IDK what you paid,
but as I said if it would've been within my reach (distance and price)
I would've gone for it for sure
And when it's stored outside like that rust was to be expected tbh
Now, pros and cons..
sure; both can be done incorrectly and cause unnecessary damage.
done correctly both only remove what needs to go (old paint and rust)
and leave the rest mostly unaffected.
media blasting depends mostly on the media itself,
the faster something removes paint and rust, the more aggressive it is on the good parts as well, leaves a rough surface finish that you might need to take care of before coating or paint.
And blasting media might not be able to reach all nooks and crannies as easily
and it might get trapped in other nooks and crannies afterwards.
So a broken frame (rusted through) might catch blasting media but not get internally cleaned.
same for the tank.
A good operator can only do so much to work around that.
It's quick and leaves a bit of passive media on the chassis at worst
but it's not suitable for most "inside" areas, those have to be taken care of seperately afterwards.
an acid bath is more thorough IMHO, since it can enter the frame tubes
through the holes and if rotated in the bath can even remove internal rust
(like in the tank, or the chassis tubes etc)
it is also dependend on how good the operator is, preventing trapped air bubbles and such.
Afterwards that acid has to be neutralized.. which is another bath essentially, that has to be taken as seriously as the acid one.
A good operator is key.. he flushes all the chassis with acid to reach all the nasty insides, and flushes and neutralizes the exact same way.
so no further step needed.. it also leaves a much smoother surface on all good metals
BUT a careless operator can leave the insides unteated (air bubbles) or worse can leave the acid un-neutralized, which would make the inside rust even quicker than before the next chance humidity gets.
Acid for me clearly wins but you need a trustworthy shop to have it done
Media blasting is easier so even a mediocre operator can still get a good result.
you just have to spend more time on post processing.
taing care of the insides, and missed spots manually.. polishing potential blasting marks etc.
I doubt there's much differences in price really..
since media blasting is usually expensive because of the wasted blasting medium and causing more man hours;
and chemical dipping is usually expensive since it requires more legal paperwork and training.
so in the end it should be about the same really.
Unless they're specialized on Trucks.. in which case they need a ton of chemicals to fill bath and a ton of energy to heat it to operating temperatures.
motorbike restoration... a tub for a bike frame should be big enough for a go kart I think.
check if you find one of those .. since they usually run smaller tubs,
they might charge a bit less (less heat required, less chemicals per tub filling...)
'sid
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