Graham CS

When I rebuild my car (968 CS), I want to have it acid dipped and stripped and then powder painted. I will have a cage installed and the sunroof removed at the same time.

Questions

Does this mean the metal will no longer be galvanised?

Does anybody know where I can get this done in the UK?

Does £5000 ($9000) seem like a reasonable budjet to do this?

I am refering to the process on autometricsmotorsport.com

Graham

Geo

Oh my. That seems to me like a lot of money better spent elsewhere. I don't know the going rate to dip a shell, but I should think it would be much lower.

You say powder painting, but I think you mean what we call powdercoating here in the states. It's great for toughness, but it's much heavier than paint. Seems to me that it kind of defeats the purpose of dipping the shell.

RedlineMan

Hmmm...

If you meant dip, cage, roof, and powdercoat together for $9k, then that makes more sense. Depending on the quality, it might be a bargain!

There is somewhere between 50-75lbs of sprayed/brushed undercoat, soundproofing, and caulk on a 924-968. The weight of a quart of paint can vary wildly depending on color. I can't imagine that powder, studiously applied, is that much if any heavier than paint, and even if it were I think the added toughness would be a good trade off...

... unless you are trying to win LeMans.

Graham CS

That was just based on the cost from there website.

Is it true that the shell will no longer be galvanised?

Graham

RedlineMan

Hey Graham;

I would not assume the galvanized coating would be removed, but that is a guess. It would take some awfully nasty stuff to remove the galvanize! Short of mechanically removing it, I can't imagine a chemical doing it.

Geoffrey

Readi-Strip in PA charges about $1500 to bake and acid dip/strip a chassis. It removes EVERYTHING, paint, seam sealer, undercoating, etc. The chassis is then washed to netrulaize the acid, then sprayed with zinc phosphate so it does not rust from moisture in the air. One of the downsides to this process is that everything is removed, even in areas where you cannot get to. You will have to spend a lot of time getting inside all of the little holes and crevices with paint or some other protective material. Most of the times chassis are dipped not necessarily for weight savings, but so they can be seam welded.

Graham CS

I think the getting paint into everywhere is why they use a powder paint
process.

Cheers for the advice guys

Graham

NicolasW

Not that it matters to you in the UK, but the correct spelling of the place here in the US is Redi-Strip. They are in a number of different states....Ill., Ind., Miss., Ohio, Wisc., Tenn., Penn. and Vancouver. Call 630-529-2442 or look for their ad in hemmings Motor News...here is the website for the one in Indiana, http://www.redistripindy.com

You should certainly be able to get everything done for less than $9K...acutally, you could probably get it all done for under $2K. As a comparison, my local media blaster and power coater will sand blast a 911 chassis and powdercoat for about $1500.

I think the key is to make sure you neutralize ALL the acid after the dip and make sure it's not in the cracks and stuff so you don't have problems when you put the primer/finish coat on.

Good luck and let us know what you do.