Dip Stripping an Alfa Body Shell.

[Bill77]

From the overkill department.....

Have any of you had your car's body chemically dipped to strip off old paint? I'm considering different alternatives, and this one seems so, uh, thorough. I've read all the pro's and con's, but haven't found any info specific to a 105/115 Alfa. I'm concerned about the possible lack of drainage built into some of the structural sections. Modern cars are designed to drain fluids so that they can be dipped in primer and not have a pool-up. These Alfas may retain stripping chemicals, which is very bad for paint adhesion, of course.

Do any of you have first hand experience? Thanks.

[Farace]

Never stripped anything myself, but I thought I'd mention that there was an article sometime in the last year in the Alfa Owner describing the various methods of stripping paint off a car (in their case a Giulietta Spider) and the pros and cons of each. I don't know if I can put my hands on my copy (we've been moving things around and I can't find a lot of things) but I thought I'd mention it in case it's of use.

[Touringspider]

I have not dipped an entire shell, but I had a number of panels on my 1961 102 restoration dipped by Redi Strip. My feelings are mixed. Yes, it does a good job of removing all the old paint, rust, filler, and assorted schmutz. However, they rinse the panels with water to remove the residue, which allows flash rusting to occur, which is not too big a deal if you immediately prep and prime the panels. My biggest complaint is that the chemical residue does find its way into every nook and cranny, and isn't necessarily removed by their rinsing process. I had chemicals and crud seeping from the folded seam on my trunklid where the skin folds over the frame for a long time. It took a big effort to get the panels to where they were safe to paint.

I think that this process works best where you have a shell that is in pretty rough shape and you have a lot of rust and crud to remove. It is not the best in cases like mine where the panels were in good shape and I just wanted a "fresh start". I think I would have been better off (and saved some $$) by using a stripping disk on a grinder like I did on the rest of the shell.

Just my opinion.

Arno Leskinen
AROC National Concours Chair
102
115
116

[Bill77]

I've narrowed it down to 3 approaches:

1. Chemical dipping, neutralizing dip, then e-coat.
2. Media blast then e-coat.
3. Media blast then spray with etching primer.
4. Remove old paint with my DA sander, then spray with etching primer. Use POR-15 on the underside and some of the hidden body areas.

These are in order from most to least expensive.

Farace, that Alfa Owner article sounds interesting. I'll keep my eyes/ears open for that.

Arno, your issues are exactly what i fear. Thanks for the info. Some places will perform a neutralizing dip after the chemical strip dip. I had a door done this way, and it has been sitting in e-coat for about 6 months. The finish seems to be fine so far. I'm nervous about doing the whole shell.

[Farace]

Bill, I think one of the points of the article was that you might not want to use any one method for the entire car. Different methods might be more suited for different parts.

I'll look around for my copy. Magazines can be in any number of places in this house.

[SuperFab]

Bill...have a look in the "Super Lovers" forum under "Picture Room". I posted some pictures of my Giulia Super restoration. I had the body shell chemically stripped in order to remove all paint, tar, rust etc. If you have the room and want to do a metal work on clean metal, I highly recommend it!

[Bill77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperFab Bill...have a look in the "Super Lovers" forum under "Picture Room". I posted some pictures of my Giulia Super restoration. I had the body shell chemically stripped in order to remove all paint, tar, rust etc. If you have the room and want to do a metal work on clean metal, I highly recommend it!

[Curtis]

I have had similar to Alfa tubs redi-strip dipped for race applications and would consider it for a concour car. It is the only way to strip a car thoroughly enough for powder coating as the "baking" cooks oils and chemicals out of hidden places if you only manually strip or bead blast.

I would never, ever, ever strip a car that would be exposed to any moisture or driven on the street. The stripping process removes oils, rubber, and seam sealers in places you can't even see without cutting the car up. Moisture and humidy will find its way to places it couldn't reach before.

[SuperFab]

My 2 cents...

Bill - The closure panels will be e-coated as they are a manageable size. I have coated the inner cavities where I made repairs with a zinc paint and will also coat other cavities as well. The underside and inner floor areas will be sprayed with a thin coat of LineX tinted with body colour (the stuff they spray on pick-up truck beds...tough stuff!...I've seen the results on other cars and it is excellent) to protect, seal and deaden sound. The rest of the body will be etch primed, epoxy primed, painted etc. When that is all done, all inner cavities will be sprayed with a rust preventative oil/wax. I've made sure that all cavities are accessible for treatment. In the end, the car won't be driven daily or purposely in bad weather...certainly not in the winter! It's going to be my "weekend fun car"

Curtis - With regards to seam sealers...all the locations where sealer is applied is accessible...how else would the Alfa factory have originally put it there in the first place? I have a factory body manual that shows where to apply sealer and all locations are easy to get to. At the factory, the body shells were phosphate dipped to clean and prepare the surfaces for primer, sealers and paint. The phosphate coating offers little in the way of protection from rust...but I agree it would be better than bare steel! In any event, I like working with clean steel and am glad I did what I did...

[turbolarespider]

Bill, have you found a place in MI that can e-coat an entire car?

Eric

[Bill77]

yes, there is a place that will bake, chemically strip, neutralize, then ecoat an entire body shell. It's pricey ($2500 for a body shell and about $150 for a door, hood, etc.).

International Paint Stripping
Address: 15300 Oakwood Dr, Romulus, MI 48174
Phone: (734) 942-0500

I had a door done there. They did a good job.

A friend told me there is a place near Allen Park. I'll see if I can find out more.