Acid Dipping

[rivernut]

I talked to a company called Quick Strip today.PH 563-262-8538. They are in Muscatine, Iowa, on the Mississippi River. Anyway. They have a process where they take your truck part(s), bake off the old paint, dip it in an acid bath to take all the rust off and out of crevices not easily gotten to with a sand blaster, then dip it again in a neutralizer, then put a metal preserver on it. To do a cab, doors and front fenders and hood is between $650-$750. I haven't decided if I'm going to go this crazy yet but I thought maybe some of you who live in the midwest would be interested to know. I'm not sure if this is a common practice around the country or not. I have done a quite a few vehicles and have always just sanded, stripped or sandblasted my parts.
For Ref. Chicago is 3 1/2 from there and St. Louis is 4 1/2.
Quote of the year from my oohh so smart dad after telling him this:
"$@#*&christ, what the H$ll happened to alittle sandpaper and sweat, I did all mine stuff by hand". Sorry dad it shows, I just didn't have the heart to tell him.
Rivernut

[chevyguy_72]

This sounds very interesting. The price seems to be pretty close to inline with sand blasting.

[guyryan100]

There's also a place in Atlanta called "UN-PAINT". Clever name, eh? It's not just for automotive, they'll dip anything metal in there. I had my tank dipped and it came back spotless. But they do soak everything in a light oil that is hard to remove for painting. I think that is the "metal protectant".

[xam]

Dipping is more thorough than blasting ( and I used to own a blast shop) but you need to be very careful with the neutralizing and be aware that areas that you can't see let alone coat are bare metal.

[Longhorn Man]

we have a place here in columbus that does this. the practice has been around at lead a decade...I heard about it while I was in high school in '89.
xam has a VERY good point. think of the cab back wall and roof...double walled. You'll never get in there to paint it or prime or anything, and it'll rust just from the humidity.
ProTrucks, a non active member in Kalamazoo Mi, had this done to a cherry cab. It's literally falling apart at the seams now. IIRC he said they used too strong a chemical maybe? It's pretty sad, has like 2000 bucks into the cab, and it's worth 45 bucks now as scrap metal.

[MOTHERTRUCKERS]

I have to disagree with the no way to seal inside the top,firewall and rear wall. A hardware store garden sprayer with a piece of hose or a Schultz gun with a piece of hose and some creative rolling of the body will cover all the seams,nooks and cranies.

[rmrtndl]

A guy up the street from me had the cab of his '72 dipped. He has a sweet truck with lots of money invested in it. Unfortunately he now has some rust bubbling up thru the paint near the drip rail on the drivers side. Apparrently the process didn't kill all the rust on the cab.

[rivernut]

I also talked to a guy tonight who said all the seams came loose, meaning that it just freed up everything and it rusted apart. I'm wondering if old cabs have more in them than just weld? Interesting debate. I would love to here more input from experienced folks. Thanks
Rivernut

[incoma]

Like anything, if the people doing the work pay attention to details, you can have a good experience.

If I have something dipped again, I'm going to also have it e-coated. That way every nook and cranny (even where you can't see) will be painted. I regret not doing this with my frame when I had it powdercoated. I've already got surface rust up in some of the cross members because they couldn't spray powder up inside it.

[MOTHERTRUCKERS]

