Greetings folks,
OK…so here is my dilemma: I’ve read lots of posts regarding media blasting versus sanding versus chemical stripping. This list is not all-encompassing, however, below are some of the key points that I gathered from reading all the posts and my own past experience:
Media blasting:
Time consuming process
Can be expensive if you pay a shop do it for you
Requires large volumes of air…and you must have all the equipment
Excellent choice for thick metals such as frames, axles, brake drums, etc.
Be careful with flat panels that could warp due to heat build-up
Sanding:
Time consuming process
Lots of sanding disks for the DA sander
Good for flat surfaces
Tedious on curved and raised areas of the body
Not the greatest approach of sanding multiple layers of paint to bare metal
Chemical:
Good technique that removes everything to bare metal (rust, old bondo, etc.)
Gets in all the nooks and crannies (inside doors, etc.)
Complete process as the whole part is dipped into a caustic bath.
Vendor will often coat with a phosphoric etch post dipping to retard flash rusting
Overall can be very expensive
May be hard to find a shop local to where you live
Chemical can leach out of seams and ruin a paint job (or so I’ve read)
So, let’s take, for example, a door on my 1964 C60. After I remove the windows and “guts” from the door I’ll be left with a bare door shell. So, I can media blast the outer surfaces and given the thicker sheet metal coupled with a cautious approach can easily obtain the desired results. But what about the inside of the door? How do I get the internal surfaces clean to bare metal? Or perhaps most folks merely do the outside surfaces only? In this instance, the chemical dipping technique seems to be the method of choice. However, do I really need to be that concerned about chemical leaching out of seams and metal folds? Or is that a very infrequent occurrence? True, I like the idea of dropping the doors off at a chemical stripper and later in the week picking them up…all down to fresh metal and ready for work; however, if chemical WILL leach out over time it would ruin the paint.
What have other folks done? Any past experiences using the chemical stripping technique versus the media blasting? If so, have you ever notices and chemical leaching that caused a problem later on in the process?
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks much…
