Actual bare shell restoration experience

[charlie]

I am picking up a new classic tomorrow. It's a bit rough but I have checked everywhere for rust and it seems pretty good - a couple of repair patches at the front of one sill, and a thin spare wheel well. Floors, chassis rails and body panels all look solid and it has come from South Africa so no underseal. Body panels are good, no dents. I hate the colour and I want to restore it really well.

At the moment the plan is to strip everything off it, take the shell to a chemical dipping place and have it dipped then find areas that need repair and have the welding done, then have it primered, then painted white including inside, outside, door stops, everything.

Once the shell is back and in good state I will start the process of reassembling it.

So, does anybody have any recommendations for me for the following in the London/home counties areas if possible:

1. Places that can strip the shell of paint and expose all the scary rust. Chemical dipping versus media blasting?

2. Recommendations of people that can prep and spray the shell for reasonable money

3. Suggestions as to what work I can do to keep the cost down. I don't weld or do metal repairs but I am mechanically OK, and have some time on my hands.

4. Any sensible thoughts or experience also greatly appreciated.


Also recommendation for places that can restore and reshape chromed bumpers and chrome body trim.


Thanks all,


Charlie

[charlie]

Been recommended these people for the shell dipping and primer: www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk/

Charlie

[Deleted]

They are very expensive. I prefer media blasting as it is gentler and you can see if the car is falling apart during the process.

[bobblegut]

Jul 25, 2014 21:43:58 GMT @1300dolly said:

They are very expensive. I prefer media blasting as it is gentler and you can see if the car is falling apart during the process.

Blasting is gentler than dipping......... I would rather pay to have it done personally by a known company as above , than have something blasted cheaply and maybe suffer dubious results .

[Deleted]

Jul 25, 2014 21:49:29 GMT bobblegut said:

Jul 25, 2014 21:43:58 GMT @1300dolly said:

They are very expensive. I prefer media blasting as it is gentler and you can see if the car is falling apart during the process.

Blasting is gentler than dipping......... I would rather pay to have it done personally by a known company as above , than have something blasted cheaply and maybe suffer dubious results .

There are plenty of known proven blasting companies that won't give 'dubious results' Dipping cost more because of the costs of the chemical, equipment and the time taken and the cost of transporting the car.
The downside with blasting is the dust created and the fact you will need to prime it yourself straight away.

[bobblegut]

Yes i gather there are good companies , but also plenty of people who will do it cheaply using to harsh a abrasive media , warp panels etc . Not much chance of that with dipping .

[retrowrongun]

First thing I would buy/make considering what your planning on doing is to buy a good quality spit to transport the bare shell to dippers/blasters and also to help with the rebuild process
Saves so much time and messing
Would also pay the extra when getting it blasted to have ecoat applied afterwards aswell

Usually this is charged seperately as an option

[hardtop]

first off you haven't said what car you're getting

if you got time on your hands, get a spit, paint stripper, a twisted knot wire cup and a grinder, compressor and blast pot would be useful as well and do the work yourself

there are lots of horror stories on both chemical dipping and blasting, soda would be the kindest media if blasting however it wont remove heavy rust, sand would be ok underneath and areas with lots of folds, engine bay for example, but flat panels can be warped, and it works the metal.

ecoating is only really an option that chemical dippers seem to offer and people have reported acid leaching out of areas at a later stage.

lots of choices and apparent pitfalls with any choice, maybe its best to take the car to a bodyshop who restores cars, and ask them to point out the problem areas and costs to repair, if they cant do this, go somewhere else

[charlie]

Alright, thanks all for the pointers, and hardtop, I am leaning this way.

I would like to do it all myself. For those in the know, or that have done major restoration work in the past, I assume that it is necessary and essential to be able to rotate the shell on a spit? I don't want to be stripping paint off while lying underneath the car.

If I did the work myself, it would be a case of stripping everything off the car, getting the shell mounted on a spit, stripping, rubbing, smoothing and sanding everything, getting any welding done in situ (not by me), and then getting the shell prepped for paint. Then take the shell on a wheeled trolley on a trailer to the paint shop then bringing it home white and clean. And then finally re-mounting everything back on the car.

TBH I am fine with most of this and happy to take advice as I make progress...

Also the garage I am using has a lot of space and very high roof so I was thinking about getting a car lift. Is a rotisserie better than a lift for stripping the underside?

Charlie

[composimmonite]

Blasting will just clean off exposed areas. Chemical stripping will clean off hidden / internal areas as well. I'd prefer to know hidden areas like chassis legs, sills, door pillars etc are treated so chemical gets my vote.

Paul H

[eternaloptimist]

Some thoughts

I imported a VW Splitscreen crew cab from South Africa 12 years ago - I knew it had rust and my idea of a quick resto turned into an 11 year project. The lower 8 inches were full of filler, the outriggers and box sections were full of sand/road dirt so a full resto was always on the cards. I stripped the vehicle and put in on a set of cradles to roll it about on - gave about 2 feet of clearance underneath - and then got a mobile blasting company to strip the multiple layers of paint back to bare metal. They then primed it for me and I swept up what was left.

Warning - strongly held personal opinion based on limited data coming up - I would never dip anything - I've seen an Aston DBS shell that was dipped then e-coated - there were problems in the seams where the rinse hadn't worked and the acid hadn't been removed fully which meant the seams carried on bubbling away during the long term restoration.

The blasters I used had done cars before - they were reasonably gentle on the flat panels - If I did strip another body, I'd have a look at soda blasting, or maybe walnut shells, but in the right hands, I'd be happy to use grit blasting, especially underneath. On top, I'd probably grit bast areas like door shuts, gutters, window frames, edges of panels, and use a stripping brush on the middle of flat panels and work hard to reduce heat build up.

[randywanger_]

This the little Nissan Charlie?

I've been researching this topic myself for mine. I plan to do it how you are, 90% of the work myself, disassemble and reassemble, send it off for stripping and painting.

If you find a good rotisserie that fits the Nissan, let me know!

As for blasting vs dipping, pro's and con's for both. Dipping gets everywhere, so removes what you can't see, but I also hear that the chemicals can stay inside hidden areas and end up rotting out after a while.
Blasting, if done correctly can be safer, but it doesn't get everywhere.

www.blast-cleaning.co.uk

I've not used them and I don't know anyone who has, but they are local to where my car is hidden and their website seems very informative. I shall be going to visit them once I'm back, check them out and see what their about.

Remove the chrome and replace as much metal with FRP ;-)