Media Blasters - who's the best???

[Lee.C]

Hey guys I have started to lift the body off of PROJECT 66 and I am wondering Where to get it Media Blasted 

Let me know who you have used in the past and what sort of results/service you got.

And before anyone says it I DONT WANT TO ACID DIP IT 

[Lids]

okay then get it alkaline dipped, total cost  = £2000.

this includes dip to remove crap (does not harm metal), etch primer whist you do repairs.  Return for 2nd dip and then Electrophoretic Primer to cover all metal.  even the bits you can't reach.  inside heater channels etc.

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

Here's some pics of a 57 oval from Bristol with suicide doors!!!

[Diederick/DVK]

now that looks awesome!!!

[Lee.C]

Cool Cheers Lids but that might be alittle expensive for me  I just want to get it media blasted and primered but i guess thats gonna cost a fair amount too 

[jick]

i phoned that place about 6months ago and they quoted me about £800.........

that was to do the shell of my 64.

[Lids]

jick, the price i gave was what somebody actually paid.  He gave me the heads up, if its only £800 for all three, then i'm in.

[SteveW]

I had a quote not long ago and it was something like 2k! The waiting list is pretty long too so I decided against it. I'm not keen on media blasting either as I've heard of so many bad stories with it so I'm going to strip mine by hand 

[jick]

yeah...maybe you're right.....now i've read it again....my quote was for the strip only.....

[kev d]

The £800 would be only for the first `dip` which strips all the paint & rust, £2k will get the full strip & phosphorous primer dip.
NEVER go for strip only as your car will rot out fom the inside because there will be no rust protection anywhere - especialy between panel joins / seams etc.
2k is a lot of cash, but imho cash better spent than on anything else! Why? bigger engines & other `bolt on`s` can be added any time, a rust free shell is the most valuable part of the project (in the uk anyway!) a paintjob ain`t cheap so why paint a body which is going to start bubbling up in a year?
Rust is behind 99% of all scrapped `dubs these days - kill the stuff!
Heres the fasty afterwards:

[Lee.C]

The £800 would be only for the first `dip` which strips all the paint & rust, £2k will get the full strip & phosphorous primer dip.
NEVER go for strip only as your car will rot out fom the inside because there will be no rust protection anywhere - especialy between panel joins / seams etc.
2k is a lot of cash, but imho cash better spent than on anything else! Why? bigger engines & other `bolt on`s` can be added any time, a rust free shell is the most valuable part of the project (in the uk anyway!) a paintjob ain`t cheap so why paint a body which is going to start bubbling up in a year?
Rust is behind 99% of all scrapped `dubs these days - kill the stuff!
Heres the fasty afterwards:

I think I'm coming round to the idea of having it dipped  Like I said I better start saving - should be ready to do it around april time 

Oh well I guess the best is never cheap

I have been wondering though - would you carry out things like welding up the trim holes etc AFTER this process 
you see I'd like to know EXACTLY what I have before I start modifying it in any way.

[Lids]

I think this was the same company that was used on Beetle Crisis last week.

they dip the car and then put a light coating of primer on it to protect it.

You do your welding, and then return it to them.

Kev D looks like he might have more answers.

[63 ripper]

do some searches on DDK porsche (there is life outside this forum you know ),there are a few guys on there who also have first hand experience. i know one of the restowagen guys had his floor there and is planning on the shell next. and talk to some other classic car restorers,some like it it,some don't. or call the company and get some references from their customers(those who have painted the car since) it's a big step.
 that oval in the picture above must be the one in beetle crisis,though i never noticed the suicide doors !
they also did the split van that was on campervan crisis last year. you could contact that guy (chairman of the SSVC ?) and get his thoughts

[Jon]

Now this looks good, there is a company in Norway stripping cars by dipping, but they only primer it with a spray gun. What about the inside?? People have also had problems with acid dripping out and ruining the paint job with this method, does this dipping primer solve this?

Lee I would do the modifications to the body first. I guess there is no real rust to worry about? 

[SteveW]

do some searches on DDK porsche (there is life outside this forum you know ),there are a few guys on there who also have first hand experience. i know one of the restowagen guys had his floor there and is planning on the shell next. and talk to some other classic car restorers,some like it it,some don't. or call the company and get some references from their customers(those who have painted the car since) it's a big step.
 that oval in the picture above must be the one in beetle crisis,though i never noticed the suicide doors !
they also did the split van that was on campervan crisis last year. you could contact that guy (chairman of the SSVC ?) and get his thoughts

The oval in beetle crisis is a 54 (not the one above) and belongs to John King who is a very good friend of mine! He is doing the welding on my '59 too 

[kev d]

I`ve also heard stories about acid re-appearing further down the line, I`ve had no problems in the 6 months or so since getting the shell back & that includes having the garage really warm to dry it out.
I know media blasting works well but it really needs to be carried out by people who know what they are doing, lots of damage has been done by company`s used to working on heavy duty steel
It also cant get into box sections like a liquid obviously can.
Cheers,
Kev

[Neil Davies]

I'm going to have my '51 done, but I'm going to do the major metal-work first (like grafting on the complete new front, heater channels, etc!), then hopefully when it's dipped it won't reveal too many nasties! Nice thing for me is that they're just down the road, so I don't have far to transport it all...

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

No Matter What you Do you can Have Problems if you blast a car you never get all the media out it sit's down in the groves and seams of the Body,Same goes for Dipping the Car It takes all the Paint off,  then they coat it, then prime, (all three stages) but all of the seam sealer on the car dose not come off it get's alot of it loose and what happens is eighter the media, or the dipping chemicals get under the seam sealer and stays under the old seam sealer then when it gets wet you get Rust starting again,when the cars were built each panel was coated with a metal etching weld threw primer and then all seams were caulked with seam sealer. When dipping the car it get's down in deep and removes  everything, even when dipped in the primer or sprayed it dose not penatrate the welded factory seams same thing happens when powder coating parts there blasted clean but the powder will not  go in to any of the seams  then rust starts forming in the welded seams most of the cars I have done I have striped with aircraft paint striper you have more control as far as what you are striping I tape off all the seams including the roof rail seams and apply the stripper it is very messy but it works great then I peal the tape off the seams and use 80 grit sand paper to knock off the paint is left that way the original VW seams stay how VW did them ...

[Lee.C]

All very good points - I never really thought about the media blasting process leaveing stuff behind, I should have as I used to do loads of sand blast of small parts at the ferrari garage I used to work at and it was always a bitch to get them "clean" ready for paint, I also understand that the Dipping process can also leave Acid behind BUT to quote the company with regards to the coating  "excellent penetration into seams and box section" so if there is coating in the seam then there can't be any acid 

Wel its too late anyhow as I booked PROJECT 66 into the dippers today - I better start SAVING 

 

[louisb]

Wel its too late anyhow as I booked PROJECT 66 into the dippers today - I better start SAVING 

If I could afford dipping the '67 I would go that route too. (Though finding a place to do it here in the states is getting much harder due to env regs.) My biggest concern would be that only the roof would be left.  For the quality of work you want, dipping is a good choice.

--louis

[nicolas]

hey good choice on the dipping Lee. i saw a guy who dipped all the parts of his type3 and they came out very good. he used NOS parts and still had them dipped. i must say it removes everything and you get a very good surface to work with, but you need to address the seams and welds a little better and take care of them.
i would dip mine if i had the chance to do it all over again. or find a good mediablaster who doesn't bend the fenders like the first one did. good luck on finding four good fenders for a type3