Narrator: Cleaning and restoring a car
often includes much more than just
scrubbing it with soap and water.
Chemical dipping is an efficient way
of cleaning old paint and rust off of a vehicle
to begin the restoration process.
Trevor Malloy from 3S Chemicals
specializes in alkaline paint stripping
for people who are looking to restore
their classic ride.
Each customer starts off
by completely dissembling the vehicle
before bringing it to the shop.
The frame of the car is then dipped
into a large chemical bath,
where it sits for a day.
It is removed every other day and pressure washed.
This process is repeated
until all the paint is removed.
Because most people have multiple coats
of primer and old paint,
it's important to thoroughly pressure wash the frame
until it is down to the original metal.
The frame is put in an acid bath
to focus on the years of rust that have accumulated.
The car is pulled out of the acid bath
every other day.
To neutralize the acid,
vehicles are dipped into an alkaline bath
so there is no further rusting from the acid.
The frame is pressure washed a second time
to rinse excess rust and dirt.
Then it's bathed in a water-based rust inhibitor,
which stops further rusting
until the car is ready to be painted.
3S says that each chemical used
is environmentally friendly,
and the process takes four to five weeks,
depending on the amount of rust and paint.
A unique way of cleaning a vehicle
with little to no cleanup is dry-ice cleaning.
Dryce Nation specializes in dry-ice cleaning
and restoration to clean places water normally can't reach.
Technicians use a compressed-air system
that is connected to a hose
which sprays out dry ice.
Before starting, they check the pressure,
pounds per minute, and the size of dry-ice particles.
The ability to adjust the particle size
allows them to restore both delicate parts
and bigger parts.
First, they load the machine with dry ice,
then remove the wheels from the vehicle,
as they try to clean the dirtiest area first.
They clean the inside of the wheel pocket
along with the wheel,
removing tar and adhesion with the dry ice.
Because of the extreme cold of the dry ice
and the high pressure,
the spray gun is always moving
to keep from damaging the structure of a car part.
Spraying in a circular motion prevents hard lines
and provides the most control.
They finish the job with a good amount of hand work
and fine-detail dry-ice cleaning.
Dustless blasting is a satisfying and efficient way
to prepare a vehicle for restoration.
Water and an abrasive such as recycled glass,
silicas, or coal slag are used to clean a vehicle.
The water keeps the metal cool,
which prevents warping,
and washes abrasives and paint to the ground.
This is what makes it an efficient way of cleaning,
because dust and dirt all land in one place.
It can cut through vinyl, primer,
and paint all at once.
Restoring paint is often achieved
by buffing out imperfections.
In preparation for the new coat,
a microfiber cutting pad
with a compound poured on its surface
swiftly removes any excess dirt
or paint from the car's previous wash.
This is called microfiber buffing.
Think of the car's surface as skin
and the dirt on its surface as blackheads.
The microfiber pad acts as an exfoliant
to remove the dirt embedded in the surface.
A light coat of antimicrobial coating is also applied
to add a protective primer to the coat of paint.
This type of buffing is also used
for its fast vibration mechanism,
which actually shakes the excess dirt
from car crevices.
It's even used to restore
the UV protection on headlights.
If you've ever looked at your headlights
and have seen the plastic covering
faded from the sunlight,
the same microfiber pad and compound
can be applied to the foggy headlight
to remove all the decayed material.
With a new coat of sealant,
microfiber buffing can revive your headlights too.