media blast or acid dip

[DomX77D80]

Hi Frends 
i have question for you    what is the best for remouve the paint and rust : media blast or acid dip ?
Thank you

[BULLITT65]

I have not acid dipped. I have media blasted. The media works good, but obviously is only where they can reach, which may be enough. The draw back with media, is you spend hours afterward blowing and vacuuming out the media. You will think you got all of it, but I still see some of the media, upon final assembly. Its not the end of the world, just one of those things.
I looked into acid dipping at the time, but it was more than double the cost of media blasting, and there was nobody who did it within 500 miles it seemed.
Hopefully someone with experience can chime in on the acid dipping.

[ZLP955]

Acid dipping is very effective but can be problematic if neutralising isn't 100% effective in hard-to-reach areas, especially seams and where multiple layers of sheetmetal overlap. Also, the length of time in the dipping tank is important, old-school racers used this method to lose excess weight but often ended up with very thin metal remaining.
To try and allay fears of ongoing acid reaction in inaccessible areas, many providers now offer a 3-stage dipping process, involving the strip, a neutralising stage and a paint system recoat, all in full-immersion tanks.
No direct experience with this myself though.

[68camaroz28]

Are you asking about a entire body or body panels? We media blasted our entire car and parts prior to restoration and yes time is spent removing media immediately after and then a really good water body flush later prior to finish paint. No problems and its done all the time for restorations. I do not know of anyone doing or has done an acid dip. Some people have done an e-coat of primer after metal preparation but since the body is dipped/submerged many times you have to add drain holes.

[z28z11]

Chick,

Shame you had to paint it - it looked great in it's birthday suit.

A second choice (which is a lot safer than acid) is an alkaline electrolytic stripper, Like Redi Strip (if there are still any functioning). Takes out rust and paint, grime, grease and everything, but won't harm a molecule of good metal. I guess that most franchises were north of the rust belt line, closest one to me was Indianapolis.

Regards,
Steve

[ban617]

I was thinking that Mopar show on Motortrend they send all their bodies out & have them dipped..,
  How bad is your body ? If it’s really rusty you may not get much back dipping it , I believe there was a place in Springfield Ohio that dips parts / bodies if I remember correctly it was $1,000 to do that

[maroman]

Chick,

Shame you had to paint it - it looked great in it's birthday suit.

A second choice (which is a lot safer than acid) is an alkaline electrolytic stripper, Like Redi Strip (if there are still any functioning). Takes out rust and paint, grime, grease and everything, but won't harm a molecule of good metal. I guess that most franchises were north of the rust belt line, closest one to me was Indianapolis.

Regards,
Steve

Wow, there's a name I haven't thought of for a while, Redi-Strip. I thought about getting a franchise in the '70's when they were expanding. They used caustic soda to strip paint in one tank, then the mystery tank to remove rust. Even the franchises never knew what was in the tank. The only thing they would admit to was cyanide. When that tank lost it's power the owner left the building and THEY changed the chemicals. I asked what about when the two brothers retired, died, etc. and got no answer.  I still have all the paperwork somewhere.

[z28z11]

RediStrip is still out there - visit at redistripco.com . Rochelle, IL - but there is still a functioning stripper operating under a different wrapper in Southern Indiana, if I'm not mistaken. Still advertise in Hemmings Motor News on occasion.

You can always find a local franchise owner of a mobile dustless soda blaster - not a bad option, cleanup is easier, inert to environmental waste problems, doesn't heat up or warp panels (or blow through them like sand and/or media blasting can). Line-of-sight stuff - hard to get everywhere you need to get at.

Regards,
Steve 

[Sauron327]

I've been blasting for decades and heat has nothing to do with warping panels; and this misinformation continues. Compressive forces from blasting warp panels; just like hammer and dolly work is used to shrink or stretch panels. Dustless Blasting references heat as a problem, thus perpetuating the myth.

[69Z28-RS]

I totally agree with Mr Sauron on this one...