a good friend of mine bought a 30 model a at the frog follies.he came to me to ask whether to have it dipped or blasted.i leaned toward dipping because i didnt want it to get blown apart.but honestly ive never had either done.he heard about the acid getting trapped in the crevices and contributing to rust later on.ever heard that?any experiences?maybe he should just d.a it down and be done with it?
I've had both good and bad experiences with dipping. It all depends upon who's doing the dipping and the care they take to completely rinse/neutralize the acid. So my opinion is unless the car is a total rust bucket that can't be stripped with conventional methods; blast, DA or wire brush, don't have it dipped. And then if you do, talk to people who have first hand knowledge of your dippers work.
Bluegrass I had the same delima with my 30 A Tudor in the last couple weeks. I researched blasting, dipping, media blasting, and sanding. I talked with about 6 different blast outfits from Orlando, Daytona and here in Jax. This is what i found out. Sand Blast - removes bondo, rust and might warp the metal (heat). To avoid this use low pressure and do not stay in one spot too long. Use recycled sand 20-40 grit that has been used to blast before (less sharp edges) - One guy told me that metal before 1960 is thicker so its more tolerable of blasting. price est. $45/hr and 4-6 hrs for the Tudor Media Blast - removes paint and "light" rust wont hurt the glass or filler BUT, if there is any rust you have to hit that with sand blasting to reomve it. price est $55/hr and 4 -6 Dipping - called around and found one guy in Orlando that does it, removes all rust and will keep eating if its not completely neutralized. This is where the body crevises can cause a problem down the road with it lifting the paint. The guy quoted me $700 to dip What i ended up doing is borrowing a blaster 50# pressure tank and doing the channel, angle and tight areas with that and going to brush blast/DA sand the flat panels.I did one of the header peices and primed it with rustoleum grey primer rattle can it did an okay job on it. 20-40 sand runs around $3 to $5 per 50# bag and i figure about 6 bags should do me if i dont recycle and strain it. I got 2 bags of black beauty (coal slag) to see what it does. One more thing - drink plenty of water, you will sweat in that suit and hood. Every one i talked to said to coat the metal with Ospho or some kind of metal prep/rust preventitive so it wont surface rust, immediately. Even the moisture in your hands will cause it to rust. if you take somewhere, pick it up with and enclosed trailer. Goodluck - B
If you decide to blast it yourself, get the best respirator you can find and have a light breeze blowing at your back to keep the dust away. The dust can cause silicossis (sp?) which is a disease of the lungs. I love cars, but I don't especially want to die because of one!!
I worked at a blasting shop for years. Blasting gets rid of everything and also let's you know what's thin because it 'Blasts' it to smithereens. My opinion blast it. What you got is what you got the blasting will make that clear Benny_h Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I called redistrip in Chicago as I was going to dip the body hull of the 50 , its expensive but he guarantees all the crap will be removed , and they rinse dip it to make sure all the caustic is removed from the chassis , I am having my chassis done for $600 by them . they have a location in indy also . ( different owners ) some places I know from past experiance also offer a Phos acid dip after stripping which is like the e -coat they use on cars . it nutrualizes the stripper.
I have heard too many horror stories about dipping for me to go that route. It needs to be cleaned very good afterwords or problems will pop up later. I used a 50# blaster, and used black beauty to blast my daughters 42 Chevy. She was there to help sweep up the media, and it took me a weekend to do it completely, inside and out. Well worth the effort though
I saw a Model A Vicky before and after it was dipped,,the car was pretty nice but the paint had crazed and the owner was going to build his dream car,,ie,,pour a lotta cash in it. After it came out he realized he didn't have anything to work with,,someone had done a amazing job in the past with bondo,,now all he had was Swiss cheese. I'm pretty sure blasting would have had the same results but he would have known when to stop,,dipping will get it all! HRP
Anyone know a cheaper place than Redistrip In California ? Not sure if thats possible with the enviormental laws here
he knows what hes talking bout.infact,this method was used before blasting and dipping to clean engine blocks and heads.untill a certain few found a easy to make extra cash.
Yea, that's right he dips it in E coat. Talked to him about doing it and he's got a great system. I expressed my concerns about grinding into the fresh e coat to do metal work. His plan was to dip clean the car, then dip it in water soluble oil based coating and return it. Then after all the welding was done he would quickly dip clean it again and then E coat it.
And then there's "wet abrasive blasting" which uses lower blasting pressure and crushed glass blasting media. It removes rust, old body filler, etc. without the problems frequently associated with sandblasting and soda blasting.
Keep in mind that dipping gets everything..... if there is any seam sealer that is neccesary and cant be gotten to by hand it is very difficult to put back. Usually that only applies to later model cars.... Also some paint companies might not warranty their paint after dipping. I have heard the same about soda blasting. At my shop we use a 30/60 copper slag and have had great results on a couple dozen cars.... A's and later models. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'd have to think the dipping or blasting is as good as the care that the people doing the work take doing it. My model A Victoria's body sat upside down in a field for probably 50 years before the PO got it and may be more rust than tin but it is going to the dipper. It is going to one that has been around for quite a while and I have seen several examples of their work. The 48 will go to a local powder coating shop that has a guy who has a fine touch with sheet metal and does several bodies a month. He may get to do the Model A too If I can get it apart to where most of the hidden rust can be reached. Or on that one I may do a combination and take pieces for blasting and take pieces for dipping.
i have had car bodies dipped and media blasted with varying results. i had a `29 tudor i built back in the 80s dipped while the body fully assembled. even though i waited over a year before paint , couple years later i had crap oozing at the rear body seams. my current `28 tudor i fully disassembled it....i mean EVERY rivet/seam/panel. the lower sub-rails and door posts were sand blasted , the sheet metal was dipped in individual pieces . then primed and reassembled. yes , a lot of work....but after 17 years there are still no problems the dipper at the time gave me a good price since it didn't take up much room in his tank fyi....blasting still leaves rust in the joints and seams
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