Back to wire wheel and scraping...

[sandy]

Did the passenger side 2 months ago and now onto the Drivers side and firewall. Some rust where feet rest, but rest pretty good. Large wheel and a second grinder with a small cup for smaller tight spots.

Scraping include removing seam goop, and the PO's use of some kind of old tough contact cement. Toss in the tar goop, it's not easy going. Wire wheel on large grinder does lay waste to it but can't get into the tight areas.

 

[Austin Healer]

I took one look and decided I wasn't ready to get filthy trying to get all that stuff off of my car... resorted to just having it dipped... It was spendy to be sure, but the car came back clean as a whistle and the amount of time I would have had to spend would have been immense. Probably would have been about the same cost if I charged myself what I charge my clients. The process dissolved all of the lead loading on the car as well as every alloy rivet. I did remove the tags prior! I was kind of surprised about the lead, I knew the alloy would be dissolved.

 

[unbeam]

Sean, what was your order of attack after dipping. I presume it was washed off with some sort of neutralizing solution. Did it then get phosphoric acid? Which comes next- epoxy primer, rust and dent repair, seam sealer, or bondo? Your red seam sealer seems quite the crime scene... Thanks, David

 

[Austin Healer]

Sean, what was your order of attack after dipping. I presume it was washed off with some sort of neutralizing solution. Did it then get phosphoric acid? Which comes next- epoxy primer, rust and dent repair, seam sealer, or bondo? Your red seam sealer seems quite the crime scene... Thanks, David

There was so much paint, undercoat and goo on the car that stripping it by hand just wasn't feasible and as I've had 8 back surgeries it probably would have killed me to attempt it!

It was dipped in three different solutions with the final being a neutralizing bath... The process of attack now is back brushing all the seams with epoxy (what you see in the picture) then metal work and any rust repair. thankfully very little welding to do now. Epoxy prime (PPG DP), body work (light skim in areas that need it) then hi build catalyzed primer (PPG K36)... The discoloration that is visible in certain area was caused by the electric current used in the process. It wipes right off with metal prep...

I'll seam seal the underside and outer seams after I've finished with the bodywork.. I use PPG fast and firm as I've never had an issue with it.

I'm well on my way. I've got the hood and trunk lid plus both doors done and have the left rear qtr almost finished. Hope to have it in hi build by the middle of the month.

 

[sandy]

I'm doing a job that is just good enough for my car, it is dirty hard work. I should have had the car dipped, or DryIce blasted (If it works on this goo), but decided to do what I can and move on to getting it to a place where I can drive it. Trading off time, money and actually finishing it

 

[Austin Healer]

I'm doing a job that is just good enough for my car, it is dirty hard work. I should have had the car dipped, or DryIce blasted (If it works on this goo), but decided to do what I can and move on to getting it to a place where I can drive it. Trading off time, money and actually finishing it

Soda blasting is also an alternative, but will not get rid of rust. Another alternative is "dustless blasting" where the media is carried by water, so won't warp the metal. Part of my reasoning behind dipping was that my local blaster, doubled his hourly rate making it cost MORE than dipping. That and the fact that blasting often doesn't remove undercoating....

 

[IvaTiger]

Can you use a propane torch to soften the undercoating and scrape it off ?

 

[pfreen]

This is what my car looked like after dustless blasting. Btw, dustless blasting is a misnomer. Sand is still coming out of every crevice after many many hours of vacuuming, blowing, scraping etc.
They got most of the goo off.

 

[Austin Healer]

Can you use a propane torch to soften the undercoating and scrape it off ?

you can, but it's difficult to get at it in the cracks and crevices and it's smells horrible when it catches fire!

 

[Austin Healer]

This is what my car looked like after dustless blasting. Btw, dustless blasting is a misnomer. Sand is still coming out of every crevice after many many hours of vacuuming, blowing, scraping etc.
They got most of the goo off.

View attachment 15715

The sand stuck in the rockers can be a royal pain in the ass to get out, and it acts like a moisture trap. Another consideration in why I chose to have my car dipped. As a lot of you know, I live in a very rural area in Central Washington state about 50 miles from the Canadian border. The nearest dustless blasting was in Spokane, 150 miles away. The nearest regular sand blaster is in Wenatchee, 100 miles away. There are no dipping facilities in Washington state, so I hauled the body shell to Portland, Oregon... 450 miles away and three mountain passes! It made for a REALLY long day! There is another dipper in Eugene (600 miles away). The one in Eugene is the one Dave Kindig uses (Bitchin' Rides). I was warned off of using this dipper by Larry Atkisson as he had a car dipped and was less than pleased with the goo that was still on the car. I was very pleased with the result I received from American Metal Cleaning in Portland. There is no "goo" anywhere on the car and it is clean as a whistle. The only issue I had was with residual stripping solution in one of the firewall strut braces. I eventually drilled a large hole in each mounting flange and flushed it with neutralizing solution which solved the problem.

Looks like you really have a very nice car to start with!

 

[65beam]

The wife bought the blue car in California in November 1994. Since it was a rust free car Doug had it blasted. Media continued to sift out until March of 1997. It set thru a flood in March of 1997 and after Haggerty agreed to restore the car and Doug opened the rockers, etc. to clean and treat we didn't find any media. It washed out. The other bare body was dipped at American Metal Cleaning in Cincinnati, washed with pads and whatever before getting DP 90 epoxy.

 

[sandy]

Avoiding some wire wheeling work on the dash. PO used some latex or contact cement and possibly some window putty under the frame and pad. Tried some acetone to clean it and worked well with some scrubbing.

Working with a real mask made the smelly job easy, trying to live long enough to drive it 😀

Not sure if I'm going to use the dash pad or not. But wanted it so I could paint if desired if I don't use the pad. Why? Looks nice without it and less stuff to burn. Suitable trim for the edge if no pad. I made vent delete plates either way as no venting or heating in the car.