6 replies to this topic

[Ryanrjstorey]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm starting to restore my Mini in September and want to ask a few questions/ get your opinions on the best course of action. I am prepared to take apart the car myself and then take the shell to be chemically stripped. I recognise that this is an initial expense (£1000+ I've been quoted, but would you say that it ensures the longevity of the frame? (The Mini has rust in all the usual places such as underneath and inside door frames and the paint is starting to bubble.) What are your experiences if you have had your Mini chemically dipped, it doesn't seem too common with Mini owners so I'm wondering if this is the best thing to do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nicklouse]

Don’t bother with chemical stripping. If every one you hear about has gone bad after a few years as they can never neutralize it in the seams and they rot out.

[sonscar]

You will probably be replacing most of it anyway,and there are few box sections which could possibly benefit.Spend your money on parts.Just my opinion of course.Steve..

[sonikk4]

I wouldn't dip it as you will have cavities you cannot get into properly to paint afterwards, B pillars, A pillars, C pillars and also the top rails under the roof.

 

The only thing to do if you decide to go this route is to have it dipped afterwards (Ecoat) but it still needs paint.

[Gilles1000]

I brought my shell and subframesto be chemically dipped.

Very happy with the result. I put some pictures in my thread, please have a look if interested. No rust anymore, even in the boxed sections like sills and rear panels. I also know that every area has been derusted, like the A, B C posts.

The car has been washed off with water and some phosphatic acid to protect it a bit. Since October 2019 i am doing the welding which the car is in need.

To be honest it is rusting nicely again as there is no real protection but I expected much worse. 

 

When the welding work will be done I will bring the shell back to be acid dipped once again to remove the surface rust, wash it off and then e-coat.

 

Afterwards I will do the usual paint preparation, stonechip the underside, treat the bos sections and maybe let some fresh oil run into the seams. I believe this will be quite a good rust protection for the next decades.

 

yes, it will be very expensive regarding the potential value of the car, but I want to have properly done and it is a keeper.

 

I know a garage restoring old Citroens doing exactly the same for each and every car they do. Only that they do the e-coat before repairing the shell, which is in both directions arguable.

 

About sanding the car there are also pros and contras.

From my experience there are always mixed ideas about how to restore a shell. In fact the ultimate method would be to reduce it in parts, treat every single panel and assemble it again.

God knows how much this would cost.

 

cheers

Gilles

[Verderad]

I thought about chemical strip, media blast to find out where I had holes in the shell, what panels needed replacing etc.  

Didn't bother in the end, used wire wheel in grinder where there was filler but basically replaced all the panels except for window and door surrounds which Ive stripped back by hand.

 

If you think that all the panels will need to be replaced not much point in treating them, what's left will be time consuming by hand but not a massive drain ton time compared to the rest of the restoration. 

 

Good luck with the project. 

[Ben_O]

I've never considered chemical dipping before on a mini. I dont think it's worth it prior to a restoration.

The panels are so cheap and plentiful that any panel that comes back as holed or rusty will just be lopped off and replaced anyway. You'll end up throwing out most of your chemically stripped metal.

 

Might be beneficial if you have a known good shell which needs very little but you want to remove old paint and underseal etc.

 

I have had a couple of mini shells sandblasted. One of them I knew was perfect save for a couple of very minor repairs but had tonnes of brush on underseal and had been painted several times so blasting was the quickest route to prepping especially on awkward areas like inside the shell and underneath.

The other I had done was to see if it was as good as expected.. it wasn't.

 

One thing I would say for sandblasting is that it creates a lot of mess. The guy that does mine clears out the sand before returning the shell and I still spend countless hours removing bucket loads of sand but it's worth it for the results and not having to do the worst job in the world cleaning it all by hand.

 

I would have a good poke around on your shell to see what's what before spending a thousand pounds on a dip. That sort of money would probably cover a lot of the panels you will need.

 

Cheers

Ben

Edited by Ben_O, 17 June 2021 - 05:29 PM.