Acid Dipping and E-coating

[Jiff]

Thinking of having my shell and panels dipped and e-coated at Surface Processing.
Just wanted to know if anyone has had theirs done and what their opinions/ experiences were.

Thanks in advance

[a1topdog]

From what I've heard the boys in yard like to practice their judo kicks on the cars - everyone seems to complain that the shell comes back with dents that were never there to start with !!

[dangerousdave]

Also heard horror stories of cars being painted straight after and before the car build up and back on the road the paint has blistered at the seams where the acid wasnt washed off thoroughly enough!

That said i have also seen some cracking cars built that have been dipped so i guess its pot luck Although it is a lot of money and a big chance. If you go ahead take pictures of all panes from inside to show they are straight where they are so if there is any big dents you may gave some comeback?

[Jiff]

Thanks for that guys

I've managed to speak to one guy locally who's had it done,and what you guys say pretty much sums up his experience - I was just hoping his was a one off incident, but obviously not

Think I'll take your advice re: the photos and hope for the best

Thanks again

[dangerousdave]

Or get it blasted? Id rather clean out grit than hoping that the acid doesnt come out the seams

Otherwise pictures of everything!!

[Jiff]

Yes, blasting was an option but I'm scared stiff of the shell rotting from inside out.

Its old skool JTin (appologies to anyone who may be offended) so not of the best quality and I can just about see inside a lot of the chassis rails and sills that its pretty red in there and unfortunately repair panels are as rare as.............

Its too far gone to hope that Waxoyl will prevent any further deterioration, so I hope this will be the better of two evils

[dangerousdave]

Sounds fair to me,theres nothing you can do without unpicking the rails off to clean them which is nigh on impossible/very very time consuming!!

[Dave]

Acid will eat away any rot in the same way as blasting will, so if it is thin it will disappear.

[mk1matt]

And if the car is that bad i woulnt be wasting money on acid dipping.
Its just going to eat the bits you NEED to replace.

[simonw]

was thinking of having my shell done, might take a trip down there an ask the questions. sureley the must be insured for damage ECT?

[dangerousdave]

Im willing to bet they will deny any of the things you ask them! After all they want/need your money so they arent going to tell you they will chuck it about and then have acid weep from the seams once its painted are they?

[simonw]

By going down you can see the before an after of other shells, give you some idea of how they handle the shells. they are booked up for months so they must do hundreds an you only hear about the bad ones.

[dangerousdave]

Will they let you just have a free roam about though or is it all behind closed doors? i would imagine with all the acid floating about its a very H&S orientated place....but no harm in trying, after all its a lot of money to part with and not be happy!!

[looneytune]

would the company be based in the west midlands by any chance?

[simonw]

Think its Dudley West mids, not to far from me.

[duke]

my experience is to avoid it as people have said earlier in this thread, it never seems to stop eating at your joints where you cant get to to clean,i have seen 4 of these done now and all with the same result, they keep getting painted and then it eats into it again,i do rebuilds for a living and we blast them,if it makes holes you need them sorting any way, hope this helps cheers

[jbenny1]

you can treat rusty metal with a special paint that converts rust back into an inert substance and forms a tick black shell over the rust that can be over painted. I've used it a couple of times on bits i couldn't get to to claen or for stonechips that would normaly rust straight through in a year or so, and it works great. not ideal for areas that you can see but should be ok inside the chassis rails if applied with a aplicator tube. Just an idea

[dangerousdave]

If the rot has got hold badly enough to eat away at the metal and make it flake off then no wonder paint will fix it, chopping out and welding fresh steel in is the only option

[looneytune]

yes the rumours are true. i wouldnt trust them. i'd rather spend 6 months and a crate of nitromores doing it myself

[grs2000]

just read thru this thread with interest, Ive just got my car back from dipping and thought id share my opinion. I must say i am happy with the results. They were very keen/ paranoid almost to take photos of the car and point out to me all the dents that i knew were there prior to the process. They say people often dont realise that 30 years old cars are often full of filler and the process removes it, showing up old battle scars.

I have researched the process and yes there is a slight risk of acid remaining in the lap joints. I have seen this only on my panard tower, where it couldnt drain. I drilled a small hole and blasted it with cavity wax. The shells are also treated to an alkaline dip and extensive washing to minimise the risk of acid. Also my shell was e-coated, which is another protective dipping process to further reduce the risk of hidden acid. My car has been back home for 2 months with no evidence of the red stuff coming out of the joints, so as a paying customer I thought it fair to offer my own honest findings. Some photos of my car as is now can be seen in the 'GRS2000 build' thread in the resto section. Any questions regarding your concerns Ill gladly answer. P.S. a guy I know has recently entrusted them with 500Ks worth of classic ferrari shells. If its good enough for that then its certainly good enough for my poxy escort!

[grs2000]

oh, forgot to say I did ALL the welding etc before I took it to them, i saw a few shells down there that had been dipped and ecoated but had gapping holes in the floors, inner arches wing rails etc, In my opinion this is just a bloody great wate of money, dipping and e coating removes the crap, it doesnt fix it!