Cleaning a Body
 

And I don't mean taking a shower.

Where can you get a car body chemically stripped? I am really not talking about chemical milling, just cleaning the old sound deadener, paint, body filler, rust, etc, so I can work on clean sheet metal. All the places I knew that did that are no longer in business. I understand about the EPA and all that, but I don't want to do this by hand. Preferably in the South.

Thanks!

Dwight Southerland

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Dwight i know there is a place in Atlanta but then thats a way's off for you!:rolleyes:

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They are still around but you have to search 'em out -- we have one in nearby Allentown , PA.....

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Dwight

Try high pressure waterblasting. Saw a few cars done that way and looked like brand new stamping.

Hammer

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See if you can find a place that does SODA blasting/washing--Saw a old Corvette that a guy did did not hurt the weatherstripping or other soft parts-- Took it right down to raw fiberglass no pits or gouging like you get from sand blasting--Comp 387

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Carolina Chem-Strip
333 MacArthur Lane
Burlington, N.C.
336-584-5613
www.chem-strip.com

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I think that Mark Dickerson does the soda blasting. He is located in Maryland.

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Be careful with chemically stripping doors, hoods, deck lids, or any parts thet are joined together. A friend of mine had his doors chemically stripped and once he got them home he rinsed them again with water. The acid neutralizing dip process (and neither did the water rinse) did not get into the seam between the door skin and the inner door very well. When the doors were painted they continued to leech the acid they used to strip the metal. The doors over time turned out to be a rusty mess because the leeching continued to strip his fresh paint down to the bare metal and rusted. I prefer the plasic bead process. The only drawback is the hood and deck lid will continue to shed trapped beads for a while but, at least they won't mess up your paint job.

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I PM'ed Dwight and he said the body is OK.He needs the underside of the car cleaned,undercoat and such.

Ed F.

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Dwight:

As I understand it, you want to remove the undercoat from under the floors, is that correct? If that is the case, over the last 30 years or so, I had the occasion to remove undercoating many times. The method I used was to heat the undercoating with a heat gun and use a scraper/Putty knife etc. It is a slow process, but it always works. If you are ever have the chance to see my car, I invite you to inspect the underside of my car. All you will see is a clean underside and a lot of red paint. If your car is completely apart, turn the body on the side. I rolled my car over and rested the roof line gutter on an old tire for support. This did not harm any part of the car and it makes it alot easier to do the job. I was too cheap to buy a rotessery. Good luck on your project. Remember, no one plans to fail, they just fail to plan! A little planning goes a long way!

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Thanks everybody for the info.

John -
I appreciate your nuts and bolts perspective. I did find a place in Jackson, MS and a place in Ball, LA that do chemical stripping, but I cannot justify all the cost for this project. I am now gathering up materials to do a rudimentary rotisserie and plan on doing this by hand. I probably will do soda blasting after the undercoating and sound deadener are removed.

I have also done a few cars in my time, but this one has an unusually thick layer of undercoating and I was just looking for a easy way out.

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For undercoating removal, I use a wirewheel on an angle grinder. It does take a little while but, I found it faster than Duzac's method. You will get dirty though. I used four large pipe jack stands to lift the car about 3' or so off of the ground to where I could sit and work under it. I too was too cheap for a rotisserie. Have fun. BTW, my Duster's factory undercoating was almost 1/4" thick in some places.

Ryan Becnel

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Dwight, the method John Duzac described works well, albeit a little messy. My suggestion would be to get a drywall compound spreading knife for the larger flat areas. I started with oven cleaner after the big chunks were removed from my Malibu's underside. Then finished up with Super Clean, a good rinse, and final wipe down with cheap lacquer thinner.

If you do go the soda blast route, I believe you have to neutralize with white vinegar if bare metal is exposed.

Should be a piece of cake using a rotisserie. Good luck!

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Here you go Dwight...an alternate method... :) :) :)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/mechanic.jpg

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Wow! I thought I had an original idea!!

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My rotisserie may be wooden circles cut from sheets of 3/4" plywood bolted to the bumper mounts on the car. Not exactly a rotisserie, but at least you can roll it over.

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Dwight: I saw the picture of the gut welding under the turck and in my wildest days would not get undet that truck! But I gotta tell you, this guy has a lot of nuts, or another way of saying it is nuts... Any way you choose to remove undercoating, the end result depends on the amount effort you put into the project. Spending alittle more time in the hard to get at areas will pay off when someone looks under the car. I call it pride... Good luck.

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What are you building Dwight?

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I sell an American made tool that is specifically designed to remove undercoating. After doing several cars with a torch and steel wool and solvent, this is the best solution. The specialized wheel has done 3 cars and still works well. It will also take off paint although it isn't 100%.

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A rotisserie.

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Tell me more.

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Dwight,

Snap-On sells what they call the Crud Cutter. It's designed for the purpose of taking undercoating off. It's very similar sounding to what the other gentlemen was taking about. It has specialized wheels to remove the undercoating. I've been debating purchasing one but, haven't talked to anyone that's tried it yet.

Rick Ryan

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Dwight, the most efficient way to get rid of undercoating, old goo and loose paint, etc is by using a electric high pressure washer with a diesel fuelled boiler
The secret is to decrease the pressure enough, so that temperature of the water (read steam) reaches 140-150'C (280-300'F) It's the steam that will do the work.

Borrow one, or rent one for the weekend, Sunday can be spent for watching a ball game.
No chemicals, heat guns, burned hands, wire wheels, detergents, elbow grease,carb cleaner, pollutions what so ever. Just water. And filthy drive way...

If necessary, a Roto-Jet nossle can be useful cleaning some parts, rear axle etc, since it encreases the impact force x 7, but only at supplied temperatures under 212*F. And not on sheet metal...

A couple of years ago I "destroyed" a genuine -70 SS BB Chevelle by turning it into a G/SA stocker.
After stripping engine and gearbox, it took me one full Saturday and one disposable overall to get rid of EVERYTHING down to the original satin black body paint.

OK, I used somewhat of the same methode as published on the photo by SSdiv 6, but if you do it safe, there is no problem.

BTW,I never managed to make the Chevelle into a winner, or even a good qualifier...I sold it, it's back on the street with a ridiculous price tag,
Instead I bought many years of experience and buying a goooood stocker Nova from Keith Lynch... I love this car,,,
But, as a matter of fact, it need as underbody cleaning, Keith has never built show cars...
Just good race cars.


Pelle Andersson / Sweden

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Seriously, RJ, I have changed my ways and have decided to build an F/SA 390 Fairlane. Don't you think that's a good idea??

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Reminds me when I bought my AMX. The underside was reasonable, just typical rust holes at the sump at the rear mounting points for the seats. Then I took the car home and started working on it, starting by striping the interior. Under the carpet was a 1/2" coating of roofing tar! Yea, that was one fine mess to clean up! After that, I haven't been to motivated to do the underside.
Man, I thought Dwight was a 4-speed guy forever. F/SA Fairlane? Talk about moving to the dark side! :(
Just in case I get motivated (or bored) I'd like info on this tool that was mentioned.

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I'm not RJ Sledge, I just remember your SS/C Vette, and thought it was a neat car.

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My apologies! I thought I was having fun with an old friend!

Actually, I am working on something considerably less dramatic than the Vette. If Jody Lang and Tommy Mattingly can win so much with such "slow" cars, wy spend do much $$ and time to have a good time?

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Jeff, and others wondering about the tool for removal of undercoating...I believe it's called the "Crud Thug". It resembles an air ratchet, but instead of the drive for a socket there is a wire wheel fitted with uniquely shaped wire. The tool is also similar to an angle grinder in appearance but is an air tool and slimmer in it's construction. Rather than straight wire, these are angled the last 1/8" of the tip, so the wires "dig in" to the undercoating and essentially gouge it off the surface without damaging the underlying metal. BE CAREFUL! This thing could rip your face off if you don't handle it with a strong grip! It's still a hassle, and if you are doing it as I was with the car on jack stands, you'll end up completely black and covered with dirt but you will have removed the undercoating. I've just done the wheel wells on my '67 Camaro, and in places the stuff was close to 1/4" thick, but it's clean and freshly painted now. I used a degreaser/cleaner to wash the surface before painting the car underneath with trim black. As John Duzac said, it's a pride thing and worth all the effort when you're done. It looks like a brand new car underneath, and is a joy to re-assemble when everything is spotless, grease and dirt-free. Good luck!

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Here's a link to the tool............
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools...e=snapon-store

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It's an air powered tool. The cutting end has a series of wire hooks at a specific angle. The tool runs at a lower rpm. You do not have to bear down on the tool. If you do, the cutting quality goes down. You have to be a little disciplined at let the tool work for you. It comes with a rubber wheel for removing decals and pin striping. Everything about this tool is USA made. The air tool alone will probably last 20 yrs. with good maintenance. Send me a PM and I'll give you all the details if you are interested. Thanks

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Grant, Dwight and everyone who reads this post: When you are building a car you are trying to do as good of a job as possible. When me and my partner was building our Camaro, it was not an over night project. Instead, it took a year of working on it every hour we could. We started with a good rust free car from Roswell, New Mexico. When we looked under the car for the first time, we were surprised to see no rust! Best of all, very little undercoating. I mentioned pride in an earlier post. In order for the project to come out well, it takes pride as a motivater. I Invite anyone to look under my car and see what hard work can do and of course, Pride!

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Dwight and anyone else attempting to clean the underside of their car(s). The undercoating on these old cars had asbestos in it. Try to keep the dust down. Wear dust masks or maybe wet it down, especially if you're under the car. I spent many hrs. under my 69 camaro with wire wheels, putty knives, etc. I was black each time I came out. I finished the underside and painted it glossy black. About a couple yrs. later I read an article warning about the asbestos in these products. Wish I'd known about it then. I assume they quit using asbestos in undercoatings when it became known for health hazards. I know it was in the coatings on the 60's and 70's era cars.