Thread: acid dip or sand blasting

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i am about 6 months away from taking the body back off my 48 anglia to have the rust removed. ive heard mixed reviews on this subject, acid dip 1000.00, sand blast 500.00. the obvious 1/2 price thing sounds better. but this is a car my dad had 28 years ago and i could never ever sell it. so in the long run what is the best way to do this?

I am thinking about this also. I just started a new project and it's time to clean the sheet metal to chop the top. I have talked to allot of people about this and everyone (body man, painter, and sandblaster) says the best is the chemical dip. not only dose it clean every nook and cranny they put a rust inhibitor on it also, so that's the way I am going. Hope this helps.

Both have pitfalls. Sandblasting is really more for frames and metal of that thickness. The heat generated by the blasting can warp panels and work harden it so that straightening it becomes tough, if not impossible.

Dipping is good, but the problem is that the chemicals can work their way out of seams and hidden places later on and screw up the paint.

It seems to me the current best way to blast a body is with media, which could be plastic media or something like walnut shells. Soda is good, but will not remove rusted areas, just paint.

For something as cherished as your Dads old car, spare no expense, and call some of the high end restoration shops and custom shops in your area and ask who they use and what process. You really don't want to spare a few bucks and create more finish work for yourself or maybe ruin the body.

When I worked at a body shop a local banker wanted his first car, a early VW bug restored by us. I told the owner of the shop not to have the body sandblasted, but he did it anyway. It came back ruined. The blasting blew holes in the entire body, rendering it useless. The guy had to find another body and make a clone of his original car.

Good luck,

Don

I work in a bodyshop on the side and if you have the body soda blaster you still have to sand the body as the soda leaves it too smooth for the paint to grab and it will peel , and as old as that vehicle is I would have it chemically stripped but be forwarned as it is going to have to be able to be lifted ( which might cause some twisting of the body we built wooden braces to prevent this ) and sandblasting like was said before warps and blowthru soft panels and sometimes leaves the surface rough and grainy .

thanks for the input guys, ive got a neighbor that sand or media blasts cars, and says its the way to go. of course he has finacial gain by saying so. he has been doing it for 40 years and knows what he is doing. but i know he cant get every nook and cranny. since this is i liftime car i want it to last, and it sounds like dipping is the way to go. thanks again.

I had the frame and suspension parts on my corvette dipped and it is really neat. You see the original sanding marks and discoloration from the welds when they take it out. Downside? Surface rust starts to form again before the piece dries. Upside. No residual blasting media to clean out and worry about getting in your paint job.

Id go with acid dip ,it can reach places you can never reach with blasting, PERIOD!.I also worry about blast material getting getting built up in tight hidden areas.I had a vehicle blasted before ,and I never got rid of all the sand blast material.

Also, phosphoric acid combines with the rust to make the steel more corrosion resistant than bare steel.