'73 Mach 1 full restoration - The Beginning

[Billyillyilly]

Greetings people, I've been reading through the threads and have gained a ton of good information. However, there is one thing I haven't seen a lot of... how to start. I currently have my Mach 1 completely disassembled and on a rack, similar to a rotisserie but the front of the car can swivel up with a lift instead of spinning the whole car around. Anyway, I'm to the point where most people are telling me to go ahead with the media blast. But, before I take that critical step I happen to have the minor issue of some serious cancer all over the freaken place which leads to my question. Should I media blast, take pics, then mark the not chewed through parts after the epoxy primer and make repairs, OR, should I replace the cancer spots first, primer the new pieces, then media blast the 2 square inches of original paint that's left over and go from there? I see the pro's and cons to going both ways so I figured my best bet would be to talk to the people that have actually been through it. Anyway, I appreciate any info you guys have for me and even more for taking the time to respond...

 

[6972boss]

Would love to see how your car is set up on your rack. It would be far easier to blast everything first, do the repairs, then Prime the entire car. Done it this way for several ground up restos. Just my .02

 

[kcmash]

Great question. I farmed my body restoration out after I did floors, and wheel houses.

The guy I hired said he did not like media blast to strip the car because he had several restorations that had the media loosen from a corner during color coat and ruin his work. He said there was no guarantee you can get all the blast media out. Having said that, I know a lot of people blast because it's readily available.

My body guy hauled mine from KC to Evansville Indiana to have it dipped. The facility was called Ready Strip or something like that. He said it was much easier to do the welding on clean metal.

The down side. EVERYTHING has to come off the car and be inventoried. EVERYTHING!

So mine looked like this:

Then This:

and now this!!

View attachment 37440

 

[Pastel Blue]

It depends on the amount of rust and work required (sounds like you have a lot). On my rotisserie restoration, the required metal repairs (considered minor and straightforward) were completed before the car (unibody) was sent out for sandblasting and the smaller removable parts for chemical dipping. I would imagine that extensive rust repair would require the blasting process to be completed first so you know where the virgin metal still is evident.

 

[Billyillyilly]

Would love to see how your car is set up on your rack. It would be far easier to blast everything first, do the repairs, then Prime the entire car. Done it this way for several ground up restos. Just my .02

I was thinking about going this route but had concerns about the new metal starting to rust and the old metal getting worse without being primered. I have the luxury of no garage, just a driveway and a shed to store parts. The driveway has a car port but it's not weather proof by any means. Maybe it could work if I used ospho on the metal after the media blast?

I'll get some pics going on that rack for you, it's nothing fancy, but it'll work.

 

[Billyillyilly]

Great question. I farmed my body restoration out after I did floors, and wheel houses.

The guy I hired said he did not like media blast to strip the car because he had several restorations that had the media loosen from a corner during color coat and ruin his work. He said there was no guarantee you can get all the blast media out. Having said that, I know a lot of people blast because it's readily available.

My body guy hauled mine from KC to Evansville Indiana to have it dipped. The facility was called Ready Strip or something like that. He said it was much easier to do the welding on clean metal.

The down side. EVERYTHING has to come off the car and be inventoried. EVERYTHING!

So mine looked like this:

Then This:

and now this!!

I thought about getting the car dipped but that's about as far as I got with the idea, not even sure where I would go to do it and if it is cost effective,. I'm sure I'd have to ship the car pretty far to get it done though. Living in the wonderful state of California with all the chemical restrictions I'm sure it'll be fun and pricey too. As for tearing it down, Already done! The only thing left on the car is brake lines, the fuel line, paint and rust...I'll look into it though and see what I come up with. Thanks!

Also, yours looks like it's coming along quite nice... it looks like you had a good starting place.

 

[Billyillyilly]

It depends on the amount of rust and work required (sounds like you have a lot). On my rotisserie restoration, the required metal repairs (considered minor and straightforward) were completed before the car (unibody) was sent out for sandblasting and the smaller removable parts for chemical dipping. I would imagine that extensive rust repair would require the blasting process to be completed first so you know where the virgin metal still is evident.

