primer etc so all the inside faces, box sections etc get covered.

 

I think dipping is the more expensive of the two.

[dieselnutjob]

46 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

just remember that it gets into every single nook and cranny so you will need to make absolutely sure the car gets painted and it’s cavities, seams etc etc properly protected after the dipping and repairs are finished otherwise it will rot out again in quick order!

I was thinking that this is a good reason to only dip removable panels as it should be easier to get all the stuff out of a door and paint and wax it quickly.

The shell is good so stripping all of the factory sealant etc might be counterproductive.

[purplebargeken]

Might be worth enquiring about the dipping company that Car SOS use, they seem to do a good job.

Enviro Strip!

[purplebargeken]

In Tamworth - 01827 284333

[3VOM]

4 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ve never used dipping, but I had my Capri (panels and shell) blasted. It’s very good as it literally gets through everything and reveals all, but I’d be extremely careful with blasting - it can lead to heat build up, particularly on large flat panels which can warp them! This happened to my bonnet and roof skin through the blaster Not being great.

Isn't the way round the heat build up to use soda or glass beads or walnut shells, i.e. something less aggressive.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, 3VOM said:

Isn't the way round the heat build up to use soda or glass beads or walnut shells, i.e. something less aggressive.

I think it can reduce the chances of it but I think it’s still up to a sympathetic and skilled operator to do the job in a way that keeps the heat to a minimum. Apparently it doesn’t take a great deal to cause distortion, especially on large flat sheets of thin metal. The guy I used to do my bodywork said most people wouldn’t have noticed any distortion whatsoever in mine... until you put the paint on! Once that’s on it will show any unevenness and it’ll stand out a mile off as the reflection of the light etc shows it up. 

I’m definitely no expert though! I’ve only done a bare metal resto once and suffered a slight issue through the blasting. As ever, it’s very much down to finding the right firm/person to do the job properly. On mine I don’t think I did particularly, though the damage was minimal and they were thorough with getting all of the rust and crap off the car so it wasn’t all bad. It’s just one of those things I suppose.