It is a long process when you have one dipped, we use PPG products thruout the system we use. First is a white vinegar mixed with water bath sprayed on and in all seams, rinse with water,blow dry. Next is DX579 metal cleaner sprayed and applied with a Scotch pad, next is DX520 metal conditioner sprayed and applied with a scotch pad, rinse with water,blow dry and roll it outside in the sun to dry for a few hours while blowing out the seams. When your sure it is completely dry scuff everything with a red Scotch pad, let it cool and blow it off and apply a reduced coat of DPLF very heavy on the first coat paying attention to saturate all seams, inner roof, cab back and firewall, let it flash the correct time and apply the second coat, let it flash and apply a K series primer/surfacer. If done right you now have a completely sealed no rust piece to do your body work or whatever your doing. When it comes to seam sealer we use either 3M or Dynatron in the quart can and reduce the first coat to a brushable runny almost pourable solution and do all the seams, drip rail,floor seams,inner and outer firewall seams,rocker inner and outer seams, rear wall seams,cab corner seams and any place 2 pieces of metal are joined together. A board members suburban body came in from the dippers around noon on a Saturday in April he, his wife and i worked all weekend doing the above process to get it sealed up. The dipping showed more rust and damage than he expected pin holes in the door area,all 3 rockers, both tail light sections, both quarter panels, floors and a crushed driprail and top. Most of the above parts are fixed now and there is no rust showing anywhere after sitting in in the humidity of Florida 4 1/2 months. A non paying customers cab sat outside over a year before we ebayed it, no rust!

[Burbinite]

I have a friend that restores Shelby Mustangs. He sends his stuff to the Nissan plant in Alabama after being dipped (at a place very nearby) to be put on the line and dipped in a vat that treats the metal against rust then another vat that puts primer on every metal surface through an electrolytic process.

I can quiz him on the specifics if anyone is interested.

[supercheyenne]

Originally Posted by Burbinite

I have a friend that restores Shelby Mustangs. He sends his stuff to the Nissan plant in Alabama after being dipped (at a place very nearby) to be put on the line and dipped in a vat that treats the metal against rust then another vat that puts primer on every metal surface through an electrolytic process.

I can quiz him on the specifics if anyone is interested.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'd love to hear it if you don't mind. Ask about the cost also please.

[4x4Poet]

No joke, supercheyenne! Sounds like a restoration step into the big time!




btt

[Terry Peerson]

I would also like some more information about this!

T

[hilljob26]

lets just face it ,if its metal,no matter what you do,some day,some how,it will begin to corrod,it just depends on what you do to prolong it i guess

[RPOZ11]

This is what your metal will look like when you recieve it back...
These are some COPO rims that I had done, straight steel wheel.
The 12-Bolt is from my Camaro, this process really is nice!
You really need to BLAST is thoroughly with reducer to really get that Phosphate out of the nooks and crannies or it will come back later.
Dont be afarid of using alot of reducer to clean it!
The phosphate gives it a great base to use for metal etching primer for the paint!

[MOTHERTRUCKERS]

Reducer? tell me more.

[RPOZ11]

With all the chemicals used in this process, the acid tends to not get thoroughly cleaned out of tight areas, alike where metal is pressed to gether, such as the wheel centers to the outer band here on these rims, for example.
Even with the nuetralizing of the cleaner used after it is submerged, the neutralizing agent sometimes wont get into those tight spots.
The metal will sit in the acid tanks longer than the metal is dipped in the neutralizing tanks, and wont be in long enuff at times to get all of it.
The metal stays in this appearance unless you obviously prep it all for paint!
What I have encountered is that after time, the areas not thoroughly cleaned of the acid will start to fester, eating away at the paint you use to renew the rims.
Now, take this all into consideration when you have a body dipped.
Can you actually get to all the areas behind all metal to prep all of it?
Most likey no!
Underneath a dashpanel, areas of metal stamping behind the rear seats, inner wheel wells, sail panels?
Most likely no!
And it is a good thing to know your shop people who actually do the work.
I would suggest to them, do you actually leave it in long enuff to remove the acid?
Shops have a time frame and backlog of work orders.
The guy I use has a 6-8 month waiting list of body shells!!!
Reducer shot at all the hard to get areas to clean it out is better than not attended to at all.
With our truck cabs, the inner and outer roof panels to me presents an issue of concern, although I may still dip my cab!
Things to consider....

[Alan Potter]

I had all the sheetmetal (except the cab) on my truck acid dipped and EPD coated at a place called Redi-coat in Romulus Michigan. I highly recommend this process. They do a very nice job. They cannot EPD coat cabs because of the size and they don't recommend stripping them since they cannot get the primer into all the hidden areas, but it's great for the rest of the parts. Here is their web address..http://www.redi-coat.com/