I would love to listen to all opinions on this subject. I have a 69 chevelle ss that defiantly needs some floor and trunk repair. I don't think I will be able to sleep at night knowing things are rusting in hidden areas of the body and frame. I'm looking at all options on how to precede with this major step of the process. Is it the right thing to do? Do I have other options than the dip tank? Do I run the risk of screwing the body up? ect....
Thanks for any info or insite you can provide.

JD

JD,
I gave up dip tanking 15 years ago. Too many "after effect" problems with not getting all of the chemical out of body pinch weld seams. I now do media blasting exclusively. It is very inexpensive and wont hurt anything. it doesn't remove rust but will expose all of it for removal. It usually cost me $600-800 to do a complete body and frame. I can typically drop the car off in the morning and pick it up the following day, vacuum it out and I'm on my way. There are just too many steps involved in chemical stripping. It removes EVERYTHING on the car including all body caulking. It leaves residue which is hard to remove and you have to remove the sealer they put on the metal prior to painting. In my business, that means $$$$. JMO



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"Details Make the Difference"

Appreciate the feedback.
Maybe Im putting to much thought in to this but Im concerned about the areas you cant reach by blasting. Such as the boxed part of thre frames and inexceable parts of the body. What the answer in these situations?

Thanks
JD

I've used Redi Strip and baking soda media blast. Redi Strip promised that there wouldn't be any chemical left. Wrong! I left the body in a heated/cooled garage for about a year and there was all kind of stuff growing out of the seams. I couldn't help but think that would have pushed my paint off if I hadn't found it. I never finished that car so I really don't know how it turned out.

On the other hand, I had a car blasted with baking soda. The baking soda kept the sheetmetal from warping. My experience with this though is that you don't want to use this on only a part of a car. Do it all at once. If anything's finished before you start, it won't be when you're done. The sand gets everywhere; including places you wouldn't imagine. I had a finished engine compartment and had the body and chasis blasted - the engine compartment was trashed and the radiator was ruined. I had a friend that had the floorpan blasted on a car with super paintjob. The paint was trashed.

However, Rick is right the blasting is a better method. It seems to me that I had about $3K in stripping and about $1K in blasting. Big difference.

It also takes a long time to schedule a body in a dipping tank. Redi Strip is in the business of stripping smaller items for businesses. They don't want to tie up a complete tank for a few days while they go through the process on your body. However, if you catch them at a slow time.....

I also had a problem with a decklid 'oil canning' after it was Redi Stripped. It seems it either stretched the metal or I lost something in the process.

Good luck.

JD,

I have been in numerous debates about this topic. Do a search on my name under Body to see some of the discussion.

Here is my opinion...

Nothing gets a car cleaner than chemical stripping (I've had cars chem stripped and media blasted.). Once the car is dipped you will know exactly what needs to be worked on. However, if you do not have the entire body "e-coated" afterwards I can guarantee you it will have chemicals seeping out of the seams that will destroy your paint or it will rust from the inside out.

You really should get it chem stripped twice if you choose to go that route. Once before you start your body work and a second time after the body work is complete and ready to go to e-coating (gets rid of flash rust). The price will be in the range of $1700 - $2500 to get the stripping and e-coating done on the body and about $700 for the frame.

Good Luck,

Bill

Bill Where are you getting your Dipping done? When you say "Body" does that include fenders hood trunk etc???

Normie,

When I say "body" I mean just the hull. Doors, decklid, fenders, etc. will add additional cost. I use a guy in Michigan who owns a company called Carponents. He has a website. Check it out to get a feel for costs.
http://www.ecoatking.com

Remember to double the cost if you plan on chemical stripping twice.

Bill