Dipping a 914 - Prices?, I'm Planning on getting my tub dpped........ Options

[BPic]

I am considering getting my car dipped to strip off everything to bare metal. After stripping they dip it again to neutralize and then again for rust inhibitor.

Has anyone done this? If so what was the charge? I have a place near my house in Miami that will do it for $2800. Does that seem high? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[McMark]

No issues, just compromises. So everybody will weigh the factors differently.

I don't like the idea of cutting and repairing the main structural member of the car for a superficial* process (dipping).

Can you do the work correctly and safely? Absolutely.
But what do you gain from all your effort?

And especially if you're looking to eCoat the body afterwards. You'll still have to go back and weld the longs shut again. That welding will leave a bare metal section that's been heated (which increases surface rust penetration). Welds will always rust before 'virgin' metal. So your eCoat process, which is typically chosen for its 100% coverage, will never live up to 100% coverage on our cars. So then you're eCoating to get it 'mostly covered', and if you're only getting 'mostly covered' how much different is that than just shooting the inside of the long with a wax/oil protectant like Cosmoline™?

For me, the whole question of rust prevention must also take into account two important factors:
1) What life did the car have in the past that made it rusty?
2) What type of life will you give the car when you're done?
If the car is rusty from sitting outside for 10 years, and you're going to park it in a heated garage 100% of the time, then you really aren't at much risk for repeating the past. Your restored car in the garage will never end up like the 10-years-in-a-field car.



*I'm calling dipping superficial, because IMHO there are other more effective processes for stripping a car, and the difference between those processes and dipping is the part that I'm calling superficial. i.e. cleaning the inside of the longs on a solid car is superficial.