That's pretty much what I was thinking, and yes I have some interesting areas that need to be repaired. If I didn't have so much history with this car I wouldn't ever consider it as a candidate for a restoration. Thanks for the input! Maybe i should replace the straight forward stuff (floors, rear quarters, trunk floor blah blah blah), then blast or Chem dip and primer. That way most of the ugly is done before primer and only the horrible work is left over.

 

[Pegleg]

First thing i would do is rent a garage then get the car dipped. You would save a ton of time if your car was stored inside and have somewhere you feel more comfortable in. I don't have a garage or a driveway so my predicament is slightly worse than yours.

Good luck with your restoration

 

[OzCoupe72]

I'm in the same situation as you with only a shed to store tools/parts etc. My idea is to replace rusty panels and do most repairs then to media blast engine bay, door jambs etc. I just lightly etch prime repaired areas and welds. To keep the weather out I cover it with a weatherproof car cover. Will look forward to your build and yes would like to see your rack set up. I'm still considering a rotisserie but the steel is a bit expensive.

 

[midlife]

Another downside of chemical dip is that the chemicals get into the joints that are welded and is very hard to remove the chemical. This shows up when one paints the car, and all sorts of problems with paint start appearing.

Some panels are seam-sealed together (e.g. hood, trunk lid), and the chemical dissolves that bonding.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of chemical dips.

 

[Billyillyilly]

I looked into the garage rentals but it wouldn't be worth it. Out here the cheapest I found is $170 a month and they don't allow you to work on the car there plus no power available so no power tools or air compressor. Hell, the extra money every month is a lot of parts over the course of 5 years. I'm good with the driveway, I just don't like being as exposed to all the elements. Thanks for the suggestion though. I've also been looking more into the dip, I'm not completely sold on it yet though, I've been seen a lot of horror stories. Tie that in with the cost versus media blasting and it makes for a though derision.

 

[Billyillyilly]

I'm in the same situation as you with only a shed to store tools/parts etc. My idea is to replace rusty panels and do most repairs then to media blast engine bay, door jambs etc. I just lightly etch prime repaired areas and welds. To keep the weather out I cover it with a weatherproof car cover. Will look forward to your build and yes would like to see your rack set up. I'm still considering a rotisserie but the steel is a bit expensive.

I got lucky on the steel, I was able to get s bunch of channel that was being tossed from my old job. I still have to weld up some gussets and it'll be done. I'll post pics when is finished, probably next week some time.

Is etch going to be ok in weather? I was reading in one of these forums about etch being porous so it doesn't hold in weather, that's why I'm going with epoxy.

The more I think about what I'm up against the more im thinking to just blast the whole thing then do the metal. I know I have to repair both rear quarters but might need the hole right side, I wont know until the paint is off. I don't want to replace the quarter only, then blast it and SUPRISE!!! I get to buy the side now too that already has the quarter on it.

 

[Billyillyilly]

Another downside of chemical dip is that the chemicals get into the joints that are welded and is very hard to remove the chemical. This shows up when one paints the car, and all sorts of problems with paint start appearing.

Some panels are seam-sealed together (e.g. hood, trunk lid), and the chemical dissolves that bonding.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of chemical dips.

Ya, I've read the horror stories on dip, I can see where it's good to get All The rust out but it can cause a lot of issues. I'm thinking about doing the media blast, then spray everything down with some Ospho, try to get all up in the sub frames, torque boxes and rockers, wash them out and get that sprayer from eastwood to prime everything again. Using an epoxy so it SHOULD be good forever after that.

 

[Pegleg]

Might be worth looking for a bodyshop and ask to rent space. Take a vacation from work for 1-2 weeks and do all bodywork. Then you can work at your own leisure once bodywork is done and primed

 

[Billyillyilly]

Might be worth looking for a bodyshop and ask to rent space. Take a vacation from work for 1-2 weeks and do all bodywork. Then you can work at your own leisure once bodywork is done and primed

You know, I never even thought about doing something like that. Thanks for the idea, I'll see what it would cost and weigh it out...

 

[OMS]

Might be worth looking for a bodyshop and ask to rent space. Take a vacation from work for 1-2 weeks and do all bodywork. Then you can work at your own leisure once bodywork is done and primed

You know, I never even thought about doing something like that. Thanks for the idea, I'll see what it would cost and weigh it out...

