Mike,
> 1. I have heard that dipping the body can, even with lots of prep effort,
> result in chemical agents messing up the final paint coat.
Have the body dipped. In retrospect, it's worth every cent in peace of
mind.
In answer to messing up the final coat, yes and no. It all depends upon
how you prep before painting. As Paul has already put forward, and I will
confirm, prep work is EVERYTHING. If you think it's clean, clean it one
more time -- particularly when it comes to shooting paint.
Metal prep is good stuff; just be careful because it can be rather caustic
to the skin but it will ensure that your metal is absolutely clean before
you primer. Wipe down with the metal prep to remove any flash rust just
prior to priming with the epoxy primer and I'll suggest you follow up with
wiping down with lacquer (sp?) thinner and a tack cloth IMMEDIATELY before
you shoot the primer to remove minor dust, oil, etc. (It may seem like
overkill, but consider the major hassle to remove even one speck of dust
from a finish coat...). Another reason for wiping down with the thinner is
that the metal prep that I have used in the past leaves a slight "haze"
coating to deter flash rust. A quick swipe with a thinner-soaked rag
removes the coating and helps to ensure a solid base to which the paint can
adhere.
Epoxy primer is the ONLY way to go. I've used it on several cars and
wouldn't trade it for the world. A couple of advantages are that it is
"watertight". It won't admit moisture during high-humidity conditions as
conventional sandable primer will. Epoxy primer is sandable, although it
takes somewhat more effort. I have also had success in doing minor ding
filling over an epoxy coat and then re-shooting the epoxy primer or
sandable primer over the work (obviously you wouldn't want to make a habit
of this...). Food for thought: I have also had wonderful success in using
a conventional sandable primer of a contrasting color (or even an
inexpensive spray paint) misted over an epoxy base coat to identify very
minor body imperfections. (If you mist the body after priming and block
sand, you WILL be able to identify even the most subtle imperfection.)
> 2. That media blasting is not the best way to get 30 year old undercoat
off.
Wellll..... It can be very effective, but the problem with any sort of
blasting (sand, media, or whatever) is that you're always going to be
encountering "little piles of sand" in your sqeaky clean interior or in the
greasable chassis components and there will always be one crevice that was
missed. The other downside is that it is EXTREMELY time consuming and if
you have someone do it for you it can get very expensive. Blasting tends
to be better suited to individual components rather than entire cars...
FWIW.
> 3. That if you try to do it yourself (Jasco or something like that),
disposing
> of the waste is a problem in the state of California.
To be truthful, it's a problem almost anywhere. We have the same issue
here in Texas, although probably not to the extent of California.
> I am also curious as to the cost of this type of job, what to expect in
terms
> of pocketbook pain.
It varies. Shop around and definitely ask for references.
Good Luck!
Erich Arndt
Cedar Hill, TX
(No Tiger, but I'm working on it!)
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