Acid Dipping Truck Bodies

[68 Ford Stepside]

I was thinking today about how to make sure a truck cab & bed were completely 100% rust free. I've looked around on the net for an hour or so & it appears that acid dipping in a tank is the only way. I haven't seen any cost estimates & I also am wondering how much actual metal thickness is removed during this process.

I'm way too old at this stage, considering my health, to start a frame off restoration, but If I had started one earlier on I certainly would have considered acid dipping.

[jimmy828]

sure would save a lot of labor!

[72BahamaBlue]

Might also be nice to find a giant vat of primer to dip those large parts!

[68 RATROD]

sandblasting will work also and is cheaper.

[68 Ford Stepside]

I use to sandblast a lot of parts, but cabs have places that can't be blasted properly. The cowl is one of those places. I would also think the crevices on each side of the bed would pack full of sand. I'm fairly sure many people wouldn't be able to afford acid dipping, but it is certainly worth discussion if you can afford it. Even after acid dipping it would seem to be a tedious job trying to prime the inside of the cowl. If engineers didn't design new products & ideas, we would probably still be driving horses & wagons.

[sargentrs]

Even after acid dipping it would seem to be a tedious job trying to prime the inside of the cowl.

Speaking of which...how does one prime the inside of the cowl?

[hazelnut]

I remember watching a video of a new car assembly line and all the cars were dipped bare metal into a corrosion protection solution before going to paint. Im sure there's a company in the private sector that dose that also. That would be the trick to make you project last a long time after it was acid dipped.

Randy, You could get one of those 1" disposable paint brushes, Screw it onto a wood handle how ever long you wanted, and go through the plug on the front of the cowl to paint. Might not be fun but should get you in there to get it painted inside. Just a thought

[72BahamaBlue]

Even after acid dipping it would seem to be a tedious job trying to prime the inside of the cowl.

Speaking of which...how does one prime the inside of the cowl?

Find a brand of primer that's compatible with the old WD40 sprayer and straw...I cobbed something together: a 2 ft. long extension, bent the tip and flattened it.
It worked pretty well. Sprayed through the front cowl plug, through the cowl vents, the drains holes(accessible with the fenders removed) and up into the kick panels/heater and vent openings.

[BobbyFord]

These guys been doing it for a long time...> http://www.lmstripping.com/
I've used them with no noticeable difference in metal thickness. I've seen parts as well as entire bodies stripped.

[bbyrnes1]

Speaking of which...how does one prime the inside of the cowl?

If you're like me you have long skinny arms you can reach into the cowl from the fresh air ducts on either kickpanel. Grab a paintbrush with a nice long handle and POR-15 it. My dad and I did this to our 66' Mustang.

Or cut the cowl out and have all the room you'll ever need. I'll probably be going this route since the leading edge of the cowl is rotting away and taking the top edge of the firewall with it.

Brandon

[jamesrtw]

[ Image ]

So very clean. that would be nice.

[67 Camper Special]

There is a Company in detroit area that does a chemical dip, five step rinse and then electrostatically primes it with epoxy. The priming process is cool. as the material gets to a certain thickness that can be controlled by the voltage applied it stops conducting electricity, and so builds no more thickness. It gets into every nook and cranny that you can not possibly do by hand. It seems fairly expensive, my 65 GTO was $2500, but there is no way I could have done as thorough a job in the shop. A warning though, all filler including lead will be gone, as will all rust.

Larry

[hdpusher]

As far as metal loss I couldn't say. I've only been around one car that was acid dipped and it was in an attempt to loose weight. The car was an old Chevy II that was dipped several times and the exact weight loss was dificult to determine because the loss of all the old paint, grease, dirt, under coating and body filler welt along with the dipping. As far as cleaning it... It was nothing but bare clean metal when done.

[Broncobilly66]

The company here in town gets $4500 to do a complete car. Body, deck lid, doors& front clip. Thats dipped, stripped and submerged in some kinda metal etch primer vat at the Nissan Plant. Coated 100%. The guy keeps a steady stream of high end cars even at those prices......