Body dipping

[Cutlass]

I'm a first time poster, in the early stages of a 1966 BJ8 restoration. I've got lots of questions, but the most timely has to do with body dipping. I just visited a local shop in Atlanta, Georgia, and was informed that it is closing soon, and they are accepting no new work. The manager thought there were similar shops in North Carolina and Florida, but didn't know the names. Is anyone aware of a shop that can handle the job of dipping the chassis near or in Atlanta? How about the Southeast US? Thanks.

 

[RVMAN]

Question- Are you planning to do a "frame off" restoration? If so, you might do just as well with some type of "blasting" on the frame. Also you wouldn't need to dip the parts, but you could apply chemicals on the panels by hand for paint stripping and/or rust treatment. If you are going to "strip & dip" make sure the shop is one that will completly nutralize the dip chemicals when they are finished...if they don't it could be the start of some REAL rust troubles in the cracks and crannies!!! I'm in North Florida, so I'll have a look to see if there is a shop in Jacksonville that "dips" if that is what you plan on doing. Also use the "search" in this forum, and you can see some great photos of restoration work and techniques. Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Patton]

My father and I have used the Redi-Strip in Jackson, MS and had good work, but never on a big Healey frame. If they are still open, here is the contact information.

Redi-Strip Of Jackson
133 Keener Ave
Jackson, MS 39202-1009

Phone: 601-355-3317

A dumb side story. They used to have a logo with a pinup girl with the tag line "Are you redi to strip?" I bought one of the logoed shirts and wore it to class in High School, where I was promptly sent home to change!

Patton

 

[Cutlass]

Yes, it is a frame off restoration. I'm quite familiar with the process and the pitfalls, having worked for an industrial plating company for a couple of years. I'm choosing dipping rather than blasting due mainly to the rusting inside the box frame rails.

You're right about the precautions, though. A high pressure rinse after the acid bath is the key. Also, a phosphoric acid rust preventive applied at every seam is important. Water will collect there, but paint will not get into those tight places due in part to the size of the paint molecules. There are just some places they won't go.

I found the Jackson, Mississippi shop via Hemmings, and will call them, but it's about 6 hours drive, and I was hoping for a shorter drive.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Skip & Lynne]

Hi Cutlass what was the name of the place in Atlanta? I had my cars done there and was getting ready to do the third one there as well. I have forgotten the name but it wasn`t in a really nice part of town. Skip

 

[Johnny]

I wrote an article for local newsletter on the merits of body dipping and IMHO it's the way to go. There's a fellow that has done many Healey's in his acid dipping business, but St. Louis is pretty far away. Did you know a Healey sub chassis, plus all the other steel parts will fit in the back of a pick-up? I know, I helped unload one, and I have a picture to prove it. It really went in quite easily, and can be removed/installed by 3, or better yet 4 men.

 

[Cutlass]

The shop in Atlanta is Unpaint Corporation. They are very nice folks, and appear to do a careful and quality job. Unfortunately they are not accepting new work, at least as of November 8, 2004. But if anyone reading this is interested in their services, please contact them yourself. Things have a way of changing, and I don't want anything I say in a public forum to cause them to lose business.

 

[Cutlass]

Sorry to post twice, but I'm new at this and will surely make mistakes. What is the name of the shop in St. Louis? That may not be too far.

 

[Skip & Lynne]

Thats who did both of my cars for me (unpaint), I am sorry to hear that they were closing they did good work. Skip

 

[Cutlass]

The folks in Jackson Mississippi put the parts in an oven, and heat them to about 775 degrees F to remove the paint, etc. I've been advised that this might anneal the metal, with the obvious problems associated with that. This temperature seems a bit low to anneal steel. Any thoughts oh wise ones?

 

[Patton]

They have been open for about 20 years, ask them if they have had any problems. We haven't had any problems on our parts taken to them. I didn't realize/remember all parts went into an oven?

Patton

[ QUOTE ]
The folks in Jackson Mississippi put the parts in an oven, and heat them to about 775 degrees F to remove the paint, etc. I've been advised that this might anneal the metal, with the obvious problems associated with that. This temperature seems a bit low to anneal steel. Any thoughts oh wise ones?

