From the chemical tank it's raised, and all the old paint and rust oozes up, crinkles, and falls off. Just pure, bare steel remains on the fender, a portion resembling silver Swiss cheese, where an amount of rust was harvesting.
The process of chemical stripping, or hot-tanking, by submersion removes all the old paint and rust from your car body or metal parts, leaving behind clean metal, helping to serve as a fresh foundation for new bodywork to begin. Prior dents, repairs, and hidden rust areas are discovered so that they can be repaired properly, eliminating the chance of bubbling or cracking under the new paint surface. Be sure to plan ahead, as this process doesn't happen overnight. Expect it to take anywhere from a few days up to a week. Nevertheless, it's a very effective first step to preparing metal parts or entire car bodies for bodywork, because all of the metal surfaces are equally cleaned at the same time.
Unlike sanding or media-blasting, chemical stripping cleans the metal with solutions of caustic soda to soften and remove the paint then muriatic acid to attack the rust. Because each car's condition and owner's wants are different, the necessity and process required to strip a car to bare metal will vary substantially. For many jobs, chemical stripping isn't needed, and one can get by simply sanding or media-blasting.
Do you need it? Ultimately, that's up to you, but you know how the saying goes: You're only as good as your foundation, so you be the judge. Follow along as we examine the results of Classic Industries' project '66 Nova and get the inside scoop on the entire stripping process.
These old fender wells have...
These old fender wells have suffered from years of weather, some rust, battery acid, and engine oil. To chemically treat them, we removed all of the rubber splash shields and fasteners.
Smaller items hould be chemically...
Smaller items hould be chemically dipped during a restoration to remove old paint, undercoating, and rust.
To remove rust and old paint,...
To remove rust and old paint, Jorge Rodriguez of L&M first dipped metal parts into a solution of caustic soda for two days and then into a blend of muriatic acid for two days. From there, they're placed back into the caustic soda for several minutes to neutralize the surface. The length of time needed to clean parts is typically several days to a week, but is ultimately dependent on the extensiveness of the rust, layers of paint, or amount of Bondo.
Once the items were pulled...
Once the items were pulled from the caustic soda tank for the last time they were rinsed thoroughly with water and placed in the sun to dry. Any folded seams where moisture was trapped were dried with a butane torch.
Be forewarned, sometimes previous...
Be forewarned, sometimes previous paint and bodywork can mask extensive rust damage, and here's a prime example. The good news here is that the problem areas have been exposed and can now be repaired properly.
This '66 Nova, back from the...
This '66 Nova, back from the dipping tank, was undergoing the first phases of bodywork. Before sending any car to the chemical paint stripper, you must completely disassemble the car. You'll also need to remove the aluminum body tag; otherwise the corrosive nature of the chemicals will dissolve it in seconds. Magnesium will also dissolve.