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Chemical dipping a 55 Chevy

6K views 59 replies 22 participants last post by  Rick_L 
#1 ·
These guys do it for a $3000 flat fee. Looks mighty clean! Paint strip dip and then a rust removal dip.

 
#2 · (Edited)
I would never do it, It removes prime/paint protection from metal surfaces that you can never get anything back on to protect from rusting. It also gets into spot welded overlapped panels that if not 100% neutralized (tough to do) will come back to haunt you once new paint is applied.

It also appears someone removed the VIN tag. o_O
 
#4 ·
I have a different take on the process. I think its the ultimate way to completely strip paint and rust from a body. When that body comes out of the tank, there will be no rust lurking in unseen areas. Every inch of the metal will be as clean as it was when brand new. My buddy had his '71 Dodge Challenger dipped 15 years ago, and he hasn't encountered any problems with it, and mind you, his car is a unibody, which has lots more overlapped panels and hidden areas than a trifive body has. A trifive body is fairly open, and you can reach almost everywhere with a wand type sprayer to apply epoxy primer. If the process is done right, you won't have any problems.
 
#15 ·
Some facts verses speculation. The chemicals used today for dipping are not the same. I have used the old style chemicals in small batches (95gals) to do wheels and its pretty horrible stuff but works great. But hard to get and expensive now.

I talked to the guy that does the videos he works for the company, just to pick his brain. The old style dip was pretty nasty stuff and would eat alot of things, and would remove the paint in one dip in not alot of time. The chemicals they use now are pretty off the shelve and not harsh to humans or the environment. They do take longer and they have to power wash the paint off as it doesn't completely dislodge and melt it. Basically there is a "base" paint stripper then its power washed and dipped in a mild acid which netulizes any base and removed any rust. Then powder washed and spray with rust inhibitor. So the days of the acid leaching out of everything are pretty much over.

I looked into dipping on this large of a scale and for me just not worth it. It takes like 2-3 days of the car in the tank for it to work. And they only do one at a time. Granted he adds small parts in same tank but just not worth it for me. I will say $3k for that service is a deal. But he is booked up a long time in advanced.

I may try the acid he uses as he did an engine block and it came out like new.
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#16 ·
I have had a couple builds "Dipped" and it is not as scary as it used to be. Stories of bodies going into the tank and dissolving were the the things of lore. They offer a zinc coating that will prevent any rust issues in the nooks and crannies and this "coating" is paint-able.(I don't think it is actually really a metal coating but it does seem to stop flash rust ).
 
#17 ·
Fifteen years ago when my buddy's Challenger was dipped, they used Sodium Hydroxide (I saw the labels on the drums of the stuff myself). That's the main ingredient used in most drain openers. After the body came out of the tank, they hosed it down with water to neutralize, and finally, to prevent flash rust from occurring, they sprayed the body down with a mild phosphoric acid solution, similar to Ospho or Metal Prep.
 
#18 ·
Sodium Hydroxide is what is used now. Its used in most off shelf paint removers now too. The good stuff is Methylene Chloride I still have a nice scar on my arm from just a drop of it. Its like from the movie Alien, their blood would eat through 5 decks of a ship. Well this stuff is almost as bad LOL.

Ideally you dip parts in 10-15% solution of Sodium Hydroxide then power wash, then dip completely in phosphoric acid solution which neturlaizes base and removes rust. But that takes days to complete. With Methylene Chloride it will remove paint or powder in 15 min typically. Nasty stuff but WAY faster. But Methylene Chloride will eat soft metals like AL and magnesium. I ruined one AL wheel leaving it in to long 18hrs by mistake. It pitted the face and back to render it unusable. Had to buy a new wheel, as well as didn't charge customer for the other 3 to make it right for my mistake.

Most dips shops are the Base acid dip. Which the base just removes the bond the paint or powder has with the metal, vs the nasty stuff will melt it completely!
 
#23 ·
B-17?
NASTY stuff!
My bud's powder coating shop used a 55-gallon drum to strip small parts and wheels.
He got some on his arm and before the pain let him know, it had made a nasty chem burn bigger than a silver dollar. Took weeks to heal.
As for the body dip... We used to have a place here. It was NOT what one would use for a car resto.
No way, other than a hose, to wash off the residue.
 
