Re: Chemical Stripping/Derusting

Posted by Rick Black on January 16, 1998 at 00:02:22

In Reply to: Chemical Stripping/Derusting
posted by Joe on January 13, 1998 at 07:12:56

Well here's MY two-cents worth.
I have a 1931 Deluxe Tudor and I had it stripped by Redi-Strip 25 years ago.Dunked the entire body minus gas tank, which went in separately.It came out looking like brand new steel - it just GLEAMED.
I'm VERY satisfied with the results, but the secret is that you HAVE TO BE PATIENT. You can't be in a hurry to put the final paint on the car. Here's what worked for me
I took the car's chassis back to Redi-Strip and they put it back on top.We towed the car home and stopped at a coin-operated car wash.I hosed it off with hot, soapy water through 4 cycles - at least 20 minutes - making sure I focused on the seams, inside and out, top and bottom.
We took it home and I hosed it off with the garden hose and a spray attachment.When it was dry, I brushed on Metal-Prep - lots of it.It made a mess so be careful where you do this.It didn't hurt my concrete driveway any and it just ran out to the street.
I pushed the car into the garage after I dried it off with towels, being careful not to touch the metal with my hands (didn't want any body oil to contaminate the metal.)
I waited a couple of days for the weather to be nice and warm - about 80 degrees as I remember.Then I got my trusty Sears electric paint sprayer and shot two heavy coats of Lacquer Primer - good stuff.Then, back into the garage.
I waited 2-3 weeks this time, occasionally going out to see how it was doing.It was hard not to put on another coat and get the project going, but I held back.
After about a month, there were a couple of spots where the paint was lifting - there was some residual chemical oozing out of seams that I didn't clean well.I wet-sanded those areas and reprimer.Another two weeks in the garage.
It was at least 6 weeks now since I brought the car home.I checked it over again and found only a couple of tiny spots that needed sanding and reprimering.Back in the garage again.
Now here's the hardest part - I waited several YEARS until I finally got around to painting it.The car was always in a garage, and before applying the final coat of primer, we checked it thoroughly - absolutely NO peeling, checking, or any other problems.
The final paint was Sikkens Acrylic Enamel.The results were SPECTACULAR - the car looked beautiful.It's been 6 years since the paint job.Not one blemish has appeared on the finish.
Bottom line: Redi-Stripping DOES work, but ya gotta take your time and clean it off thoroughly.It was very gentle to the metal - the roughest part was in the handling by the Redi-Strip crew - watch them and remind them the Model A is fragile!
A photo of the finished car is on the site below - we're really proud of how it came out.
Rick Black
Medford, Oregon
1931 Deluxe Tudor Sedan

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