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[Johnny]

[ QUOTE ]
What is the name of the shop in St. Louis? That may not be too far.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry to take so long to answer, I've been busy putting a new roof on.
The name of the shop is ACP metal cleaning. Dale Triefenbach is the owner/operator. His shop is located in 308 S. Jefferson RT 163 South, Millstadt Ill. Not far only about 15/20 min. from South St Louis over the JB bridge. You can reach him at 1+618-476-3500. Good luck.

 

[Johnny]

I doubt you need to worry about annealing the steel. After all, parts are welded at much higher temps. I was told that any type of spring left on the car (not leaf springs but coil type springs) may loose their "springy" after being heated. Don't forget, there's springs in the door openers even under the hood latches etc. Click above under attachments for a picture of the process.

 

[Simon TR4a]

If subjecting a Healey to this temperature I would be concerned about the aluminium shrouds, I think they would melt before that temp!
Anyone know the melting point of aluminium? (I am just guessing here!)
Simon.

 

[Patton]

According to one website that I found the melting point of Aluminium is 659.7°C

 

[Skip & Lynne]

Mabye I am a dummy here or something but what is wrong with just getting some chemical stripper, plastic scrapers and scotch bright pads and do the shrouds yourself. Then use XX fine sand and sand blast the steel parts. I just did some steel auto body parts and they came out fine. I know the usual horror stories (pitting ,warping, etc) but I have never had any of these problems at all. I sand blasted my entire inner chassis to white metal and had no problems. Now that UNPAINT is closed that is what I am going to do on my next Healey. Skip

 

[Johnny]

There's nothing wrong with doing all that yourself. In fact that's just what I did on my car. However, having said that, I won't do it again. One, I never was able to get all the rust out of the frame sections, two, it took forever, and what a mess. Plus, I ended up spending almost as much as if I had the car dipped. Of, course you can't include the aluminum shrouds in the dipping process. Those do have to be done by hand, or media blasting would be better. Believe me, having the car dipped and getting back all those nice metal parts all clean is well worth the money.
IMHO

 

[Cutlass]

Well folks, I think I've found a source in the Atlanta area for this work. I'm going there today, and will give you a complete update.

I've thought about doing it myself, and may do that with the body panels. But the chassis is a different story. All the nooks and crannies of that beast present almost unlimited opportunity for huge amounts of messy, frustrating work. The difference is with the equipment. My 6 hp compressor and Northern Tool sandblaster just can't compare favorable with the commercial equipment.

Alkaline/acid dipping was my first choice due to the greater coverage of the inner parts of the box frame. But the closest place I found was in Indianapolis. The trade-off in time just didn't make sense in the long run. There are products and methods available for treating the inside of the frame without dipping, so I'll go with that. As long as the rusting process is arrested, things should be fine. After all, when we finish these cars, they are garaged, driven only in good weather (for the most part), and generally babied far beyond what they experienced in their first lives.

More later. And thanks, everyone for the very useful and greatly appreciated advice.

 

[John Loftus]

I have recommended Media blasting for the body panels in the past and sand blasting for the frame. Recently I reassembled the body panels to the car and found out that some of the panels did get warped during media blasting. It reguired several hours of dolly and shrink work by an experienced panel beater to get the panels back into shape. I don't think I would use media blasting again (although I'm sure it is all about operator experience). I've heard excellent reports on Soda Blasting and would check out that avenue for panels in the future.

Cheers,
John

 

[Cutlass]

Just returned from Eco-Clean just outside Atlanta, Georgia. Nice folks. The do a variety of metal cleaning, including classic automobiles. The can sand blast, plastic bead blast, alkaline and acid dip, and offer a process I wasn't familiar with that uses very hot fluidized sand. I'm having them sandblast my BJ8 chassis. Their main limitation is that their tanks are not large enough for dipping an entire frame or chassis. They dip their body parts in large baskets.

I toured their plant and looked at finished work, including a TR6 chassis and complete 56 or 57 T-Bird, as well as a 56 Chevy and other vintage cars. Work appears to be just fine. Their price for doing my chassis is competitive. Must say, however, that the price they mentioned for stripping the body panels was high. We'll see about that later.

Anyway, I'll let you know next week about the results. In the meantime, you can find them at www.eco-clean.com. Mike or Cody are the guys to talk to, and tell them Jim Anderson sent you. Maybe they'll give me a break for a referral. More later.