Another Thread about rust...lots of rust...like AHHHHHHH

[Bret2094]

Alright so i recently scored a huge find. A guy not far from my grandparents had a Ghia and two 1958 beetle's sitting in the woods at his house. both of the beetles have the 36 horse engines, complete and in good shape.One of the 58's has a factory ragtop and has been baja'd. I asked the guy about em, and he said if i wanted em i could have em for $100. WOOOOOOO!!! These things are rusty as crap, but if i could come up with a way to derust an entire car good enough so that it can be sealed and painted, I am gonna try my best to save these early bugs. What on earth could be used to derust the surface of and entire roof? Chemical? If so , what? the cars are pretty solid apart from heaterchannels , floors , and a few fenders, but i can weld pretty well, so metal fab isnt an issue. I'm not concerned about the pitting, as i'll be mud covering the entire car with bondo, just to smoove out the pits. Wire wheels are liable to take me 300 plus hours with this amount of rust, but feel free to voice your opinion
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Northof49]

You could have it soda blasted, you could take it somewhere and they could acid dip it, or you could build a large tank of diluted molasses and soak it for a week or two.
_________________
1958 Karmann Ghia owner

[Bret2094]

Ive entertained the idea of having my own vat for molasses, you think a setup made from two by fours and a giant tarp would suffice for a couple weeks?
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Northof49]

[Thrasher22]

I'd get them soda blasted. That sounds like a ton of molasses/crap you'd have to deal with, drain from all the channels, and dispose of.

When you say wire wheels, are you talking the kind that attach to a drill? You should be able to do a whole vehicle in a couple days (max) with a knotted wire wheel for a grinder. A wire wheel on a drill won't take out much of the rust either, knotted wheels/grinder combos will take out much more pitting.

But yes, it sucks, is loud, and takes ages
_________________
1975 Westfalia - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516701

[abritinthebay]

With that much rust you need to get it dipped. That involves dipping it in a vat of a base to remove any crap and then a giant vat of phosphoric acid to eat all the rust.

Once that is done a quick rust treatment and heated dry after a rinse will do it. There's a great place in the PNW that does it but there are lots of others too.

Any other option is just not going to do it completely - even blasting.

[Bret2094]

figure ill go ahead and fix all the mechanical parts and get my pans all fixed up before i decide what to do. got plenty of room ( 200 acre farm if i decide to make a more premanent vat ). Currently a college student on summer break so i pretty much get up at 730 every morning and do vw restorations till i get too tired to walk in the evening. pans will be in tomorrow, just weighing options, since ireally dont wanna pay for the dipping method. As far as the wire wheel goes, i have a grinder with a braided wire wheel.
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[d5626]

With that much room I'd experiment with electrolysis on a big scale to remove the rust. Dig a hole half the depth of the car and line it with a couple of tarps and do bottom half then flip the body and do other half. I would just use wood for a temp rotisserie. Read up on what power supply would be needed for something that large. I don't think a battery charger like most guys have used for small stuff would suffice.

[VW_Buggsy]

On that scale I think you'd use a welder as your power supply for electrolysis

Acid would probably work better though because I believe electrolysis needs "line of sight" to the rust to work and won't do the internal voids well. That's if I'm remembering correctly.

[Bret2094]