rather or not to dip a car to restore it?

[Guest]

I can I get a little imput on rather or not its worth the time and expence to have a car dipped in order to get the rust and paint off the body? Ive never had it done befor, and would like to hear from someone who has. [*]

[Guest]

Dipping is the most effective way of removing 100% of the rust and paint from a body. You get virgin metal to work with after it comes out of the tank. It is cost effective also, unless you have to travel a long distance to a facility.<BR>HOWEVER, the downside is the EVERY surface is now bare metal, including all those areas that are inaccessable to application of a protective coating, like behind and inside the trunk bracing, and where the quarter panels are welded to the inner wheel wells. It is also very difficult to rinse out the last remaining residue of the stripping solution which is either very acidic or very alkaline depending on the process the stripper used. What tends to happen is that this solution will bleed out of crevices over time, affecting paint adhesion.<P>Parts like fenders and doors it works beautifully. Hoods or trunks are a problem if they have an inner bracing. I would use a different process on the body. There are places that will strip using various abrasives, like baking soda or plastic beads. these do a good job removing paint and body filler and don't leave residue, but they are not as effective at removing rust.<P>If it was me I would dip all the parts that could easily be cleaned and recoated like door and fenders, and media blast the rest.

[Guest]

Where can you still get this done? I thought with emission controls etc. all these old dipping facilities were shut down. <P>Just curious.

[Guest]

Most major metropolitan areas have them. Redi-Strip is a franchise chain that does it. Check Hemmings under services. I use a fellow just outside of Milwaukee Wi

[palbuick]

I just had a rear fender for my buick stripped at Redi-Strip in Rosell Ill. Cost was $ 75. While there i saw 2 chevells and two Chargers, plus hndreds of misc parts including a couple of short blocks. What a fabulos job they do on a body. Any old repairs will show up and any thin spots will visible to the naked eye, tar, body sealer, paint rust all gone nothing left but nice clean metal. As the other reader pointed out there is a protective film left and must be washed very good before any primer or paint is applied, or it will bleed through later. You can always use a power washer to clean body down. I don't know what the cost of a complete body would be, but if you weight the cost of time and material, it probably comes out close dollar wise, but time wise you are way ahead with the dipping. The one chevell was a convt and must of had parts to 3 other cars inside of shell , all dipped and cleaned at once.<BR>Jim Schilfl /palbuick@aol.com