Hi Rich, Did someone really leave his frame in an acid tank for years?! Wow, what a waste of time... Why did he not try a stronger acid? I need to dip the frame in acid to remove epoxy from the areas of the frame a sandblaster will not reach, such as inside the engine subframe and inside the rear shocktowers. If I don't get the epoxy off, the galvanising will not work well in these areas. Of course, the galvanising is hot enough that it will burn off any epoxy that is left over, but I want to get as much of it out of that area as possible to get as good adhesion as possible between the zinc coating and the frame. I have a guy coming to inspect the frame from the acid stripping place in 2 weeks, and I think we will be testing on a sample area of the frame where the epoxy is in excellent shape, such as the top of the frame. This will give us a good idea whether it is viable or not to dip the frame in his tank. There is also the closed section of the front crossmember, but as I will be opening that section up to replace the bottom plate, I can sandblast the inside of that area. So really it is only the rear of the frame that really needs to be dipped. As for galvanising warping the frame - I am aware that this can happen, but in the 9 or 10 cases I've heard of people hot-dip galvanising their DeLorean frames, no-one has experienced any warpage. Also, all Lotus Esprit frames are hot-dipped galvanised, and they turn out fine, and they are basically the same design! As long as the galvanising company takes care, there should be no problem. Even if it does warp I don't think it will be very significant, and should be repairable back to factory specs as detailed in the back of the Workshop manual. On the retapping of the bolt holes in the frame, this won't take too long, and its a small price to pay for a completely rust proof frame. Spot repairs, POR-15, etc would be fine if I was not planning on keeping the car forever. Ultimately, if you simply weld in patches, paint POR-15 over the area, and respray, the rust will return again. Galvanising is the only real long term solution, apart from obviously replacing the frame with a Stainless one. After going to the trouble of taking the car apart, I'm planning on fixing it right and fixing it once and for all by going thru galvanising and powdercoating. What do you do with DeLorean frames when restoring them at your DeLorean Welding Center (DWC)? How do you stop and/or repair rust in the impossible to reach areas without using a dipping process? Thanks, John PS Don't worry, I plan to give my Dad back his garage space before the summer is over :) --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "d_rex_2002" <rich@xxxx> wrote: > > > John, > > You may want to re-consider a few of the things you mentioned > regarding the stripping and refurbishing of your frame. > > Acid dipping - to do this in such a way as to remove the epoxy > and not damage the mild steel underneath, you may have your > frame in a solution for several YEARS. 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/