Cleaner, lighter and safer bodyshells
A Subaru Impreza body shell after stripping
A chemical immersion process that removes paint, grease, oil, underseal, adhesives and sound deadening material offers a simpler and safer method for stripping bodyshells.
Chemical cleaning company Surface Processing Limited (SPL) offers a rapid and effective preparation solution to remove paint, greases, oils and rust. Trusted in sectors such as automotive, defence, industrial and aerospace, SPL’s technologies provide companies with an opportunity to recover material that would have been scrapped because of poor paint finish, welding or contamination. Faster, safer and more effective than competing technologies, the process is widely acknowledged as providing the best solution for classic car restorers and increasingly motorsport. The firm offers cost-effective solutions for a range of metals and is developing solutions to recover previously scrapped products in other materials.
By removing up to 35kg of unnecessary weight from a typical four door shell, the process developed by Surface Processing (SPL), also offers preparation companies a legal weight reduction service without affecting the existing vehicle strength. SPL’s process also claims to improve the working environment for engineers; by removing paint, adhesive and underseal, any further preparation work such as welding is done on clean metal, avoiding the release of noxious fumes and lowering the fire risk.
Unlike traditional preparation methods such as media blasting or thermal stripping, SPL’s process does not damage or distort the material, or leave the surface in a rapidly oxidizing state. Furthermore SPL’s process reaches inaccessible areas leaving them residue free and avoiding trapped media that increases moisture retention and weight. Compared to thermal or paint stripping, SPL’s chemical process is considerably faster and protects the user from harmful chemicals such as Methylene Chloride.
SPL’s managing director Adrian McMurray says: “We provide a weight reduction without damaging metal structure and avoid the detrimental effects of ‘acid dipped’ shells used in NASCAR and saloon cars in the 60s and 70s. We achieved a 31kg reduction with a BMW bodyshell project, with no affect on metal thickness thanks to our inhibitor that ensures we only break down rust.”
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2012. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
