Best way to remove frame epoxy

[Nick774]

That is exactly what that is, Block Rot. Is this the end for this engine? I would assume so unless some believe it is salvageable, I would prefer to keep the block if I can.

[Malevy]

It may be (can't tell from the photos for sure), but why risk it? It would stink to dump money in to rebuilding this block, only to have problems down the road.

[David T]

If you are that familiar with welding, then fixing up the frame is going to be simple for you. All you need are a few sheets of 16 GA sheetmetal (and a lot of time!). There is no reason to obsess over the block. The motors are not numbered to the car so it is not necessary to try to save an unsaveable block. You are correct in that the frame is the foundation of the whole car and you do need to start with a good, solid, straight frame. You can either cover it with POR-15 or find a shop that will hot-dip it in zinc. The zinc will add a few pounds, the paint will not. The zinc will last longer but if you keep the car inside and not parked on dirt it will last a LONG time even if you only paint it. I would not recommend stick welding it, too easy to burn through. It is a lot easier to control and weld thin materiel with a MIG welder. For the utmost in control I find gas welding is the best method but it takes a lot of practice and is a slower method than MIG.
David Teitelbaum

[DMC81]

There are only really two ways to get a frame completely stripped - I've done both:
Chemical (Redi-Strip is the only one that works)
Burn-off Oven (Finding one large enough for the frame is dfficult to impossible, we got lucky on this one)

I prefer chemical although it is easily 2x the price of burning it. It looks much nicer when it comes back.

You can't sandblast it off, and the heat -n-scrape-by-hand method completely ignores all the boxed in sections. As you are finding it takes an insane amount of work. And there is nothing quite like the smell (and probably bad chemicals) of burning frame epoxy.

Does anyone know what temperature the frames are baked at and for how long, going with this method?

[Delorean Industries]

When we still refurbished mild steel chassis (during the dark ages) this was performed as a multi staged process. The part must be brought up and down from temperature as not to warp and distort. We also had a fixture for holding in the oven as it would want to twist if just left sitting on a cart. We were acustom to 14 hour sessions ramping up to 850+ with a bath between to wash out ash once cooled and pickling at the end. A heck of a lot of work for a piece that will never be properly coated. I was never comfortable with the final product and gavl finishes are horrible. Best solution we found was e coating. Still not a great solution as dipping is the only way to properly do this component. To my knowledge no one offers this for such a large object. (as of 2014)

[David T]

Finding an oven large enough and hot enough is not easy. One way to remove the epoxy is with a plumber's torch working on a spot at a time with a scraper. It will be a long, tedious, messy, and smelly job but it could be done that way. If the epoxy is in good shape you may only have to deal with certain bad areas, not the whole frame. Just remove the epoxy from where it is loose and spray paint those spots. As mentioned in the previous post, if you bake the frame you must take precautions to prevent distortion. The way to go would be to find a Redi-Strip or similar place that can strip the epoxy for you. Probably easier to find than an oven. As soon as the frame is stripped you must get something on it right away before the steel has any chance to rust. At least a primer or a Chromate dip. Zinc coating is expensive and will add weight besides messing with all of the holes. They will all have to be drilled and tapped to remove the zinc so you can assemble the car back together.

[Josh]

Does anyone know what temperature the frames are baked at and for how long, going with this method?

700F for 4 hours in a burnoff oven.
Chemical dip is better, but not available to me

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?69...l=1#post111948