Acid Dipping your bronco?

[talkbronco]

Been recently turned onto acid dipping and wondering if anyone here has any experience with it and any pros and cons, or should i stick to media/soda blasting?

 

[broncodriver99]

Try search, there have been quite a few threads about it. From what I remember there was a mixed consensus on it. Some Pro some Con.

 

[willtel]

I had some of my parts dipped and my father had his entire 1940 Ford sedan body dipped. In my opinion it is an excellent and gentle way to strip parts. All rust and body filler is removed and after the parts are dipped they are neutralized and coated with a light oil to prevent flash rust. Unlike sand blasting there is little chance of damage and the liquid gets into all the cracks and crevices without leaving media behind. The place I used charged by the pound. I think these parts were around $400.

Here are some pics of what I had done.
Stripped Grill by willtel, on Flickr
Stripped Fender by willtel, on Flickr
Stripped Fender by willtel, on Flickr
On the liftgate you can see the factory (lead?) filler.
Rear Hatch by willtel, on Flickr
Stripped Rear Seat Frame by willtel, on Flickr
On the hood you can see where the stripe was that was part of the Special Appearance Group.
Stripped Hood by willtel, on Flickr
On the underside you can see the factory stamping.
Stripped Hood by willtel, on Flickr
Dipped Parts by willtel, on Flickr
Stripped Top by willtel, on Flickr

 

[fatboy]

I wish I could find someone around here that did that.

 

[Revelation]

For your small parts you can use muratic acid, keep your acid bucket away from everything aluminum!!! Let them soak, remove, neutralize, dry and prime, Does not take off pain, or body filler but kick rust in the arse.

 

[NicksTrix]

willtel, curious who did you use?

 

[willtel]

willtel, curious who did you use?

http://www.eco-clean.com/

They have been around a long time but used to be called Unpaint Corporation. They do lots of automotive stuff, when my dad dropped off his car they had a real AC Cobra body they had just stripped.

 

[HGM]

http://www.eco-clean.com/

They have been around a long time but used to be called Unpaint Corporation. They do lots of automotive stuff, when my dad dropped off his car they had a real AC Cobra body they had just stripped.

I really wish they could still do a whole tub.. Their close to work and I'd use them without a doubt, but I'll be checking them again for the small stuff.. They also sandblast and powdercoat... I'm still looking at Metafinishings in Jackson, MS or CCS in NC.. I've made the decision to dip, I'm still struggling with the "to E-coat or not" question.. I'd love to have the bare body to do my work on. But, the benifit of e-coating the finished product really appeals to me.. Seems the ultimate would be to have it dipped, then coated when its done, but thats not too realistic. Expecially when its 6hrs away..

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Never thought of it before , but after looking at the underside of the hood , I realized that ALL of the paint is gone , leaving the areas under the channels bare.

How will you protect those areas ?

Is that what the e-coating process that HGM mentioned does , re-covers the inaccessible areas like those ?

 

[HGM]

E-coating is an electrostatic bath.. Basicly, once the metal is bare and all rust has been neutralized, it goes back through a liquid bath that they apply electrical current to and basicly "plate" the entire piece.. Anywhere the liquid touches... Thats the reason todays cars do not rust in the same manner that our 40yr old Bronco's do.. All modern cars are e-coated.. Really cool concept.. I've simplified it a good bit, if you want to learn more, there's a ton of info available on the web..

Here's Metal Finnishing's website.. Check it out for a better description..

 

[Baja71]

I had some of my parts dipped and my father had his entire 1940 Ford sedan body dipped. In my opinion it is an excellent and gentle way to strip parts. All rust and body filler is removed and after the parts are dipped they are neutralized and coated with a light oil to prevent flash rust. Unlike sand blasting there is little chance of damage and the liquid gets into all the cracks and crevices without leaving media behind. The place I used charged by the pound. I think these parts were around $400.

Curious as to why you would purposely put oil all over freshly cleaned metal. Wouldn't that be as hard to remove as the paint?

 

[HGM]

Curious as to why you would purposely put oil all over freshly cleaned metal. Wouldn't that be as hard to remove as the paint?

