August 2004
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? We will try to answer that question & give you some helpful hints.
Now that you have started your pedal car restoration project & you have completely disassembled the car. The body is now ready to be sandblasted or chemically stripped. We prefer sand blasting over chemically stripping. Sandblasting uses dry media and chemical strip is liquid that gets into the seams of the pedal car and does not always neutralize. When the chemical does not neutralize over time the metal will be eaten up and the paint will peel or pop off the car.
Now back to our topic. Two seconds after your pedal car body comes out of the sandblaster it will start to rust. Every time you touch the body with your bare hands rusty fingerprints will appear within a few days.
To kill the rust and to condition or prepare the metal for body fillers, if necessary, primers, sealers etc. we use a "Metal Prep" or "Metal Conditioner". This is a mild acid that is mixed with water & applied to the metal per the instructions on the bottle. You can purchase Metal Conditioners at your local auto body supply store.
We suggest using a coarse scotch bright pad with rubber gloves to scrub the body. After the metal prep has dried we again scrub the body with a clean dry scotch bright pad to remove any residue.
Please remember to follow all safety precautions on the bottle since you are working with a mild acid! It always pays to be safe.
Now that the body has been conditioned & the surface rust has been stopped you now have a good base to start your restoration on.
Tip from D & S Pedal Car Restorations