How am I going to prep this body for paint?

[maddddog]

I just moved the new project into the new shop yesterday.
I want to clean up the body, prime it and start working.
Not sure which direction to go here.

Some say blast with various media, walnut shells, glass bead etc...
others say have it dipped in sodium hydroxide (with electricity) ....
still others say just put ospho ( phosphoric acid) on it and sand and paint .

Any thoughts on this topic?

Here are a couple pics of the project Topolino.

Thanks

[mooneye777]

that is a tricky question depending on who you ask. i asked the same question a couple years back. and i got many different answers, i think it all depends on who you ask. i know that if you have it blasted it should be a very qualified blaster. with a lot of experience in doing cars primarily., so they do not get it too hot and warp the shell. most restorers ive talked to prefer dipping over anything else, that way they know what they are getting into with no surprises later. my anglia dipping quote was 2200.00 in indiana.

[kiwipaul]

What about using Molasses there has been a bit of talk about using molasses for removing rust. It looks like a very clean body maybe molasses is the way to go .

[Dave Severson]

I'd go with the media blasting. Just make sure whoever does it knows what they're doing and use the correct media and gets the inside of the body and all the little cracks, corners, and crevices too. After it's blasted I'd use the "Phix" type product to kill the rust that was missed and get some epoxy primer on ASAP!!!!

[HOTRODPAINT]

What a gem you have found! Being almost a 50 year fan of drag racing, I have found these to be extremely rare! I can see it is very heavily rusted, but looks like it may still be solid.

I normally would sand blast, using a local blaster who is very experienced so they don't ruin the sheetmetal by warping it. I don't think other media are abrasive enough to clean this completely....

...but on yours, it is so heavily rusted, I would onlu consider dipping it, because of all of the hidden areas that are rusting. What concerns me is that if you do not stop the rusting, it will continue, even if the outside is nice and shiny. A couple years down the road, I would expect to see rust bubbling from those folded body areas, like door edges, and closed in areas that cannot be stopped any other way. At that point you will be losing the paint job, too.

If you aren't willing to do it the best way, due to cost, I would sell it to someone who will, and go buy a 'glass body with the money. I use this guideline in my own work: "Do it right and you'll only have to do it once."

Fabulous little car! Please post pictures of the project. :-)

[shine]

i would use starblast. it is a very fine media and gets into cracks and pits.

[shoprat]

There's a shop in O.C. that dips them. They turn out very nice.

[HemiTCoupe]

Just a question,
If you were to blast the body & doors, and then work in Por-15 inside and out on all the seams.
Would that stop it?

Pat

[shine]

i use epoxy inside and out.

[TooMany2count]

my anglia dipping quote was 2200.00 in indiana.

I was quoted under $1000 to do Large Marge's body & to do everything would of been under $1500. I guess it good to be in the midwest..

Personally I'd dip it........joe

[shine]

hey joe, i just tipped toed thru large marge . cool truck guy. i have a 41 ford 5 ton to build a motor home with someday.

[Troglodyte]

Had a buddy wh owned a stripping/dipping biz here in Tacoma area.......as I remember from helping him some days........if it is a car you dont expect to keep very long......dip it. The main problem we ran into, is nomatter how well you thought you cleaned to solution out, you always had some that hid behind the welds, braces etc...........so unless you dipped it in a tank of etching primer with electrodes on body....forget about getting all solution out........then the rust comes back in those spots.

[maddddog]

Thanks for all your input, it is a big help.

This is what I am doing.
I used 3M scotchbrite wheels on a die grinder and took almost all the rust off. No way to get in between welds and into closed areas, but I got all the exposed rust, inside and out of the body. 4 days with the compressor running constant. I am pretty happy with the results and very happy with the condition of the body. I know every inch of it now and have started the body work.

At some point soon I will be using one of the phosporic acid metal converters on every surface. With a tricky little spray hose I am going to get as much of the hidden areas as I can and then call it good.

Then I will prime it with an epoxy primer and that should be an excelent, not perfect, but an excelent base for a decent paint job (or at least primer) for several years.

Any recommendations on the rust converters?

The picture of the louvers shows one done and the other in its original "30 years in a backyard" patina.

[HOTRODPAINT]

Just be sure you do not bondo over areas that have not been neutralized somehow with an acid product. Rust is an ongoing process. Brushing it off, but leaving little pits with orange or brown rust in them will not stop it. It will just rust again under the body filler.

Perhaps an etching primer would be best, then use a compatible body filler over the top of it.

Another way I have used with success is to sand as much off as possible, treat with metal prep keeping it wet for 3 minutes, let dry, then resand and bondo. The point is that the phosphoric acid in metal prep changes rust (iron oxide) to iron phosphate (gray color), and you will not have the rust coming back.

Good luck. It's worth the effort!

[maddddog]

Just be sure you do not bondo over areas that have not been neutralized somehow. Rust is an ongoing process. Brushing it off, but leaving little pits with orange or brown rust in them will not stop it.

Perhaps an etching primer would be best, then use a compatible body filler over the top of it.

I understand rust doesnt stop but doesnt the phosporic acid convert the rust to black oxide and it is no longer rust?