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acid dipping???

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:26 pm
by rossrox
Is there anywhere in UK that does it? and is it expensive? :-?

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:29 pm
by PSL184
You need to speak to "jonathon" (JLH Motors)

http://www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk/

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:35 pm
by stuart_k
You could try here. Very expensive IIRC

http://www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk/

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:51 pm
by rossrox
hmmm cheers for that website, at least i now have an idea of price, cheaper than i thought it would be, i thought just to strip it of paint, underseal and rust it would be £1000+ so £700 is pretty good :D

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:00 am
by jonathon
We use SPL. Have had 6 cars fully dipped and e coated, 3 of which are in our workshop at the moment if you would like to come and see them.
I'd suggest that you have an initial strip £450ish take the car and do any welding required, then take back for a cleaning dip £350 ish and e coat. Do not be tempted to just have it dipped and sprayed as it will last 5 mins and rot from the inside out. The acid gets everywhere so many 6mm holes need to be drilled in the car to prevent air traps and build up of acid or e coat. all sealed structures must be drilled or the can 'explode'. We can show you where to drill. :wink:
I'd view acid dip and ecoat as the best process available at an excellent price for what you get (they are coated on the Aston Martin line or LDV). The process is not able to clean and seal between areas such as the guttering or any other doubled up panelwork and as such these areas might show rust at a later date. If there are poor areas where two panels are spot welded then remove the rust/steel and leave open for the acid to do its work then zinc spray and repair the area ready for the final dip.
Infact if there is known rust which when removed aids the flow of acid then remove it prior to dipping but make sure that the structure is not compromised.
Take plenty of photograhs of the panels when they are unloaded at SPL as a few have been known to be damaged during the processes.
One final note ,be prepared for a shock when you view the stripped shell and panels as nothing escapes the acid and what may look a solid car can turn out to be a perforated mass of steel. However this is as 'honest' as the car will ever be and an excellent starting point on which to build a car to last.
Feel free to pop over if you want to discuss our experiences with this process or just simply to have a good look at what you get. :D

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:32 am
by rossrox
id certainly love to pop down and see the workshop and process, would be a few months before i can though 17 on friday so will start driving lessons :D just the thing im wondering is im giving pedro a small roof chop and then putting a 4age engine in, so would i do the roofchop and get the engine to (somehow) fit first then bring it to get bathed as then im not cutting up the protected metal and rewelding over it.

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:51 am
by jonathon
Yes, I think doing the work first would be the best idea. Good luck with the lessons. :D

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:03 pm
by rossrox
Thankyou :)

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:56 pm
by bmcecosse
And good luck with the 'roof chop' - and the engine swap! Quite ambitious for a 17 year old.........

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:42 pm
by rossrox
:) well im an apprentice engineer so i have a good amount of skill :), this shall be a good project for the next few years, i will make a thread in the restorations section soon for progress :)

Re: acid dipping???

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:27 pm
by FrankM83
If I had the money, I'd brong this business to Malta :D even if only for small parts to start with!