Not to answer for him, but I understand that its supposed to be a water soluble oil.. Just a protective coating. When I heard about it, I did have a little trouble with the idea of washing it off..But, I suppose, if its done immediately before drying and painting, I guess it would be fine..

 

[amc78cj7]

We had our frame acid dipped, then electro-galvanize dipped, then finally epoxy coated. Inside and out rust protection.

The only con...I accidentally left the two t-case cross member brackets on the frame. When I went to remove them the bolts were essentially welded "one" with the rest of the frame by the galvanization process. I had to grind them down and drill and retap the holes.

 

[fordguy]

no oil on my parts that i can tell. i used metal finish in jackson. they will dip my tub i will pick it up and fix metal then take it back have it de-rusted and then ecoated.

 

[HGM]

no oil on my parts that i can tell. i used metal finish in jackson. they will dip my tub i will pick it up and fix metal then take it back have it de-rusted and then ecoated.

That sounds like the best plan to me.. Did that change the price at all? I got a quote for it all at once. Just the tub was going to be about $1750 (quote is over a year old and sight unseen, may be different because of that). But, that was to dip/strip, clean and e-coat, just the tub.. I've also got to figure the 12hr round trip, but I'm believing its the best way.. I dont want to do this truck again, when its done it will be done so I can move on to another..

 

[HoosierDaddy]

no oil on my parts that i can tell. i used metal finish in jackson. they will dip my tub i will pick it up and fix metal then take it back have it de-rusted and then ecoated.

That sounds like the plan to follow.

 

[needabronco]

Keep in mind your likely to sand off most of that e-coat during the body work phase. If it were me, I'd just spray it with epoxy primer when I got back to the shop! A quart of epoxy is a little over $100 versus whatever the e-coat costs... I understand the e-coat will get in the hard to reach areas, but with a little creativeness you can get primer in all of those areas as well. For instance you can tape off all of the seams in your doors, pour epoxy in and roll the door (takes two people) around for a few minutes untill all of the inside is coated pour out the extra let dry and your done. You can brush it in if need be, or adjust your spray pattern to get into hard to reach areas.

As for wiping 'oil' on the bare metal, that's why you wipe everthing down with wax and grease remover before work the metal... The best way to get oily residue off, is to soak a red scotch brite pad in wax and grease and scrub it down, then wipe clean with a lint free rag, blow off with air.

 

[talkbronco]

Thanks for the input, for anyone interested there is a place here in NC that does it they are called carolina chem strip, they also have a shop in SC.....waiting for a quote now

 

[broncodriver99]

Thanks for the input, for anyone interested there is a place here in NC that does it they are called carolina chem strip, they also have a shop in SC.....waiting for a quote now

Hey post up what you find out if you don't mind. They are only 3 hours from me. Been contemplating this myself and a 3 hour drive isn't bad.

 

[fordguy]

Keep in mind your likely to sand off most of that e-coat during the body work phase. If it were me, I'd just spray it with epoxy primer when I got back to the shop! A quart of epoxy is a little over $100 versus whatever the e-coat costs... I understand the e-coat will get in the hard to reach areas, but with a little creativeness you can get primer in all of those areas as well. For instance you can tape off all of the seams in your doors, pour epoxy in and roll the door (takes two people) around for a few minutes untill all of the inside is coated pour out the extra let dry and your done. You can brush it in if need be, or adjust your spray pattern to get into hard to reach areas.

As for wiping 'oil' on the bare metal, that's why you wipe everthing down with wax and grease remover before work the metal... The best way to get oily residue off, is to soak a red scotch brite pad in wax and grease and scrub it down, then wipe clean with a lint free rag, blow off with air.

the ecoat is dipped so know way you can get to everything. i just got my tub back today will post pics tomorrow. they have my frame and are dipping it and ecoating. i looked at the whole process and for the money it is hard to beat. my truck is pretty straight so most of the ecoat will stay on. having said all that it is not for everybody. i plan on keeping my truck and want it to be done right, but it does cost.