acid dip - good idea?

[Soup]

having my Bay restored next year and i'm contemplating having it dipped - I've seen a splitty and a bug go through the process on beetlecrisis but never a bay. I'd love to know what the general consensus is on the matter.

So come on folks throw in your grubby old 2 pence worth

:tup

 

[froggy]

After watching campervan crissis, i would say that unless you've got bags of money to throw at the repairs or are totally convinced that your van is solid then go for it otherwise i'd avoid and just repair things when they need it

 

[freddie]

Haha, i agree, i would love to have it done to my bay but i KNOW i would never be able to afford the suprises it would throw at me!

 

[easy]

It is a good idea if you have the money but you will find things that you have to replace that you never new, but if you are willing to undertake it then go for it...........fingers crossed tho dood :wink:

 

[Doris]

pretty much the same thought as everyone else, if you know its 100% solid than I can think of no better way to go, but of course your respray will have to be that much more thougher to get paint back into those exposed nooks and crannies. like everything in life it all comes down to ££££.

how much does it cost b.t.w.?

 

[easy]

You normally pay around £800 for a dip and prime

 

[richbaker78]

If your paying for the resto and you want it done properly...then go the extra mile and dip it. if its the sort of resto where you just want to cobble it up and make it shiny then dont bother.

If i was starting again I would definatly do it - I do all my own work/wleding etc and the time saved in scraping, cleaning and cutting etc etc is worth it alone - it might be worth discussing this 'time saving' when your getting quotes too - its the worse bit of welding IMO! If you dip it you have a much better start point and know your not going to miss anything.

so if your being thorough i say do it.

there are some people that say acid dipping isnt best though as it continues eating the metal after dipping and that soda/ sand blasting is better...altho cheaper the down side of these processes is that they also leave a residue that can trap water. i would say all these options are still better than doing it by hand.

 

[Bondo]

Just had my split bus dipped and it costs £1000 just to have it dipped.the process is very aggressive and you will find lots of rot or thin metal even on a good bus.


Daz

 

[Nic B-C]

Sorry I dont get this you will find a lot of nasty suprises.

If Im gong to restore a bus I want to find all those nasty suprises and then repair them once and right so hell Id go for it, only thing is you will need to cut out as much rot as you can find, dip it, then prime then repair and then dip in zinc of etch primer I would go for zinc so insides of panels are sealed.

If you dont do this you are wasting your time as insides will just rot out even quicker.

 

[fredster]

Why not sell the bus, and put proceeds together with £1000 saved from acid dip and buy a rust-free US bus? The metal you weld in will not be as good a quality as the og german steel, repair panels will not fit and will ALL need fettling with, and your bus will be off the road for months.

Seen a few imported rust-free buses for sale now for around the £5k mark. Even saw one for just over £4k for feck's sake, and its currently parked on my drive!


Unles you're really looking forward to doing a resto (and many do, I realise that) spare yourself the misery and buy a bus thats yet to succumb to the evil tinworm.

 

[james_stan]

Why not sell the bus, and put proceeds together with £1000 saved from acid dip and buy a rust-free US bus? The metal you weld in will not be as good a quality as the og german steel, repair panels will not fit and will ALL need fettling with, and your bus will be off the road for months.

Hear, hear. Just think of the hassle of stripping out the bus, seats, window rubbers, winding mechanisms, scrapers, wiring loom, dash, wiper motor, beam, brake ancillaries, fuel tank etc.. etc.. Then keeping all the bits safe to refit 6 months after you regained the enthusiasm to refit it all. You've gotta love the resto work and not be married for that caper (IMHO)

Cheers

James

 

[alikat]

Go for media blasting instead. It leaves paint on hidden panel areas where you will not get new paint to go, and it will not leach out acid in the damp UK climate. The last thing you want is for corrosion to start under your paint job because the shop did not neutralize the acid completely. The factory dipped the shells in a phosphating solution which coated and protected the insides of the sills, outriggers etc; an acid dip would strip this off.

My '71 sunroof Deluxe was only $500 running! A big motor and paint job are scheduled in. The only rust is on the bottom edge of the nose panel, and has now been cut out.

Al