MikeC

I went and picked up my frame from being cleaned. They dip it in acid to remove the rust and then wash it off and scrub any areas and redip.... they'll also dipping it caustic soda to remove paint if there is any on it.

Overall I give the job a B+. Very well done but not perfect some crevicesstill have rust flakes in them.

Cost is $2 canadian/lb clean weight. My frame weighed in at 270lb with the tranny crossmember.

If anybody needs the name of the place and a contact IM me..... the turnaround is around 2-3 weeks. They clean anything metal

1st picture half sandblasted and half after I had wirewheeled it.

inside framerail at rear of car

passenger side rear kick up

close up notice rust inside of seam

trailing arm--- they shot blasted them to get them clean

passenger side rear corner brace- notice rust inside

drivers side framerail by rar crossmember--- which welding did I do and which is the factories..... kinda scary isn't it!

Here is the complete frame back inside resting from a couple of weeks of hard work at the rust spa...... you can also see the forlorned 78 sitting out there waiting for the rain!

cardo0

:cheers: Wow! Nice work.
How bout the birdcage? How can you remove the birdcage for refurbishing?

Tominator

Nice hope to do the same.

MikeC

I plan on taking apart only what is required and repairing it and POR 15 it or something similar. You could do the same thing that I did with the frame but it would be a time consuming project but can be done on a 78+ before that the rear roll bar frame is enveloped inside the fiberglass therefore non- removable.

ZD75blue

If its anything like mine... it probably started out weighing alot more then when ya got it back! :jester

77-C3 & 89-C4

Seems to me like a lot of wasted effort and money, Why not just power wash frame and oil spray much better rust control then what you did.

MikeC

Have you ever worked on a car that has been oil sprayed? Its messy Plus its not a permanent fix... it willl have to be redone. I have worked on too many cars that were oil coated... great to prevent rust... horrible to work on... Plus you'll never be able to keep the undercarriage clean.

The car has been dipped in muriatic acid to remove all the rust and has been washed out to neutralize the rust. I'm searching for a permanent solution.

It'll seem like wasted effeort until you have to replace a frame due to rust. Once bitten Twice shy

LemansBlue68

Looks terrific Mike! I had my frame acid dipped as well. I was a bit skeptical that it would remove all the rust but it came out clean a whistle. Yeah, there was a few flakes remaining in some of the seams but the job was much better than sandblasting would have done.

The factory welding is a bit scary. They completely missed a weld on one of my rear end crossmember supports which later started to crack --one of my many reasons for going ahead with the frame off.

What are you going to paint it with? I used POR 15 on mine which worked OK but if I had it to do over again I would powder coat it. I also sprayed the waxy type of undercoating inside all the frame rails as well just to prevent re-rusting from occuring on the inside. After the undercoating dries, it doesn't run like oil will but it stays soft and will "self heal".

After all this work, I doubt if you'll ever drive it in lousy weather and on salted streets again, eh??

MikeC

The more and more that I think about it I'll probably just get some primer and chassis paint and paint it. My boss who is restoring a Olds right now hasn't been to impresseed with the black or the clear.... He says the silver seems to be ok though.... I've heard other horror storys about POR-15 so I thinkg I'm gonna leave it alone.

Do you have anymore info on the waxy type undercoating.... I'd like to look into that more.

LemansBlue68

I don't want to knock POR15 too much. The stuff does dry hard as a rock and seems tough as hell. I was just disappointed in the variations in gloss I got with the semi-gloss. My friend recently had his Z28's (formerly mine) subframe dipped and powdercoated. The cost was no more than what I spent to have the body shop down the street spray on the POR15. The powdercoating looks super! It also seems very tough and very faithful to the factory level of semi-gloss.

Talk to your local automotive paint supply store about the undercoating. It cost me $12 for a gallon at Model Paints here in the Detroit area. Just make sure they don't sell you the rubberized stuff. I used about 1/2 gallon for the frame. It flows out very nice and soaks into all the crevices. When dry its sticky to the touch but doesn't run like oil. Eastwood also sells similar stuff but they want $8 a quart. I did use the Eastwood undercoating gun to apply it and it worked very well.

69mako

Looks good :thumbs: You can kill the rust in the seam by soaking it with WD-40 lube spray. I do that to all my Vettes and cars once I get them home. :thumbs: :yesnod: :yesnod: :yesnod: