Hot Acid dip?
 

I have been planning out my project learning a lot of great advice on the forum so far.

I had planned on using while brushes, sand blasting and buffing for rust and paint removal on my project and bead blasting the smaller pieces in my cabinet but I was watch American Hot Rod with Boyd Coddington last week.

They are doing this old 56 Cheby and they hot acid dipped it. Took ALL the rust off and all the paint. All that was left was bare metal. I thought...WOW if you can do that why not?

Whats the downside...why doesn't everyone do it? Is there only a couple places that do it or is in ungoddly expensive. I am thinking this can be a great time saver if I can afford it.

Why not strip to the frame and do it from there?

Thanks!

I considered it, but it can get into little spaces and if you don't get it all washed out, it will bubble or countiune to eat the metal. It does make it easy though. I'm pretty sure its pricey, I'd go and try and find a place that does it. They could answer all the questions. I don't know anybody around here that does it maybe you live in car country. -4spees(I know not much help)

I contacted Redi-Strip in AZ (closest one to Calif where I'm at) awhile back, they wanted $1000.00 to dip my whole truck. They told me they dip the parts in 3 stages, each one a different chemical. The last dip is supposed to neutralize the acid so it won't bleed back later. My past experience with this method was very good. Did a resto on a Dodge musclecar convertable with a friend about 10 yrs. ago when we had a Redi-Strip in Los Angeles. Took all the body parts down there except for the main shell of the car. My friend still has the car and to this day all the parts that were dipped are still pristine, never bubbled back through the paint! The main shell is a different story! It's got some rust bubbleing back under the quarter panels and a couple other spots, but then again, we did'nt have it dipped! I would use this method again but it's a long haul to AZ and back for me! Plus they wanted me to leave it there for 3 weeks and come back and get it! They can't do it in 1 or 2 days! So that would amount to 4 one way trips of about 10 hrs. one way! I wished there was one closer!

I'll have to try and find one closer to Atlanta GA to price it out. Can't seem to find one yet!!!

wombie,
I thought the exact same thing after watching that show last week. I did some searching around me (Upstate NY) and found a place up near Toronto that does it. MY58FORD was right when he said that it doesn't take a day or two. They were quoting a minimum of 14 days and $800 - $1200 to do the body of a car.

It looks like an amazing process but I can't justify that cost. My local blasting shop quoted me $500 to blast and prime my frame, cab, box, and 4 fenders. Can't beat that!

Apparantly there are only two redi-strip franchises left. They pulled all the franchises. They aren't taking any more either.

So I'm still looking for someone around here to do it. The nearest redi strip was in Indy and they wanted around $2000 to do the truck!

:o If you can't find or afford the acid dip for your frame then I suggest the spray route. I know a lot of the guys on here like the thrill of using a wire brush attached to a grinder. No thanks! I used a handheld wire brush to knock off the loose rust. Then I sprayed it with a phosphoric acid spray I bought at Home depot. ($6/quart) After letting it set overnight, I rinced it with water, let it dry, and it was ready for primer!! It turns the rust white gray or black. But the steel is protected. There are many products on the market that have different names but essencially do the same thing. My frame still looks great but it has only been a year.
I think two quarts would do the whole frame. Good luck, John :-tap