Experience with blasting / dipping

[Bagpuss]

Hi everyone,

I have a couple of long term plans for my corolla, the first being a full V8 and running gear swap (please don't hate me) and the second being a full shell restoration. My corolla has several rust patches in all the common areas, rear arches, doors, boot lid, behind the rear bumper, pockets, etcetc. None of the rust patches are huge and there are no holes yet, but I figure if I'm going to fix it, fix it properly.

Now when it comes to mechanical knowledge I have a good idea what I'm getting in to, and while I don't have the ability or space to do a full running gear swap myself I have a good understanding of all that's involved. However with bodywork repairs on this scale I'm pretty lost, I'm stuck between getting the shell soda blasted or getting the whole thing dipped, or maybe there are other options?

Basically I'm looking for people's experiences and knowledge! I know this stuff is never going to be cheap but I'd still like to know roughly how much I'll need to save for this. Also if people have personal experiences / knowledge and recommendations with different methods of treatment I'd love to hear them!

[Kev]

I got my Peugeot race car shell dipped for about £900 including collection and delivery.

[Bagpuss]

That's not as expensive as I thought it'd be, however I would still need to factor in the cost of getting the entire thing painted inside and out, and also the labour for stripping back the car and putting it all back together (I don't have the storage space or work space to take the car back to the bare shell).

Would a ballpark figure of around £3000 be reasonable as a budget? I know it depends on the type of paint I want but it wouldn't be anything ridiculous, most likely all one basic colour.

I've heard of issues with acid dipping where the acid gets trapped in the seams and other tight areas on the car and causes rust in the future, did you have any issues with this?

[Kev]

Mines still a bare shell and there's no problems showing. They dip the car in a neutralising fluid after dipping. They drill holes in all the box sections to allow chemicals to drain out. If there were hidden ones you could pre drill though. I don't really know additional costs as my car is stored at work so I was able to strip the car myself and I already pay the rent regardless