i am going to be looking at s4 t2 and i was considering doing a complete restore on it. i was thinking that i could strip it to the unibody and then have that acid dipped to remove all the old paint, undercoating, and the inside sound deading tar. then i could start from a perfect base? and clean and bolt all the parts back. to do this they say cost on average 800-1100. but it will eat all the rust and everything thats not metal, and wont warp the panels like media blasting can. any thoughts on this would help.

 

Don't really know where you got the idea that the acid would only attack the oxidized metal. A racing track back in the day would be to acid dip a car to reduce weight. I think you'd be wasting your money seeing as these cars are at most 20 years old and a good example to start out with is just a matter of waiting.

 

The amount of time required to take every last piece of wiring, brake line and fuel line out, clean it, tag it, hope to get it back in would be emmense. Plus all the seam sealer I believe would be eaten away too, as well as all the underbody coating. Then you'd be rotisserieng your rotary to get all the undercarriage sealer on and blah blah blah....

I think it would be a good idea on a car that was so rusted you'd want to see every little im-perfection before you did a total restore. In my eyes, in my opinion that's NOT a driver, that's a rare car that should be drooled over and never driven. There are a few cars I plan on going that far with.... but those cars will rarely be driven, I wanna DD my FC.

 

it sounds great at first but now im wondering.... i dunno if it's practical...for or necessary if its a nice car..
but thats the extent to wish i wish i could go with my TII, I mean I want the best for her, but i can only afford soo much now so she gets what she needs and some new parts...but a ground up restoration is in the plans for this one too......

 

My friend acid dipped the Porsche 914 he and his father are restoring. BTW they are going on 2.5 years and are just now getting ready to paint, but have painted or powder coated everything.

If you are planning to keep the car long term, and are prepared for a project of this magnitude, GO FOR IT!!!

 

Start with a tube chassis and call it a day, if its going to be a race that is...

 

What are you using the car for?

That kinda determines what you should do

 

i dont think that acid dipping is the best way to strip a unibody car cause the acid will get in every little crack and will leave exposed metal even after paint.

if i were you i would use a chemical stripper to remove the paint and undercoating instead of a full out bath.

i have a great write up in a car mag(carcraft i think) i will post info on the artical once i find it.

 

that is very true that it will leave untreated metal in places that cant be painted. if i acid dipped the car it would be painted as soon as it could be done.

the car would be a weekend driver and i would like to have a nice base for a good car. b/c lets face it the least important part of the car is kinda the engine? if the car was a rusted out dented up car (the one i have is fine just needs paint) and it had a great engine that for whatever reason blew up it wouldnt be worth it to put another one in it...... so i feel its alot better to have a shell thats worth a nice engine then to work from the engine bay out.

i appricate all different ideas and feelings please continue to tell them,

 

great idea. do it the way it needs to be the first time so you know in the end your car is done correct.

 

i also have the front and rear subframes of a s4 still lying around so i was going to have them cleaned, painted, new bushings... that way after the cars painted it can be bolted right on.

a few things to mention is that i have a friend thats a pro glass guy to remove the window, i also have a friend thats a painter that will be willing to help me out with the paint, i have a sandblaster, and the person i am buying the car from does polishing so i feel that i have the right people to greatly improve the look of this car...... last but not least i am suppose to be gettting a good deal on it so i wouldnt mind it if i was to loose all my equity in the car but gain a great car.

 

This is what i'd like to do to my cars, however, i think there is another way other than acid to do this? I'm not sure but i thought there was a different chemical.

 

Sand everything you can see & want to paint. It sounds like this is going to be a driver. You're not restoring a super-rare Mopar that will be worth $500,000 when you're done. Your improving the look of a driver. I think acid dipping is overboard. It has it's place but I do not believe this is it.

 

Plus, if you're not dealing with panels that are rusted through, it's just not that hard to take off paint with a DA sander, sandpaper, and a razorblade for $150. POR 15 converter/sealer is designed to be painted directly over a surface that's beginning to rust and looks great, even when brushed on. The sound deadening tar isn't something that degrades noticably with age, and if you're interested in a car that's not incredibly loud to ride around in, you're going to be putting it back in anyway.

I'm restoring my car, and I replaced all the carpet and pulled out the old carpet matting while I was in there, then scrubbed the sound deadening tar and insides with water and bleach to kill the old car smell, painted anything that looked like it was getting some rust spots with Por 15, then sprayed the whole inside with some cheap gloss-black paint. Duplicolor actually makes a pre-mixed quart for $20, just load it in your gun and go. I wouldn't paint the outside of my car with it necessarily, but for something that's going to be hidden by carpet, trim and dashboard most of the time, it's perfect, and cheaper than 18 rattle cans.

The underbody I scrubbed with a scouring pad, dish soap and purple degreaser, then scuffed with sandpaper and painted over with POR 15, and it looks way better. I did that with the car on jackstands. The car looks tons better, and mine wasn't exactly a great condition of an RX7 when I started. In fact, I spent less on my car (buying it) than you're talking about spending on acid dipping.

 

Sure man!! Give er if you want to!!

I've done a resto on an FC and have one in the works for a customer right now.

You better have pockets though...dipping costs me $2/lb I usually do single panels like doors etc. A shell would run about 2G's......

Good luck!

 

I say acid dip the car then have the whole thing chromed.

 

ok i found the mag i mentioned earlyer, it is HOT ROD diy series fall 2006. about half the mag is only talking about the prep work to fully paint a car.

i have been thinking about how or what i will do when time comes to fully restore my project car. i think i will be using the full por 15 treatment on the underside of the car and go with what ever paint striper/prime/paint combo one the rest of the car. if anyone is interested in prep work i would recommend picking up that mag and reading it from cover to cover.

what ever you do best of luck with your shell and TAKE A LOT OF PICS to show us

 

I would find someone who does soda blasting or plastic media. Both are non destructive, easy to clean up and will not leave any residue that will interfere with paint. I have over 35 years experience in restorations and that is what I would do with my own car.

 

Is getting the car media blasted better?

 

the thing to worry about with media blasting is warping a panel b/c of the heat

 

Plastic media blasting is very gentle and you can remove layer by layer and even leave body filler if you desire. You would really have to screw up to warp a panel.