Tom - To recap the discussion, the stainless steel that is used for the DeLorean body panels will develop a new oxide layer if the panel is stripped using chemical or physical means. The creation of this layer of chromium oxide isn't instant, but it's fairly quick ... Some of you will recognize chromium oxide as a ceramic. This is what forms on the surfaces of austenitic stainless steels in the presence of oxygen. The only way to prevent this layer from forming is to seal the surface off from free oxygen using a primer seal coat very quickly after stripping (or etching if using chemicals such as nitric acid). I hope that helps - Toby Peterson VIN 2248 "Winged1" DeLorean Parts Northwest, LLC www.delorean-parts.com --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tom Porter" <treehouse2000us@xxxx> wrote: > My question is, when a person grinds the top layer off, with a > grinder or major sanding, as when a person would do this to paint the DeLorean body, does it now loose its rust-proof ability? So if you sanded the stainless to that point, and then decided not to paint it, would it then be able to rust, or would it start to develop the film again over time? (more of a stainless question than DeLorean related, sorry) To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/