That might be tough to find a shop willing to let you work on your car their shop due to liability - worth a shot though

When you need to get your body panels hit me up - I can sell them to you and arrange will call at a warehouse about an hour from LA to save shipping costs

 

[jowens1126]

I had a car dipped once, it was the best car I did so far. The horror stories you hear about dipping are all related to the dip facility not being worth a ****. If their process is done right, there will be ZERO residual chemicals anywhere in the body. Not in the deepest of joints anywhere. Companies that do a half ass job, you cant say the same thing. That being said, there are only 2 shops I know of personally that I would trust for a dip job. One is in Oregon and is the same facility they use on Graveyard Carz. http://www.metaldipping.com/oregon.php

The other shop is in Ohio. http://www.americanmetalcleaninginc.com/services/automotiveservices.html

A friend of mine used the one in Oregon, and I used the one in Ohio. Neither one of us had ANY issues at all, and after several years there have been no issues at all. Im sure there are other good dippers around, but these are the only 2 I have had any personal experience with. I would look at the process these 2 shops use and compare that to what the prospective shop you are considering will do. Make your own judgement based on that.

That being said, you cannot beat dipping a car. The process removes all traces of rust, and contamination on the body, it also leaves a molecular coat of zinc on the entire surface to prevent rust till you get it painted. The surface of the car will accept paint really well. I would recommend getting it sprayed with epoxy primer as soon as it is possible, then do all your metal repair. Metal repair should not be done before stripping. The last thing you want is to think you are done with rust repair, then get it dipped, only to find the panel you were working on has to be completely replaced because what you though was good was horrible.

 

[Billyillyilly]

I had a car dipped once, it was the best car I did so far. The horror stories you hear about dipping are all related to the dip facility not being worth a ****. If their process is done right, there will be ZERO residual chemicals anywhere in the body. Not in the deepest of joints anywhere. Companies that do a half ass job, you cant say the same thing. That being said, there are only 2 shops I know of personally that I would trust for a dip job. One is in Oregon and is the same facility they use on Graveyard Carz. http://www.metaldipping.com/oregon.php

The other shop is in Ohio. http://www.americanmetalcleaninginc.com/services/automotiveservices.html

A friend of mine used the one in Oregon, and I used the one in Ohio. Neither one of us had ANY issues at all, and after several years there have been no issues at all. Im sure there are other good dippers around, but these are the only 2 I have had any personal experience with. I would look at the process these 2 shops use and compare that to what the prospective shop you are considering will do. Make your own judgement based on that.

That being said, you cannot beat dipping a car. The process removes all traces of rust, and contamination on the body, it also leaves a molecular coat of zinc on the entire surface to prevent rust till you get it painted. The surface of the car will accept paint really well. I would recommend getting it sprayed with epoxy primer as soon as it is possible, then do all your metal repair. Metal repair should not be done before stripping. The last thing you want is to think you are done with rust repair, then get it dipped, only to find the panel you were working on has to be completely replaced because what you though was good was horrible.

Great info and thank you, I'll check out the one in Oregon and compare it to one that's in L.A. and see if it's worth while. With the amount of work I already know I have to get done I've been leaning towards stripping the car before i do any metal work. I know it's going to hurt to see just how bad things actually are but its better to find out early!

 

[Billyillyilly]

Might be worth looking for a bodyshop and ask to rent space. Take a vacation from work for 1-2 weeks and do all bodywork. Then you can work at your own leisure once bodywork is done and primed

You know, I never even thought about doing something like that. Thanks for the idea, I'll see what it would cost and weigh it out...

That might be tough to find a shop willing to let you work on your car their shop due to liability - worth a shot though

When you need to get your body panels hit me up - I can sell them to you and arrange will call at a warehouse about an hour from LA to save shipping costs

you're right, I've called to smaller places and got the same story from both, due to insurance and liability they immediately dismissed any idea of renting out space. It's all good though, not having a roof isn't going to stop me from moving forward.

Will do on the parts, If you have what i'm after and can save me the shipping, I'll definitely hit you up, thanks for the offer!