VILeninDM

Hey everyone,

I am doing (at least trying) a complete restoration of 88 camaro. Few summers ago I tried media blasting which worked great where I just needed to take off paint. But in places which had rust and pits, rust ended up coming back even after it was coated with zink/phosporic acid solution and Zero Rust paint.

So now I am thinking I need professional help and seeing how I have my doubts about media blasting, I am considering having entire car acid dipped. Has anyone here done that? If yes, how did it work out? Is it worth it? Any tips for someone who is about to do it? How did you find the place?

torquejunky

iTrader: (10)

I've never done it, but I do know that if you do the only problem is that stuff gets into every crack and crevice and you will need to get into those areas and seal it or it will rust. This may mean cutting access hole to reach these places, so depending on what your plans are for the car you might not want to go this route, maybe someone with more experience can chime in....

Ping King

iTrader: (20)

blasting is the only way to knock the bad metal off..just keep that in mind

VILeninDM

are you saying acid will not remove the rusted metal?

Ping King

iTrader: (20)

it can, but i think you actually need something like a media blaster to really blow away any metal that may need to be repaired.

Whistler

iTrader: (46)

The acid dip will only give you back good metal. The only bad thing about it is like stated above, that it removes all the factory corosion protection on the inside of all the unibody structure. Some of that will be impossible to re-apply do to the parts being welded together. I think you were on the right track with the media blast, I think the job wasn't done 100% and that's why you're having problems.

Not to insult, but how much would it cost to just get a rust free third gen shell instead of the trouble of a bare metal resto? Around here a clean 91-92 RS can be had for around $1500.

VILeninDM

Whisler, no insult taken. I know fairly well that any point I can ditch this body and just get one in much better shape. At the same time, I've seen people restore cars which are way, way worse than mine. The car I got was from a guy who was original owner and never drove it in winter until last one when he got divorced. That's why he sold the car. It looked (and for the most part is) in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, it is still from upstate NY.

One of the reasons why I really want to go through with it is because my real dream was to restore a 2nd gen, but I opted for 3rd thinking there will be less cancer to deal with. I want to do this project as part of a learning experience. If I can't do this, no 2nd gen for me.

The part I'm still trying to get is you think "job wasn't done 100%" Maybe this is part of that learning process, but how much more is there to blasting media? You point and you watch everything except metal fly away. You do small section at a time and then immediately chemically treat to avoid flash rust. I was thorough and it took me forever to do every inch of the underbody.

At the same time, maybe there is a misconception about acid dipping. 1) it seems like newest technology uses alkali instead of acid because acid would tend to seep out and cause problems later, yet people still blame dipping for that. 2) some people do apply protective coats.

Here's the link I found. Read first paragraph. Notice that some places do reapply protection and do neutralize the acid. The problem is that I cannot find anybody on 5 different forums that has even heard of such places. And I am willing to drive 12 hours to find such a place.

Snootch

iTrader: (3)

Media blasting should get all the rusted metal, but IDK if you got 100% of it. Why is it that on these rebuild TV shows (Overhaulin', American Hot Rod, etc.) when they come upon some rust after media blasting, they cut around it, and weld in some new metal? Is it to prevent the possibility of missing some during the media blasting?

VILeninDM

maybe you are right. Blasting is good for taking off layers of paint, primer, bondo and surface rust, but when it comes to serious rust with pitting even after blasting the only thing you can really do is cut it out and put new sheetmetal in its place. I definitely did not do that.