#24 ·
B-17?
NASTY stuff!
My bud's powder coating shop used a 55-gallon drum to strip small parts and wheels.
Yes Benco B17. Building a 500 gal tank now for it getting a 330 gal tote of it. So we can dip parts in it to remove powder and paint quicker.


He got some on his arm and before the pain let him know, it had made a nasty chem burn bigger than a silver dollar. Took weeks to heal.
I really thought it wasn't that bad of stuff till I put a wheel in my small barrel and got about a dime size drop on my arm. In about 5 seconds I was running to the sink. It burn pretty bad and left a scar on my arm like a cigarette butt burn. Nasty stuff.
 
#27 ·
I was looking for a place to get that done that would be a reasonable distance from my house (west Alabama). I never found anyone less than about 10 hours away. There is a place in LA that oven bakes and then e-coats. I think it was around five grand for just the body. Right now I'm thinking seriously about having it sand blasted and epoxy primed. I've been given the name of a place that will do that which is only an hour from here. I haven't pulled the trigger yet but that guy is the most likely candidate right now.
 
#36 ·
This is why we take pictures of everthing as they come in and after blasting. Did have one guy try the game of getting something free deal. Showed him pictures and he shut up real quick. But alot of shops will do just that damage stuff and not say anything. If one of our guys messes up something we fix it and make it right. Had a door crushed by a fork lift. It was an early ford sedan door, cost us $2k for the door, yes our mistake and our loss but it was made right and customer was happy.
 
#35 ·
That's what I'm thinking. That would be an eleven hour drive for me. I looked into the Carolina Chem Strip operation a while back and don't remember the particulars but I'm thinking their plant that does the auto body dipping is the one in Burlington, NC. I just sent them an email to clarify that. They have two locations, one in SC and the other in NC. If it is the SC location that would only be 6.5 hours away. The one in NC is almost 10 hours away.

When I was doing my research on this the operation in Wauchula, FL had the lowest price, the one in the Carolinas had the second lowest and they were within a couple of hundred dollars of each other. That was in 2020.
 
#41 ·
There is a rubber seal visible at the top of the cowl on both sides but I can't tell how long the seal is. It may consist of what I can see or it might be longer than that. Anyone got a handle on that? The oven process definitely will destroy that seal. The chemical dip might do the same.
 
#44 ·
There is a rubber seal visible at the top of the cowl on both sides but I can't tell how long the seal is. It may consist of what I can see or it might be longer than that. Anyone got a handle on that? The oven process definitely will destroy that seal. The chemical dip might do the same.
It goes all the way across on the 55 and 56. I like this place in Florida because they don't use acid. My local stripped doesn't use acid either, although I complained to the owner a few years ago about not getting the parts totally clean, and she wasn't aware of that so I showed her. Now they keep stripping until all the rust is gone. The convertible in this picture was stripped over 15 years ago, and you can see where I spent some time on the rust they didn't fully remove back then. The picture was taken just a couple days ago, but it has been in this storage trailer for all that time protected only with the rust inhibitor they applied. It only needs to be rinsed off to get rid of it, and they only claim 30 days protection for the rust inhibitor, and it did the job for 30 days :eek: plus another 15 +years. The stripper I'm referring to is American Metal Cleaning in Toledo Oh, and I have never had them damage anything. A bit expensive but they do excellent work---now.
METAL CLEANING, PAINT STRIPPING, DERUSTING, INDUSTRIAL CLEANING

Wood Automotive exterior Fender Hood Space


Tire Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive lighting


The place in Wachula FL has this on their site;

FOR BEST RESULTS:
REMOVE ALL BODY PLUGS, WEATHER STRIPPING, EXCESSIVE UNDERCOATING, TACK STRIPS, etc...
Roofs of truck cabs and car bodies require drill holes to eliminate air bubbles on roof of vehicle
Personally, I don't see a problem with welding up a few holes drilled in the top that the stripper in Florida said would have to be drilled. His prices are extremely attractive, as of 2018, if this process is what you have in mind.
 
#45 ·
Some of the strippers use an over to remove paint, undercoating, bondo, and anything elso that will melt. It gets a high pressure wash after that, then its dipped for rust removal. The over is set to rise slowly to 800 degrees, then slowly cool down. The key is heating it slowly, up and down, and doing the whole panel/car. I used an acid stripper that used an oven for years, and the only damage I ever had was an operator set my hood down too hard on the back corner of the hood as he put it in the oven. Thats when I started looking for another place.
 
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