My first reaction from hearing the horror stories of dipping comes down to this. The metal can handle the dip, but what you are not aware of is the aluminum blocks in the front frame for the suspension will dissolve. The blocks are there to reinforce the frame from being crushed.

Do not use sand as it hardens the metal. The best media to use is plastic or walnut shells. The material comes off leaving a nice metal patina that can be chemically etched and primed. If you can find someone that uses soda as a media you would be better off. The more aggressive the media the more you blaster would prefer as it save them time. Also if you do not neutralize the chemical dip, the chemical will come up through the primer and lift your paint as evidenced by bubbles.

Another caveat to blasting is that the guy running the machine, as they can use to much pressure and warp panels. Find someone that does classic cars and you will most likely have someone that knows just how much pressure and media material to use.

 

Something else to check in to to see if it is available near you is dry ice blasting. I've not used it but I've heard that it works well and has less side effects than some of the other blasting techniques. For instance I've heard soda works well but leaves a residue that needs to be cleaned out or will cause problems whereas dry ice leaves no residue. Anyway, yet another thing to think about!

Kevin

 

I have had some experience dipping a chassis on an SZ. The alloy skin was removed so it really was a no brainer. The rockers are open on the car and didn't have the multiple layers on structure there. The alloy blocks in the frame were unharmed. They might have been etched but they are not going to go away like an aspirin tablet.

A Spider is a totally different animal. 1) you have many layers of spot welded metals that can trap residue.. 2) there are a lot of spots that have lead filler on the body that might be compromised and trap the dip as well as box sections which might or might not be neutralized completely in the process.

My thoughts are to shop around and choose the shop with the most experience and THEIR preferred methods and media if blasting. I think you will find that they prefer a combination of approaches. Metal stripping like aircraft stripper on the top side worked best for me. Spot blasting might be considered for inner rockers or any other areas but it is up to the shop.

Finally, I have never heard of cars that has been blasted inside and out that don't shed media or paint dust after the job is done for years. Even dry ice would create dust particles of blasted substrate which hang around long after. With that said, if you insist on blasting, avoid areas like the trunk and ****pit. I just think it it creates more problems than what it is worth. My 2 cents.

 

It’s been a while since I have updated this restoration, so I will give an update as work restarts. The veloce has been maintained in incredible original condition through the years and I have had the pleasure of tracking down one of the original and very long term caretakers of the car. It was great to speak with him and hear all about the history of this beauty. The originality is incredible!

 

I decided to go with a chemical strip for the restoration. All the parts where disassembled and sent for complete restoration as the body was stripped. As we stripped the veloce, it was unbelievable to see the incredible preservation of the body. You can see the original factory yellow/orange primer that was used at the Alfa Romeo Factory and factory belt sanding marks. Amazing!

 

Once we got the under side stripped and cleaned, it was astonishing to find how this Veloce was miraculously preserved over It’s life. As we all know in restoring these cars, you always dread to what you may find. In all my years of restoring several cars, I have never seen or have been lucky enough to find a car in this condition.

 

Underside cont

 

Really nice to see real progress on a project. I was a contributor to some of the parts you were collecting in the beginning and it's always a 'ho-hum" wait and see if this will ever see light of day and don't hold your breath on progress planned but hardly ever finished. Congratulations on sticking to it. You can be justifiably proud of the results and the pace to the finish line. Perhaps this will spur on other projects. I've done a few of these and the longer one labors on them the harder they are to finish and the slower things tend to go.

 

I appreciate the comments and the support. In normal times it is hard enough to keep projects going in a timely fashion. Having had a couple years of shut downs and most shops not doing any work, it has been impossible to get anything done. Shops are getting back to work now, but are having a hard time bringing on skilled crafts people. Restorations are not for the faint of heart. I have 2 restorations now going at the same time and not by design. You do what you can when it’s available. Nevertheless it will be very fun! This veloce is going to be an amazing project because of the incredible preservation of the car. I am also moving along my 1967 Giulia Super which you can follow in the super category. I will try to post as much as I can.

 

Beautiful car, thank you for the update.

 

Once we got the car cleaned up, I decided to document the incredible condition of this veloce with a professional photo shoot. here are some of the pictures.

 

Photos continued. Note this veloce’s specific stamped body panel number 011

 

Clearly missing one common Alfa component. <rust> -

 

You’re absolutely right Gordon. And as we both know, it is only by a miraculous intervention that we get to uncover an Alfa in this condition. I cant wait to get those beautiful shiny Weber DCOE 2’s that you restored for me in this engine bay!
more to come soon.

 

An extraordinary restoration!

 

prepping for primer:

 

As lovely and original as you describe in Post #5, I'm surprised it even needed a restoration. Did you weigh originality vs perfection?

 

Good Question. I did not consider it an option as the paint had several issues as you can imagine after almost 60 years. The pictures that show the veloce prior to restoration may look much better than reality. This piece of italian art deserves the complete nut and bolt restoration it is undergoing, with the goal of preserving a piece of Italian automotive history with its original parts and the best possible condition you hope to find one in.

 

Good answer. I didn’t mean to sound judgmental in re-reading my post.

 

Not at all. It was a good question and something I am always conscious of myself. It’s not an easy decision to make. You never know what the metal is like underneath the paint until you get to it.
In this instance we were unbelievably fortunate to find something that was so incredibly preserved. Believe me, I have done several restorations and it is not always the case. Now that we are dealing with an excellent example, we will do everything possible to make sure we preserve the body with the best materials available and restore all the original parts as the day it left the factory.

 

But a reasonable, non-judgmental question with a logical answer.

 

Epoxy primer:

 

Wurth sprayable seam sealer:
following epoxy primer to the entire car, we prepped the underside for seam sealer in all gaps and crevices to ensure preservation of the metal underside for decades to come. After lots of discussion with the team and several other restorers of classic Alfa’s, Ferrari’s, Porsche and Mercedes, we decided to use Wurth sprayable seam sealer. Consensus was with the sprayable application, we would get better penetration into all crevices on the underside and the best possible protection in places you can’t see. The decision was made more thinking about the preservation of such an incredible example and wanting to ensure it remains this way in the future.

 

... we decided to use Wurth sprayable seam sealer

Wish I'd known about this product!
Pete

 

Three years after the body work, seam sealer, and paint was completed on my Giulietta, I'm still finding a few crevices that need filing.

 

Wurth rubberized paintable under coating:
To complete the process of protecting and sealing the underside of the Veloce, we applied a full coating of Wurth rubberized paintable under coating. This was sprayed to entire under side and wheel wells. Video link attached

 

Looks great.
I used Gravitex, tinted to match the top of the body. How soft is the Wurth after it sets up?

 

Thanks for the comments. It actually firms up pretty good. We will do the same and paint the underside body colour.

 

Underside sealed, painted and ready for assembly:

 

REALLY nice Rob!

 

Thanks Gordon. I can’t wait to put those DCOE 2’s you beautifully restored into the engine bay!

 

Good morning all, I am commencing restoration of my 1965 Giulia spider and wondering if anyone has a view of acid dipping the body vs a media blast (sand, glass, walnut, etc...).
I spoke with a few different people and the old school guys say to never dip these cars as the metal cannot handle it. The younger guys in the business say that is not correct and that dips work perfectly fine.
Would love to get thoughts or if none has tries either or, would like to hear how it went.
Thanks

Nice work. good attention to detail. Good luck on the rest of the restoration.